Zumba!

I survived my second night of Zumba! After the first time on Tuesday night I was absolutely EXHAUSTED afterwards. I was ready for bed at 8pm. Tonight was a different story though. I got home, took a shower (because I was extremely sweaty) and I just don't feel as tired! I feel like I could sleep if I tried, but I don't feel like slipping into a coma like I did on Thursday.

The best part is that I feel great after Zumba! It's definitely not for the faint of heart. For those of you who don't know what Zumba is, it's essentially dancing to Latin and other international music. And boy is it intense! One whole hour of high paced dancing - no breaks! But it's really fun, and it doesn't seem like an hour. Everytime I look at the clock, I think "Wow, this is going fast!"

When I mention that I've been going to Zumba, lots of people have said, "I've always wanted to try that, but I am very uncoordinated/a bad dancer/have two left feet." Well, I am all three of those things and I do just fine. Sure, sometimes I find myself doing random moves with my feet because I have no idea what I'm actually supposed to be doing, or I'll look up and realize that everyone else is doing something different than I am - but the point of it is to keep moving, and I'm doing that, even if it isn't always the right moves. Nobody cares. Seriously. Nobody is judging. Everyone is there for the same reasons - exercise and fun! It's a blast and I am looking forward to next week!

Now I need to cut the junk out of my diet and I'll be golden! :s

Monday (Non) Weigh-In

Today is Monday - that means it's weigh-in day. However, I had a lot of fun last night. A lot of fun involving two friends and a whole lot of booze under the disguise of a True Blood marathon. We only got through one episode. I guess we got side tracked. Anywho, I was mucho hung over this morning and forgot to weigh in. And that's probably a good thing. I'm going to use a "no weigh-in pass" today.

In other news, I'm officially joining the YMCA tomorrow. My aunt wants a buddy with whom to go to Zumba, and I'm going to be that buddy. I'm a little nervous just because I suck at dancing, but I think it will be fun! I'll be sure to report back so my faithful two or three readers can know how it went.

Life Update and Weigh-Ins

I've been a busy girl lately! I feel like life is whizzing by at the speed of light, and as a result, I've been neglecting my blog. I also haven't had time to do much couponing or researching deals. And work has been busy with lots of high-maintenance kids.

Last Friday (Sept. 10th), James's grandma passed away, so we were in SD for her funeral and related events for a good portion of last week. She was 88 years old and had had skin cancer on her nose for about four years. She had several surgeries to remove it, resulting in the almost complete removal of her nose, and they still couldn't get it all. Toward the end she was in a lot of pain and very disoriented. She was a very stubborn lady, but also one who loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She was pretty old-fashioned and had the mindset that men are superior, so she had an affinity for Isaac, who is her only great-grandson. I'll never forget when Isaac was about 3 months old, he accidentally waved to her when she was leaving once and she exclaimed, "He's so smart! He's going to be president someday!"

RIP Grandma Loverne. You will be missed.

And last Thursday through about Sunday or Monday, Isaac had a cold. He wasn't sleeping well because of this. And therefore, mom and dad weren't sleeping well either. After the cold subsided, he was still sporadically cranky for seemingly no reason at all. And still not sleeping well. At all. On Saturday he started tugging on his right ear, so this morning I brought him to the walk-in pediatric clinic for an ear check. The good news - no ear infection. The bad news - he has something called eustachian tube dysfunction. Essentially, he has an imbalance of air in his ear, and the tube to relieve the pressure isn't working correctly. From what I hear, it can be pretty painful. The doctor said it's usually irritated by some sort of sickness, in this case most likely the cold he had last week. There's nothing we can do besides wait it out. It will go away on it's own. Hopefully my poor baby will be feeling better soon - and mom and dad can get some sleep!

Taking a seat on the back burner, right next to my blog, is my diet. No, I haven't given up just yet. Last week I weighed in on Sunday rather than Monday because I knew we were leaving for SD on Sunday and I wanted to be able to use my own scale. So last week I was -0.8 lbs for a total of -6.4. I can live with that.

