I've moved!!!

See my new blog here:

https://dorseyshealthyjourney.blogspot.com/

Vacation

This past week (8 March - 15 March) was spent with this view outside of the master bedroom (most days). It was HEAVENLY!! We went to Pensacola, Florida to visit my son for Spring Break. We chose to stay in a condo at Perdido Key, FL (just about 20 minutes away from N.A.S. Pensacola. A few mornings I went for early walks on the beach. I couldn't think of a better place to walk. It was so much more calming and enjoyable than walking in my suburban neighborhood. Looking out over the waters and feeling the sand between my toes just seemed to quiet my worries. The cool water brushing against my feet and ankles washed away my stresses. I didn't listen to any music as I strolled, the only melody I needed was that of the waves hitting the beach. My first morning out I looked towards the rising sun and saw dolphins swimming in the waves. I nearly squealed with delight! Ha!

During our visit we also went to Mobile, Alabama and visited Battleship Park. Here we did some sightseeing and saw/explored the USS Alabama (battleship), several aircraft, and the USS Drum (submarine). I think the boys got the most out of this particular trip. It was very interesting and my dear daughter and I also enjoyed touring around, but Hubby and my darling son were fascinated at every turn. Another sightseeing trip was to the Naval Air Station itself. We went there two days, actually. The first day we (Hubby, daughter, and myself) went with my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew. My son was in class during the day, so we couldn't get together with him until later that afternoon. We visited the Pensacola Lighthouse, the National Naval Aviation Museum, Fort Barrancas (and the Redoubt located nearby). We drove to the Lighthouse, and then over to the Museum. While we were at the museum, we got the text from my son that he was ready to go. So we picked him up, and then went out to eat. After that, we came back to base and visited the Redoubt. It was closed, but we walked around and checked it all out. Then we discovered a trail (~1/2 mile) that led to Fort Barrancas. The fort was also closed, but we looked around anyway and enjoyed the minor hike. Granted, on the return trip to the Redoubt, I was considerably slower and got rather winded; but I was proud of myself for conquering it anyway. I remember remarking once that I'd BETTER lose weight after all that walking. Ha!

We went back to the museum and fort on Saturday (when both were open) with my son, but time didn't allow for the hike, as it had before. I feel like I ate pretty well throughout the week. The exercising was much easier given the surroundings of the beach. The loose sand was difficult to walk in, and turned out to be quiet the increased workout. It seemed to feel as though I was always walking up hill, given the resistance of the sand. I can now much greater appreciate how my son is always exhausted after morning PT on the beach.

I had weighed before we left, and was definitely less than satisfied with the numbers looking back at me. I didn't bring a scale along with me, and honestly didn't even think much about the subject at all. I just tried to keep a positive attitude and when I felt "snacky" I attempted to busy myself with some other activity besides eating. This afternoon, after finally conquering a 3-day headache, I timidly stepped on the scale. I lost 7.5 lbs!! Yay!!! I am going to do my best to continue to make smarter choices and strive for a healthier life overall. 

Abandoned regrets

I cannot count the number of times I feel I have left this blog in the dust, seemingly forgetting all about it. I'm not sure if there comes a time in a woman's life that she is too old to continue playing all the silly games of life. Perhaps it is that as I age, I look back less and strive to look forward instead.

Looking back is a tricky beast. Being overweight seems to be a curse of looking back. You carry with you the experiences (and pounds) of many a day and night. My life is not defined by my weight, at all. However, I feel as though I am judged by this excess burden every day. I find that I have stopped crying over this issue less and less in recent months. I used to discover that I had so much regret in my life over my failed attempts at weight loss. But this is just wasted time and energy. I will no longer live with regret!

I am not going to avow that I will work out every other day and watch every bite that I eat. Instead, I will attest to being real. I will do my best to move towards a healthier life. I do not want to develop diabetes or any other number of maladies associated with carrying around far ore weight than I should.

Lent is all about giving something up, some bad habit, so you can become closer to God and reaffirm your spiritual relationship. This year I am giving up frivolous spending. The random trip to Wal-mart to acquire some unneeded trinket will not longer burden my conscience. I will not make sporadic jaunts to the local craft store to start some new task that will consume my every thought for all of two weeks and then find it's way to an already overcrowded closet. And of course, no more runs to the closest fast food establishment to quiet the latest craving.

I am hopeful that this will be a step in the right direction of abandoning my past and future regrets and moving towards a closer relationship with God, myself, my family, and friends. through this journey I am optimistic that I will find my ultimate motivation to a healthier life.

Stay-At-Home Mom?

There are many days I ask myself if I really am a stay-at-home mom. My oldest is on the verge of graduating from high school and heading to the U.S. Navy early this next Fall. My youngest is going to be a junior in high school and merely TWO YEARS from graduating herself. Hubby works from home most days, but obviously I'm not his mom. hehe

This transition has been perplexing, at best. I'm not sure I am a stay-at-home mom. I guess technically I am a mom, and I do stay at home (not working outside of the house). But when I envision stay-at-home moms, I see powerful women with a kiddo or two running about the house, running errands to and fro with the kids, various craft and educational activities with their children's young budding minds. My days of that are long past. I have young adults, not children. I do stay very active with the high school's Air Force Jr. ROTC program (as both children have been very active within it throughout their high school careers). But that's not all that time consuming MOST days.

