Aerobics & Excercise Schedules

Now I promised myself I was going to try to do aerobics every day, and I'm already not following through. :( Right after posting on Monday I really did try to, but when I moved the couch I saw it needed to be vaccumed (how many times have we all done that?). So of course, I get out the vaccum and go to clean up first. Wouldn't you know I sucked up something I shouldn't have, and it got stuck in the hose. So I had to try to get whatever it was out, and before I was done or even got the excercise tape in, my other half calls from work and asks me to come get him. So forget excercise that day. :(

EXCUSES EXCUSES!

Sounds pretty lame, but I just don't feel comfortable trying to excercise in front of someone that's just watching (except the kids). So I'm trying to get my excercising done while he's at work, which is somewhat of a challenge. I'm lucky he's got a full schedule this week so I can work in some time to do what needs done. I DID manage to get some excercise in yesterday and that I'm proud of. My normal time looks like around 1-2pm, but today I've got to go to the school with the kid. This doesn't mean I'm not going to excercise today, because I'm going to really try to get it done when I get home and before I have to go get the other half from work. There's just enough time for it, so I had better get it done!

The tape I have is so old, and I borrowed it from my mom. It was one she wasn't using, and I really do need to find another. This one is great because it's low impact and what I need to start with, but I'm going to need some more intence ones soon. I might check out the dollar store because I saw some before I started my goals, but I also found a few that look interesting on Amazon that don't have a bad price.

Fitness 6-DVD Set was one that looked interesting, especially because it was 6 DVDs for less than $10. Not a bad deal at all, and looks as though it has three different levels to work on. Kathy Smith 20-minute Kickboxing/ Cardio Fat Burning Workout for Beginners looked fun too, and has some good reviews. Might have to put that one on my wish list. :)

I'd look for more, but I'm flat out of time for now. The kids are hungry but the good news is I'm NOT. No extra calories to worry about from lunch. :)

A little off track

I just started and already I'm a little off track. Was preoccupied with some business related things, but I'm *hopefully* back on track now. I didn't over indulge on the days I was "off" (which was Friday and Saturady), but I didn't count my calories burned or ate. Lesson learned though - I can't get off track NO MATTER WHAT if I want to keep up with my goal. Last week I only lost 2 lbs, which isn't all that great. I wanted to loose 5 lbs last week, because I'm so far over what I wanted to be I know it's going to take quite a bit the first few weeks to keep on going.

It's time to get serious

I've got my charts, my goals, and some ideas for snacks, but now it's time to really get serious about loosing weight. I've got to incorporate daily into my routine an excercise plan. So that's what I'm about to do - go excercise. Right now. No more excuses or thinking I'm "too busy". It's got to be done every day no matter what, or I'll never see those size 6 jeans in my closet again. Two weeks in and I should have lost a lot more than this, and I haven't simply because I haven't been excercising. Sure food has some to do with that too, but I'm going to hunt down some better recipes once I'm done. I already found a few, but not nearly enough.

Off I go to get in shape and shed calories faster than I would if I wasn't active!

I Love My Bread Machine

There was never a better invention than a bread machine. Those of you on low carb diets might want to turn away now. Being on a low calorie diet (which I hate that word, I prefer to think of this more as creating a healthy lifestyle), bread is at the top of my "healthy snack" list. Because of this, my bread machine has become my best friend. I make a new loaf every few days, and my family loves to snack on the bread as well. I don't add butter though, but instead honey. Sometimes I just eat it straight depending on what kind I made.

For those of you wanting to jump on the "easy and healthy" snack bandwagon right along with me, Amazon.com has several bread machines for sale, many which are low cost or on sale. If you already have a bread machine but are in need of some recipes, you might want to stop by RecipesForMom.com, because they have an ebook specifically on Bread Machine Recipes. I've been using several from that ebook for close to 2 years now. :)

Hurray for easy healthly snacks!

In Search of Recipes & Snacks

The week I start my weightloss plan is of course the week everyone decides to go out to eat. Three times I've been out, and I plan to go out tomorrow too. Doesn't help when I have a serious weekness to hamburgers, pizza, and ranch dressing. Remember I don't go for the "low fat" versions of any of those greasy items. *SIGH* It's alright though, because I'm not trying to cut out my favorite foods, but rather cut back on the total calories a day.

Even going out several times I think I did alright this week. I latched on to an exercise tape that I'm going to start today. I know just getting active is half the battle and will make a world of difference. I've also made sure even after those fattening meals I didn't each hardly anything later on. Not the best of plans since we still need FOOD, but I did make sure I burned more calories than I took in.

