Thinspiration #11

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. --Beverly Sills

It is often said that weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. We didn't get to where we are overnight and we're most certainly not going to get where we're going any quicker. If anything it will be a long uphill battle. However, that being said, it will definitely be worth it! Stay strong my fellow "losers".

Hakuna matata!

The pilgrims are coming!

Get it? Pilgrims. May flowers. Tomorrow is May... Ok lame joke, I know. Sorry. Creative juices are lacking today. I couldn't come up with a good title for today's post. Moving on...

Yesterday I discovered my new favorite place to go walking. I had been taking my dog Charlie to the local dog park for the past couple of weeks and yesterday I decided to go walk along some of the trails. I never realized how huge the whole park was.

473 acres of fields, grass, trails, and dirt. Yesterday we stayed on a trail that circled a field since I didn't want to take Charlie into the woods. His curly white fur attracts enough dirt as it is thank you very much. I'll have to go explore more at a later time without him.

It was so nice to spend so much time outside in the sunshine. It was gorgeous yesterday. I can't wait for summer now.

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration #10

Which do you want more? You decide. Results or excuses. It's up to you.

Hakuna matata!

Weekly Progress Report

Last Weigh In: 173
Current Weight: 171

I was hoping that I'd be able to make my mini-goal super early but I'll gladly take the 2 pounds. I've seen that how logging my food has helped me to stay on track and stick to the program. Hopefully I can keep this up. Every pound counts!

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration #9

Totally stole this from another person's blog. Sorry person. I don't know you. But I thought this was super awesome.

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration #8

It's a lot easier to get back on the horse when you've just fallen off. But it's a lot harder if you waited so long that the horse has now run off somewhere. Slip ups happen and it's ok to have planned indulgences. Just don't let that become the "new normal". It's a lot harder to recover from that.

Hakuna matata!

The Cool Cats Club

So I just got an email from the secretary of my bowling league. It said:

Congratulations – you have qualified for one of the leagues bowling awards for your achievements this past season.

Yes we've already established that here. It continues...

Because both of you have earned the Triple Crown (high average, game and series), I can merge everything into one gift card choice or one nicer award.

Say what?! I didn't even know there was such a thing! Rick and I are apparently super cool now. Awesome!... ok enough boasting. Back to work!

Hakuna matata!

Operation: Sodium Smackdown

I gave into my craving for Mexican last night. Oh how I was missing my enchiladas! Jon and I went out after our bowling league meeting. I probably shouldn't have done that...

I was good in the sense that I drank lots of water and less than half of my entree. But those chips are going to tip the scale for a couple of days until all that salt gets out of my body.

I am determined to either drown it out or sweat it out this weekend. Also I'm going to try to stick to low calorie add-ins in hopes I can keep my weekly totals reasonable. Life happens. Adjust accordingly.

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration #7

When walking, walk. When eating, eat. --Zen proverb

In other words, focus on the one thing that you're doing. If you want to sit on your couch and watch your favorite TV show, go for it. But don't do it with a recently opened bag of chips. By the end of the show you've eaten most (if not all) of the bag.

Sit at the table and enjoy the food you're eating. Savor it. Don't wolf it down so quickly you can't even taste it. Enjoy it. It will last longer and taste better! (And save yourself from a few hundred calories...)

Hakuna matata!

Dancing down memory lane

So I didn't end up running in the rain last night. It was miserable enough just to take out my dog. However, I did hold up my end of the deal and did double work out videos. I did 2 Dancing Off the Inches videos. I know I need to do them more often since my legs felt like lead while I was doing it. I need to get my agility back.

I've actually considered digging out my Dance Dance Revolution games/pads from my parents house. I used to love playing that in high school and I was pretty good at it (for a fat kid). I used to sweat buckets playing that game. I'll have to see if I can find it next time I visit. Oh the memories of my childhood.

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration #6

So I thought this was appropriate for today's Thinspiration due to my lack of self discipline last night.

Very few people actually love jumping out of bed at ridiculous hours of the morning to go exercise. Or sometimes you just have really long days and don't feel like going to the gym after work.

Whatever may be the case, YOU are the only person that can make you get out there and move. Find something that motivates and inspires you to want to go out regardless of what time it is, or how bad of a day you had, or the fact that the sun isn't up yet. No one is going to do it for you. Commit and do.

Hakuna matata!

Satan Jillian is BACK!

So I just ordered Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred from Amazon and I'm trying to figure out why I want to put myself through this again. My former roommate owned it and we did it for a short time when we lived together.

We nicknamed her "Satan Jillian" because we felt like we were going to die at the end of each workout. It was a hard video (especially at 5 a.m.) but I saw improvement in my strength even in the short time that we did it.

I know my cardio is better now then it was at the time so I'm hoping I will be able to get through it at least a little bit easier. Doubtful. This is JM after all. Thankfully I will not be doing this video at 5 a.m. again!

