Thursday, July 29, 2010

Week #20

Hello, all!
Last week was a pretty blah week again. Not much happening. So, I'll just cut right to the chase.
I'm down to 236 now. I've lost another pound this week...WOOT! A pound a week is just fine with me!
So really, that's about it. I said there wasn't much going on! You didn't believe me? Well, there is one other thing. Mike and I got our refund back from buying the house (the tax credit thing). We've divvied up all the money into where we want it (savings accounts, vacation, bills, etc.) and one of the things we wish to buy is a new laptop. Mike kinda fried our last one, even managing to somehow completely wiping out the standard built-in Wi-Fi so we can't get it back. But hopefully with a new laptop, I will be able to check in a little more regularly and I can get back to my beginning of the week weigh-ins. That'd be absolutely WONDERFUL!!!
So, yay for one pound less and yay for money! ;-)

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Week #19

So, as you know, I'm loving the pool. I tried pushing myself more. I told you that I'd do 50 of the one set of lifting, 30 of the other, and so on. Well, I tried doubling that amount. My arms feel like jello afterwards, but I feel great all around. I also try to move more in general while I'm walking, so I try to swing my hips a little more and/or do little lunges with every step.
I talk about the gym a lot, but I don't talk much about the food I eat. Not that there's too much to talk about. When Mike and I moved, I got back into eating what I wanted, when I wanted, but I've been able to cut back from that again. And now Mike's doing it with me! He found out he had to lose some weight for another job he applied for. I don't think he's applying for that job anymore, but he's still eating better, eating more vegetables (I'm so proud of him), and since this month he's off Mondays and Tuesdays, he goes to the gym with me. We've been good about checking each other with our food intake, too. He's already lost a little weight. He has a physical today for work (they do it once or twice a year) so we'll see how that goes for him.
My clothes are fitting better. I look in the mirror and see that my middle is cynching in a little more. My bathing suit (speaking of the pool) fits great. It's a two-piece tankini...halter top and shorts. I spilled over the shorts last year and had to keep tugging the top down. I don't have to do that anymore.
So, this week's weight...237. I've lost another pound! Woot!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Week #18

I LOVE the pool!!!!!! It's so much fun and it just about kills me, but it's great! There's an in-water track, which I'll walk around a couple laps with water weights and then I'll go into the middle pool and do a little workout. I'll start by (if you can visualize this) keeping my back straight and putting my arms straight down my sides, though back behind me a little, and lift up/push down the weights. Basically it works out the back of my arms. All of this while floating (not touching the ground). Usually I'll do about 50 of those. Then I'll go to the 6-foot section (so I can't touch the bottom), put my arms straight out to my sides, and push my hands down to my hips, kinda like the top half of jumping jacks. I have to be careful with this one, because if I go to fast, I bob up in the water really high and then dip down really low in the water and try to drown myself! I usually do about 30 of those. Then I go back to the 4-foot section of the pool (where I did the first routine) and put my arms out to my sides again, then bring down one arm at a time to the opposite foot and back up (I saw a water aerobics class doing it, so I tried it). I usually do about 30 sets of that. Then I swim across the pool a couple times, but I can't do that very much because by that point my arms are killing me. Then I finish up by doing some more laps around the track, sometimes in the opposite direction of the water flow.
So, basically, the water exercise is my weight training, which I've been needing to get in. It's so much fun and I can't wait to get into the pool each day. Usually I'll use the equipment in the gym and then I'll go to the pool (it helps me cool off that way, too!).
This week, I've lost two pounds, so I'm back down to 238. Yay!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Week #17

Well, people, there's ups and downs this week. On the down side, I unfortunately did not lose weight...in fact, I actually gained a lot of weight back. On the up side, however, I found a new love in the gym! I know, I sound a little fickle, don't I? My first love was the elliptical. I still like that well enough, but now I found...THE POOL! Actually, ironically, I was on the elliptical when I "discovered" the pool. Okay, okay, let me explain...
Mike was off the beginning of this week, so we went to the gym together. I didn't bring my book to read as I usually do as it's a little difficult to on the elliptical, since you use both your hands and feet. So instead of listening to music, I was flipping back and forth between "Judge Judy" and "American Choppers." Then I noticed on CBS, they were having something about water exercise and they were using little dumbbells. I flipped my headphones to that channel. They were talking about how water aerobics is a better workout as far as less stress on joints and it's a more fluid motion (no pun intended) than equipment or weights. The dumbbells they were showing (which the gym happens to have) weigh next to nothing out of the water. But because they want to float, it takes a lot to push them through the water, which is how you use them.
So after the elliptical, Mike and I changed to get into the pool. Powell Wellness Center has a really cool aquatic arena. There's an in-water track, three smaller side pools, a larger pool in the center, and a hot tub in another corner. Mike and I walked around the track for a bit using the new-found water weights, then went in the middle pool. I LOVE IT!!!!
All that said, here comes the bad part. As I said, last week I gained weight back...I'm at 240 again. But with no more reunions to go to, me going to the gym 4 days a week now, and my new friend the pool, hopefully I'll be back on track by next week. I'm sorry I disappointed you guys this week, but I will slap myself out of it. I promise.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Week #16

I'm going to make this a quick one. Again, no picture, but now I'm thinking I may wait until I get down to thirty pounds off. Two more pounds to go! I'm still at 235, but I'm seeing that as good. Even when I got down to 236, I yo-yoed every week between 236 and 238. I've managed to stay here for two weeks. I've upped my gym time to four days a week by adding Tuesday now, as well. This weekend could be a breaker, though, as I'm at a family reunion with Mike's family and it's going to be a whole lot of Southern, down home cooking. We'll see what happens.
And just so you wonderful fan club of mine know, as Mike and I have no internet at home yet, I can't check in there. Well, Mom and Dad's computer is trying to die, so I'm not able to check in there for I don't know how long. Right now I'm using Mawmaw's computer here in Southwestern Virginia. I'll just have to figure out how to check in next week. Until then...