However, whenever we visit the in-laws, my diet goes to pot. My mother-in-law just has too much junk laying around, tempting me, calling my name. And it doesn't help that we stopped at the Olive Garden in Fargo on the way. Then this weekend, I went tailgating. Tailgate food is generally pretty bad. Anyway, I weighed in this morning and I gained one lb. So my grand total is back down to -5.4. Here's to hoping for a better week. Although today wasn't great either. I just need to get my willpower back to where it was two weeks ago.

And since we're on the subject of weight loss, I think I'm going to join the YMCA. Originally, I wanted to join during the summer so I could bring Isaac to the free (for members) drop-in childcare while I swam laps in the pool. However, the $48/mo membership fee was a bit much for someone who is making no money during the summer. Now that I'm getting paid again, we can swing it. And today I found out that employees of the school district get a 10% discount. Plus, I'm already at the YMCA three days a week. We take the kids there for Phy Ed on Mon, Thurs, Fri. It doesn't get easier to get my butt to the gym than already being there. So... I might go in sometime this week and get things set up. Hopefully that will speed the weight loss up a little, or at least boost my energy a bit.

Also, while I was at the YMCA today, I signed Isaac up for swimming lessons. He's in the infant/toddler class, which is ages 6 mo to 3 years. Obviously, a parent needs to be in the pool with them, so I'll be there with him. It will be twice a week for four weeks, starting the first week in October. I'm excited! Isaac loves the water!

Well, that's all for now, folks. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon.

Monday Weigh-In

-0.4

I think my pseudo dieting is catching up with me. I knew this day would come! But it's still a loss, so I'm ok with that. I was especially bad yesterday. The in-laws were staying with us again this weekend, so my diet kind of went out the window. I'll try to be extra good this week to make up for it.

Happy Labor Day!

Monday Weigh-In

-2.4!

I have to admit, last night I was dreading writing this post because I thought for sure I would have gained again. I didn't expect to lose anything, much less 2.4 lbs! I guess all the little things really do help, like not snacking so much. I haven't changed the things I'm eating at all, I've just been more mindful of my portions.

This brings my total weight loss to -5.2. If I was actually going to Weight Watchers meeting, I would have gotten my first 5 lb star today! Oh heck, I'll give myself a 5 lb star. :)

Monday Weigh-In

Whew! I've been busy today! Today was Isaac's first day of daycare since school got out. I was afraid it would take some time for him to aclimate to it, but he jumped right in and had a fun-filled day of playing with his friends! He was so tired tonight that he fell asleep at 7pm! James changed him into his PJs without him even waking up!

I don't have to go back to work until Wednesday, so I had the day to myself today! After I dropped Isaac off at daycare, I went to Target (got some great deals that I'll blog about tomorrow, so stay tuned!), back home to get some pictures and stuff in the mail and let Gizmo outside, then Green Mill for lunch with my mom, then shopping for some pants, then home for a nap. After I picked Isaac up from daycare, we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa since James had a business dinner. Grandpa babysat while my mom and I went to Applebee's for some $2 margaritas. Yep, I was spoiled today. But believe me, I needed it.

Anyhoo, back to the weigh-in. I'd like to preface the results by saying I had a rough week. I want to make excuses and say that I've had a rough week (which is true, but not an excuse for bad eating), but when it's all said and done, my loss/gain is a result of my choices. You can tell this isn't going to be good, can't you?

I'm +1.2 lbs this week, for a total of -2.8. And I'm not discouraged in the least. I knew it was going to be a bad weigh-in. Those will happen every once in a while. I think the culprit is going out for lunch a lot. I was going out a lot thinking that in a few short days, I'll have to go back to work and won't have the chance to do it anymore. And I tried to curb the emotional eating, but it did get the best of me toward the end of the week.

But I really think that it will get easier for me to stick to it once I go back to work and get back on more of a schedule. So, I have high hopes for this week (minus the Green Mill and margaritas today, hehe).

Monday Weigh-In

Well, I weighed in this morning and I'm down 4 lbs!

I have to to admit, I totally didn't see that coming. I stopped counting points half way through the week. I still was using the points as a general guideline, but it's hard to figure the points out when you're cooking for the whole family. And James and I even had date night on Thursday, complete with movie theater popcorn and an uninhibited trip to Applebee's. So 4 lbs? I'm shocked.