So now I'm in search of some low fat, low cal recipes that won't make my family say "YUCK!". This might prove to be more difficult than I originally though, but we'll see. I plan to sit down with my cookbooks to see what I can find. Basic searches come up with not so good looking dishes that I'm sure noone is going to want. Just sifting through normal recipes and pulling out those that not only look good but are low fat might be a better idea.

Aside from recipes, I also need to find some easy snack foods. I did pick up some raw carrots to snack on, but I still need more. Nouriche by Yoplait is another good choice, since it has only 260 calories, zero fat, and tons of vitamins and minerals. Too bad it's so expensive!(I picked it up on a semi-sale, at $5 for 4....not exactly a "deal" to me).

Today's supper is roast with potatoes, which is still pretty high in fat, but not too bad. Even with sour cream on the potatoe, the meal is only 400 calories and under 30g of fat. WAY too high in fat, but I should be able to balance out that with the rest of my meals for today. :)

Cappuchino Weakness

I'm proud to say I took my first official step with cutting back on foods. Cappuchino is a weekness of mine, and my morning ritual (some have coffee, I have cappuchino). I'm not about to give it up, because I would just fall right back into the habit of drinking it and majorly screw up my plan. So instead of cutting it out, I just cut back. NO harm there, not in the least. Usually I have a great big cup full of it that adds up to half of my fat gram allowance for the day, but today I cut it back more than half! The great thing is, it didn't bother me in the least not to have a giant mug full. I actually feel better because I'm not jittery like I usually am.

Woo hoo! Habit created!

Worksheets

There might be weightloss worksheets out there that give you an easy way to keep track of how many calories you've burned and how many you've taken in, but I haven't found any. Of course, I haven't looked that hard either. Guess it was just easier for me to set up my own forms in Microsoft Excel (what did we do before the days of spreadsheets?). I have 2 worksheets, but the one I work with daily that I use for a full week, and it has the following:

Calories Taken In
Calories Burned
Total Calories Burned

Under that I have a space to write down my weight on Monday, and again on Sunday to so I can see exactly how much I've lost that week. Might be a little much for some, but I like to see things on paper.

The other worksheet is one that I'll be using for the whole stretch of this plan. It's where I'll be writing a summery of each week until the very end. On this sheet is the following:

Calories Burned
Weight Lost
Weight Goal
Actual Weight

This way I can see at a glance how much progress I'm making, and what I need to do to improve that. The Weight Goal section is already filled in to the end, since I know where I'll have to be to get to my end goal. I've got a few major benchmarks that I want to reach by certain dates, so those are what I'll mostly be looking at to judge if I'm headed in the right direction or not. ;)

Introduction & Plan

First let me say that if you are just coming here looking for the latest fad diet, you won't find it. I could care less how many carbs a day I eat, nor do I pay the least bit of attention how many "points" a food has. That only confuses me.I'm an old fashion type of person that believes in doing things the old way - counting calories and fat grams while eating healthy. I don't do synthetic, cancer causing ingredients either. I'd rather blow my fat gram limit for the day on a cup of blue cheese than eat something marked "low fat".

This blog is all about my journey to loose 50 pounds over the next several months. I started on March 20th and my goal date is August 14th (my birthday!). That's a plan that stretches over about 5 months, which is obviously about 10 pounds a month. I decided to do this slowly, because I wanted to not only keep the weight off but be heathly as well. Losing a ton of weight quickly isn't going to do me or anyone else any good at all. Instead I want to create a habit of constantly burning more calories than I take in. I know the last few pounds are going to take the longest, but I will get down to that original 130! I haven't been that weight since high school, but I know is can be done.

My plan is pretty simple, and easy to follow. It's all about creating healthy habits and sticking with them until they become basically nothing to me. My plan includes the following:

- Counting Calories & Fat Grams
- Getting Active
- Burning more calories than I take in
- Cutting corners on meals, making them less fat and calories
- Cutting back on portions, not foods
- Drinking more water, less pop

The main point here is not cutting out problem foods, but rather just eating them in moderation. Getting into that habbit will ensure I won't slip back into old habbits like I've done before. I have many weaknesses like a lot of people do, and you can only go for so long without eating your favorite foods. Why try to deprive yourself? Just eat it in moderation like you should be in the first place. ;)

One of my major challenges is going to be finding dinners that are low in fat and calories that the family actually likes. Not an easy task! But I'm sure I'll find them, and will be sure to post what I find.

One more thing I should mention is where I'm getting the information on calories burned. I absolutely love this website, and it has just about every activity you can think of. The website is:
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.html

There's also lots of information on that website that is worth reading!