Keeping on a schedule is also tough when a lot of the time you're the only one at the house, and you have no vehicle (beyond a bicycle) to run around town. Today was one of those tough days. I woke up later than I wanted. I ate some pineapple and checked email/Facebook/etc...then I watched the news for a while. a couple of hours later I prepared some lunch (leftovers) and worked on some med trans. I found myself suddenly VERY TIRED. So I decided to take a nap. A short 45 minute nap turned into 2.5 hours!! It looked like my day was all but dashed away when I decided to go upstairs and workout with the Kinect. I kept at it for 50 minutes and burned 140 calories between the warm-up, cardio boxing, and Latin dancing.

I truly felt proud of myself for walking up that small flight of stairs and sticking with my commitment to work out. Although I have "plan b" still in place, I want desperately for this to work!! I AM feeling better overall, even if the numbers on the scale aren't moving quickly. The ladies on Facebook in my Six Week Challenge group have been wonderful, also!! But I'm still not sure I qualify as a true "stay-at-home mom." =)

The Little Things

Well, I've had one week of a small gain and one week of a loss. I'm not at even, so I'm quite pleased. I can probably trace back why I had both the success and the moderate "failure," which doesn't make it a failure at all, I suppose.

Yesterday, I worked out twice. Once at home with the xBox 360 Kinect (Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012) and then again at the local rec center. I woke up this morning and was incredibly sore!! I guess usually I would have let that stop me from doing any more activity today, but I sucked it up and went upstairs for another Kinect session this morning. I DO feel slightly better having done so, and I know the soreness will work its way out in time.

 So I sat here, writing my workout and foods down, as hubby jotted off to lunch with a co-worker and thought I'd paint my nails. I chose a bright "hot pink" color as it is indicative of my mood today. I'm happy!

I'm making progress and taking stock of the little things that lift my spirits. The paint on my nails will also help serve as a reminder. When I'm  at the gym, or contemplating skipping my workout altogether, I can look at my hands with their jovial color and remember how I felt today. I like this feeling and I KNOW I'll want to repeat it. 

Isn't it interesting how something so minor as lacquer on fingernails can inspire and keep motivation humming?  Here's to the little things!!

Rewards

Who doesn't love getting rewards? There are so many things we do for ourselves and others, just because. But every now and then, rewarding ourselves for magnificent efforts is a GREAT motivator!!

I've told you about my FitBook, but today I want to go into more detail. This thing has been GREAT!!!! 

 
This is the page where I first addressed rewards in my FitBook. You can make as many goals as you want. The first week I made FAR TOO MANY goals. The next week I scaled it down to a much more reasonable amount. I've yet to cash in on a reward, but this week is looking promising! =) 

When thinking about rewards, you have to be careful. Initially I thought I'd put my reward as a Slurpee from 7-11. Then I thought about the health benefits of that...which of course, are NONE. So I chose instead to interject a little pampering. This week's reward? A facial at a local spa/salon. I got one in January and it was.....FANTASTIC!!!! 

I'm thinking of continuing this trend with my rewards. Each new reward will be a little bit of self-pampering. Maybe a movie, trip to Ulta (my FAVORITE makeup/perfume stop), spa trip, massage, maybe a new PC or xBox game, etc.... Any suggestions?

This is what the wrap up looks like:

I have chosen to go ahead and write down little notes in the margins of the daily pages. Some of them pertain to my mood that day, others are frustrations, etc. I think it will help me overall. 

I've also joined a group on Facebook lately that has a monetary incentive. The reward there is cold hard cash!! You put in $10 and then have a weekly weight in. The person with the most weight lost (percentages) wins the pot! Yay!! 

Do you have a reward that works best for you? Good luck friends!

Plan B

For 2 weeks now I have been working out a lot more (at least 5 days a week) and writing down what I eat in a fitbook. I'm going to give this plan 3 solid months. If I don't see significant results in that time period then I'm going to a bariatric surgeon for a consultation. 

So far I'm actually doing better than I thought I would. The fitbook allows you to make weekly goals and rewards. Week One: walk 2 miles, workout 1 hr minimum, no more than 4 :( during the week. Reward: Professional Manicure. Week Two: Lose 5 lbs, go to the gym in the mornings (missing no more than 3 mornings), no diet drinks or Cokes, water or tea only. Reward: Professional Manicure. Week Three (Current): Lose 5 lbs, miss no more than 2 gym days, no fried foods all week. Reward: Facial at the Spa. I didn't quite make it during weeks 1 and 2 (only missed the 1 hr week one, missed 3 days of gym totally week two). I was THRILLED with my weight loss during week two, though! Yay!! I was down 7.5 LBS!!! I had to look at the scale twice to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

I think my success this go around, I know its still early, is the fact that I don't feel alone. My hubby has been going to the gym with me. I think another added benefit is that I feel as though there is a "plan B" this time. There never was a backup plan in the past, it was just "do this and succeed!" I'm still going to give this my all, regardless of any other plans. 