Keep in mind that the pounds come off easily in the first week of a diet. I do not expect to lose this much every week, in fact, it would be unhealthy to do so. It will slow down now to 1-2 lbs per week if I'm good. And honestly, I don't expect to be good all the time. I need to cheat every once in a while to stay sane.

Oh, and I'm changing my water goal to half a gallon. I can do a gallon, but I'm peeing way too much. It's just not convenient.

Here's to hoping for another good week!

Day One

Today marks the first day of my diet. I weighed in this morning. Then I put my scale in my closet so I'll only weigh myself once a week. That will take some self-control in and of itself, but I think I'll stay more motivated if I don't stress about the number on the scale every day.

I was surprised when I weighed myself that I weigh only 1.4 lbs more than at my first doctors appointment when I was pregnant. That was when I was only 5 weeks along, so I use that as my pre-pregnancy weight. However, that was a different scale, and every scale I've ever stepped on has said something different, so that could be way off. And although 1.4 lbs is a negligable difference, I wear it so very differently now. I feel a lot bigger than before. More saggy and flabby. I guess being all stretched out will do that to a person.

I think I'm off to a pretty good start. I discovered that the cereal I like is only 3 points (including the milk), and I was surprised at the serving size. It's about the same amount of cereal that I usually pour into the bowl, so I was happy with that.

I decided that my daily water goal will be one gallon. I may not make it every day, but if that's how much I shoot for, then I'm sure I'll be drinking more water than I do now! I have a two-quart container that I can fill up and keep in the fridge, so my goal is to drink two of them every day. A few years back, I was drinking a gallon of water per day. I had to pee a lot, but it was very doable. When I think about it, I just head to the fridge, pour a glass, and chug it right then and there. That way, I hardly even notice I'm drinking so much water.

I think my main challange will be trying to figure out what to cook for supper, since I have to cook for James and Isaac too.

That's all folks! Tune in evey Monday for my weekly weigh in.

Big Plans

I'm going to start Weight Watchers on Monday. There, I said it and now I can't turn back. I figure now that my baby is over a year old, I really should lose the baby weight. Although, I really don't feel motivated. At all. So I'm going to just force myself to eat bland food and exercise. Can't wait.

I'm not actually going to go to the meetings, but I'm going to follow the program. I have all the books from when I lost a bunch of weight before my wedding. I plan to use my blog for my weekly weigh-ins. Of course, I'm not going to tell you how much I weigh, I'm just going to tell you how much I lost/gained. I need some sort of accountability if I'm not going to the meetings, so this is it. We'll see how long it lasts.

Also, I'm thinking I need to cut WAY down on my soda intake. I drink like, three pops per day. I am going to try cut it down to one and start drinking lots of water. I will have a daily water goal, I just don't know how much that's going to be yet.

So, I'm starting all this on Monday. And today I'm going to Paradiso (amazing Mexican restaurant) with Kristi, my sole co-worker, since we haven't seen each other in months. I better enjoy it, might be the last time I go out for a while... :(

My New Bicycle!

It sounds weird saying "bicycle." But when I say "bike" I feel like people might think I mean a motorcycle.

Anywho...

I got a new bike today! My awesome parents bought it for me as an early birthday present. Very early, since my birthday isn't until December, but it doesn't make much sense to buy someone a bike in December here in ND.

It's a Trek Navigator 2.0. Here's a picture - mine is the same color and everything.

So we took Isaac for a ride tonight. It was the perfect day for a bike ride. 75 degrees and sunny! Seriously, this bike made the ride SO much more enjoyable. James says that he can't tell the difference between a $100 Target bike and a $400 Trek, but he's wrong. There IS a difference. A big difference! I can't wait to go for another ride tomorrow.

We have this nifty baby seat for Isaac that sits in the front between the bike seat and the handle bars. I'd never seen one before my parents bought it for us (and got one for my dad's bike too). It's really cool because I can see what he's doing and he can see everything without my butt in the way. He LOVES bike rides.

It looks like this:

That first one is really blurry, but it's the only one I have that shows exactly where the seat sits on the bike. I'll blame my mom. She took the pictures. :) That's Isaac and his grandpa, who LOVES to take Isaac on bike rides.

I'm so excited about my awesome bike! Maybe now I'll get out and get some exercise!