Weight Loss Wednesday

Welcome to a new segment of my blog: Weight Loss Wednesday!

I really thought about making the entire blog about weight loss, but that thought only lasted about a second before I realized how much I'd miss things like Tuesday Tunes/Top Ten Tuesday, short story's, letters to Ryan, and general posts. So, I'm gonna stab at doing it every Wednesday.

I'm about two weeks into my weight loss journey.

But here's the thing.

I didn't weigh myself when I started.

I know. I know. How am I on a weight loss journey without knowing my exact starting weight?

Maybe I'm weird, but I don't want to obsess over numbers. I want to track my progress based on how I feel and how my clothes feel, not the scale. Because I've been through this enough times to know that if the number isn't what I want it to be, I'll give up.

So instead, I took a picture of myself today. And I'll take one every month. Plus, at my new gym they measured by body fat, so I will do that every month also.

Since I'm new to Weight Loss Wednesday, here's a little background info.

What made you start this journey?
Well, I've sorted of hinted at this before. But what really kicked it off was a big talk I had with my parents a few weeks ago. It was when I was having those headaches/dizzy spells and we thought it perhaps could be high blood pressure. It wasn't...but I decided I still wanted to do something about my weight. I got a bunch of blood work done and learned that I am borderline diabetic. I am not quite there, but if I don't do something, I will be. So that was a big reason.

The other reason is really no secret to my friends and family, so I might as well spill to the internet as well, right? Right. I've also hinted at this (mostly in my Ryan letters) but back in March, the guy I was dating at the time broke my heart. We had only been together 3.5 months, but I had never had such strong feelings for someone in my life. So I was pretty devastated when he chose his ex girlfriend over me. The break up was a big, big mess and it caused me to go into a funk. I turned very negative and didn't take care of myself. I gained weight and wasn't happy. It was only a few weeks ago when I decided I really can't let him have that kind of control over me. So part of my motivation is that whole situation. I'm gonna turn all that negativity into positivity.

What gym do you go to?
I joined Sola Life and Fitness and I'm obsessed. I love talking about my gym. I heard about it through a family friend. It is a reasonable price and that price includes personal trainers, fitness classes, nutrition classes, use of the pool, etc. When you first join you have a fitness assessment and the trainers give you a personal program to use. I love it. I've sent a few people there and will send anyone else who asks about it. The people there are awesome, it's clean, and it's super nice. They have new machines, the classes are FANTASTIC. I just can't get enough!

What do you do at the gym?
I mix it up. I am not the kind of person who can do the same thing all the time or I get incredibly bored.

1-2x a week I do Zumba. Monday evenings (except the Monday's that I volunteer at Gilda's club, which is only once a month) and Saturday mornings. I love Zumba, it's one of the best ways to exercise because it's fun. You burn anywhere from 600-1000 calories per class, so it's a great work out.

1-2x a week I swim. Swimming is my FAVORITE way of exercising. I love being in the water, and when I'm doing it as a work out I push myself really hard and do a bunch of laps. I usually am in there for about 40-50 minutes. I kick back and forth or do laps. The other day all the lap lanes were full so I used the walking lane and did lunges back and forth and used water weights will I did them. Wednesday's have become my swim day, and Sunday's when I go to the gym I swim too. But I don't/won't go every Sunday. That's kinda my day.

1-2 x a week I do my cardio/circuit training. This one I don't love so much, but I'm learning new things and starting to like it more. I change this up based on the plan my trainer and I worked on. Today I did 10 minutes on the Nustep, 10 minutes on the treadmill (at an incline), 10 minutes on the bike, and then 10 minutes of weights/core.

So I go about 5-6 days a week. I do not go on Thursday's because I have softball. And I try not to go on Sunday's because it's my day to rest and relax before a new week, but this past Sunday I did because I woke up WANTING to go. My goal is to go at least 4 days a week.

What are you eating?
Well, again, I like to change it up. Just like I get bored with exercise, I get bored with food, and if I made myself eat celery sticks and grilled chicken every day I'd go nuts. So I am just careful about what I eat and portion size.

My food diary for yesterday looked like this:
Breakfast: Egg white and turkey on an English muffin
1 glass Orange juice

Lunch: Panera Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
Banana
Pretzel Crisps

Snack: Trail Mix

Dinner: Lean Turkey Burger, no bun
Red Skin potatoes
Corn

Dessert: Banana w/ 2 tbsp. peanut butter.

There are clearly things I could do better on (soup was cream based which is probably a no no, and I could have chosen carrots over trail mix). But, I decided early on that I wasn't going to completely deny myself food, because that is just getting myself up to cheat. What I am trying to do is watch my sodium intake.


How Do You Feel?
Sore.

No, seriously, I do feel sore.

But I kinda like feeling sore, because it means I'm working hard. when I crawl into bed at night I can feel my muscles relax.

I feel better. So much better. And it's only been two weeks. I just feel more energetic, and accomplished. I also am rubbing off on some people around me. I get to work first now because I go to gym in the morning, and everyone asks what workout I did that day. My two roommates have started watching their diets and are going to start working out. I love that we can all do this together!

What Will You Write About Every Week?
Who knows? I sure don't! I might share a new recipe I learned, a new workout I enjoy, pictures, etc. I really have no idea. But I hope you read, comment, and share your tips and tricks!