Looking forward to continued success and enjoying that Spa Facial this next week. 

Step into my office....

So I've "struggled" with my weight for years, I know you've all heard this before. I've watched the scales creep up pound by pound. I've recommitted myself to the cause of losing the excess so many times, I've begun to lose count.


Today my husband and I sat on the back porch and he suggested that perhaps it was time to look into surgical options. So now I begin my research. I'm thinking I'll make an appointment at a local surgical center this week. At least I can see what they have to say. I know in the past I've considered surgery to be "cheating" to lose the pounds, but I'm starting to rethink that.



I still believe that exercise is the key to my weight loss overall. But late night "sneaks" to Burger King or Taco Bell aren't helping my case either. Its a matter of will power, and my will is not what it once was... I'm not sure what to expect, really. I just know that I'm tired of feeling this way all the time. I'm tired of crying and feeling hurt every time my loving husband tries to sincerely help me with these struggles, or even bring the subject of weight up.


I want a healthy alternative that I can accomplish. I think now may be the time. Over the years I have developed sensitivities to various items. Milk and dairy products make me cough and tear up my stomach something fierce. I thoroughly enjoy all things dairy, but they certainly don't enjoy me. Most foods that give some people mild cases of gastric distress (i.e. broccoli, beans, etc...) seem to send me into a tailspin. I also ADORE steak!! But if I eat more than about 3oz. then all my plans for the evening will include a porcelain throne. Ugh! I've taken Bean-o and Imodium so much, I should own stock in the companies. I am not totally sure if this is all due to aging physiological bodies or a sign of a greater issue.  Checking into this surgery will be my first step to getting my life back. Wish me luck, friends.

P90x Dance?

No worries, there isn't a new P90x out there that everyone needs to rush out and buy. I'd just completed my workout that I missed yesterday (because I wasn't feeling well yesterday), which was Shoulders and Back, and Ab Ripper. But I wanted to stick with my alternate workouts as well. I wasn't really feeling the Wii today, so I took to the Kinect. I put in Dance Central 2 and tried out something I had failed to attempt before.

 

There is a fitness setting within the game. It includes several levels, and I started with "Warm-Up" (having never tried this before, I thought it best to start easy). This consists of 8 songs one right after the other. You don't have to pick a new song, it automatically progresses through the songs for you. This was a GREAT workout!! I think I might try and do the warm-up combined with other selections next week. I noticed quite a bit of moves that were similar to P90x moves (Plyometrics, Kenpo, etc...). It WAS hard to fully extend my arms, as I'd just finished working out my shoulders, but I did my best.

This was FAR more entertaining and the time passed quickly, as opposed to regular aerobics. I still worked up a sweat and got my heartbeat up, but without having to worry about someone annoyingly guiding me through everything. =)

Be well friends!

P90x and more....

So for just over a week, I've been doing P90x with my husband.

 

This has NOT been easy!!! Most of the time I do about 50% of the workout, at best, and HIGHLY modified. That said, this time working out has actually been easier overall.  The actual workout itself is mega-tough, but something is changed this time around. My husband! In years past I've been supported in any menu/diet endeavors I've chosen to take on.  He's readily opted to go along with me and eat the same foods. The only thing I was doing by myself was the exercising. This in and of itself had me quitting pretty early on. I felt like there was little point to it, and had no real accountability to my efforts. My brother-in-law suggested we take on the challenge of doing the P90x workout, and even lent us his copy of the DVDs. So we began! We also started out following the diet outlined in the Abs Diet book. The diet seemed very carb-heavy and had me a bit concerned. After a week and a half I weighed myself and found I'd lost 2 lbs. Though I was thrilled that it was stepping in the right direction, I was less than impressed with the low number. I'd been working REALLY hard (harder than any time in the past), stuck with the diet VERY strictly, and had seen less results than in the past when I'd done less in the past. So I opted to switch to a more diabetic diet for myself. Being that I have 100+ lbs to lose I thought this would be better than all the carbs one usually takes in when working on bulking up/building muscle tone. And its paid off! Yay!! 

I'm still taking in some carbs, but I'm limiting them to within an hour of when I'm going to be working out for the bulk of them, for the energy. I'm less bogged down/lethargic overall. I'm able to work out consistently now in large part due to the efforts of my husband. Neither of us is in the greatest of shape, but having someone in my own house to be accountable to and workout with me helps tremendously!!!

Given that this workout seems to be less centered around cardio, I've also decided to supplement my workouts with daily trips to the gameroom to exercise utilizing the Wii.

 

I'm doing some of the Wii Fit Plus workout for warm-up/cool-down as well as various cardio workouts specialized within the program itself. I'm looking forward to success and being bathing suit ready next year (and less shopping for cute cover-ups)!

Be well friends! I DO have a P90x/Beachbody Coach, a few friends of mine are coaches and are helping me on this journey. If anyone can suggest a program where I can chart my weight loss on a graph I'd LOVE to know about it. I look forward to sharing my progress with everyone who stops by here. I'm currently using MyFitnessPal (on Android) to track my diet and exercise diary. =)