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration Busters

Confirmed.

Clearly I was not thinking about Thinspiration #1 last night. I didn't go for my scheduled run because it was cold and windy (ok mostly because I was lazy...) and I'm kicking myself in the butt for it this morning. UGH! Why do I let myself do this?!

It's supposed to rain tonight so I don't know if I'll be able to go out after work. If not, then I am determined to do double workout videos later! I need to make up for my lack of self discipline.

Maybe I should run in the rain to make up for it. Everything seems so much more hard core when you do it in the rain... We'll see if my enthusiasm for that lasts through the work day...

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration #5

You may not feel it right away but you will feel it! It takes a lot of work for our bodies to carry around all that unnatural extra weight. No wonder we feel so tired and worn out all the time!

Hakuna matata!

Miss Skinny Pants

I love days like today. It was not even 8am and I had already received a compliment for my recent (and ongoing!) weight loss. And it wasn't just any compliment. No, it involved the S-word.

"Hey you're gettin' skinny!"

Could it be because I was able to get into my old skinny college pants again this morning? Maybe. One of my friends from college once called these my J-Lo pants since I have such a larger um... backside, but they curved around it in such a way that it still made me look good. Today's post deserves a picture!

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration #4

A goal without a plan is just a wish. --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

If you were driving from Los Angeles to New York, would you just start driving without a map and hope you get there in a reasonable time? I sure hope not!

Getting healthier is the same way. You can't expect to get to a certain goal without a way to get there. Make a plan. Print it out. Hang it on the fridge. And most importantly, stick to it!

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration #3

Make SMART goals. Be realistic and don't set a goal that is so unattainable that you're setting yourself up for disaster and disappointment. Though you may have a long term end goal, set up some smaller mini-goals along the way to keep you on track.

Hakuna matata!

Weekly Progress Report

Last Weigh In: 175
Current Weight: 173

WOOO! 2 more pounds gone!! I realized how many extra calories I was eating with all my higher calorie add-ins (snacks). I'm trying to switch it up a bit so that it's still ok if I have one but I have a lower calorie one as well. Hopefully I can continue to have 2 pound drops for a few more weeks.

Hakuna matata!

Thinspiration #2

There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results. -- Ken Blanchard

Wow! Great mantra to live by. Pick something today. Anything you need to do better at. Something small. Like one less snack, or 5 more minutes of walking. Having something in mind? Ok now commit to it. Whatever it is, do it for 3 weeks. No excuses.

I guarantee you that by the end of those three weeks, you'll feel great that you were able to accomplish something. Then pick another thing and do it again! You are now one step closer than you were 3 weeks ago.

Hakuna matata!

Hiking Heublein

Just came back from hiking up to Heublein Tower this morning. Always a lot of fun. Here's a picture of me at the top. Maybe next time we'll take the long way up.

Hakuna matata!

Better than last year. . . mostly

Last night was the last week of competitive bowling for the league that I'm in. The lanes were as slick as an eel so there was not a lot of movement out there.

For you non-bowlers that means that the lanes were very oily and our balls couldn't grip the lane and curve the way they are supposed to. No movement = flat pin action. I was lucky to make average 2 games.

But the final standings for the year are as follows...

Thinspiration #1

You rarely regret the runs you do. You almost always regret the runs you skip --Unknown

Even if it's just for 5 minutes, get out there and run! I've been sore for 3 days after an unplanned 6.5 mile run this week, but I still don't regret one minute I spent out there on the pavement. You'd be surprised about how far you'll actually be able to go.

Hakuna matata!

Go the distance! Well how far is that?

Ok now I'm done with some blogosphere housekeeping, I can actually get on with more important things.

Lately I have been trying to get out and do more running (mainly because I am too cheap to pay for a gym membership at the moment). I started out with the C25K program and I have come miles in progress since then, no pun intended. Ok yes it was...

Seriously though, 6 weeks ago I could hardly run a quarter mile. Just this past Tuesday, I ran 6.5 miles (no that wasn't part of the plan). Why? Because I could. Physically I actually could.

I went out for my usual short run and I felt so good I thought "why stop?" so I didn't... for a long time... The funny part about it was that I knew I had to stop at some point, but when? I knew I had one of three options:

Highs and lows of a yo-yo dieter

This is by far not my first time trying to lose weight. As I said earlier I am a professional yo-yo dieter. You name it, I've probably tried it. But obviously, nothing before now has stuck. Part of that has to do with my lack of self discipline, and the other part of that has to do with my emotional ties to comfort food.

I've been overweight my entire life, literally. Never got rid of the baby fat and it just got worse from there. You would never be able to find a picture of me under any synonym of 'skinny'. My weight and size has gone up and down more times than I can count over the past 10 years.

You only get one first post

I decided to follow in the footsteps of one of my good friends and create a blog as well. I have created blogs in the past for various reasons and none of them seem to stick so I'm hoping to make this one last.

Brief intro...