I'm back!!!

this morning i weighed in at 180.4!! i think, after my gym awesomeness tonight, i will be back in the 179's tomorrow morning... woo-hoo!! my trainer thinks my weight gain was due to sodium eating, rather than actual poundage... possible with the soy sauce/sushi on Friday... either way, i feel good again... this morning, i was actually at the last loop on my belt!! yay!!

tomorrow i'm taking a gym break as i'm physically and mentally exhausted... but i will do my 500 jumps, either tomorrow night or Thursday night in the garage gym! :-)

Next Monday is my annual physical... i hope that i rock it in all possible ways! because seriously, i cannot do more with this weightloss than i'm currently doing!

Re-Grouping and Re-Focusing...

OMG - i have moved back to 182.4 in the last four days... i blaming chris and easter, oh and being sick resulting in my not having any healthy food choices at home!

but in truth, i hit my half way point of -20#'s and thought "lets' take a mini-break"... bad, bad, bad... so, on Sunday after eating BAD BAD BAD food for breakfast with Chris at La Pinata, i gave myself a strong talking to about getting back on track. and so i went grocery shopping for some healthy food choices, and then i finally pulled out my jump rope and did 500 jumps in the garage. I'm thinking of setting a new goal of 1k jumps per week...

Anyways, today, i got back on track with bringing my lunch to work, and pounding it out at the gym. it felt really good!!

i'm thinking about expanding my garage gym... with a stabilization ball and a mat for abs work... i'm kinda liking the garage gym!!

anyways, onward from here... oh, and July was marginally fascinated by the jump roping for about 5 minutes, and then retired to her napping location... :-)

Work and Working Out Balance..

Lately my motto has been "If it's not work or the gym, I've not been doing it". This week, I actually had after work activities on Tuesday and Wednesday, and gymmed on Monday and again today... Today was my weakest workout since i started training!:-( All of the weights felt so heavy, and i barely could do a single pull up or push up on my own... i don't know what was wrong with me! I just felt so exhausted!!! physically and psychologically exhausted. I only wanted to just sit on my couch, and watch bad TV... not talk, not move, not think...

I was super embarrassed in front of my trainer due to my lack of effort tonight! :-( So, i'm thinking that during the week days, work and gym may be the best i can do... maybe one additional social activity night... but i can't do two and two nights of training... i just don't have the energy. :-(

oh well... next week i'll be back to my old training schedule... and if the weather stays pretty... maybe i'll be able to fit in a swim lap or two this weekend... so happy to see Friday at last...

I have arrived...

at the 170's!!! :-) this morning i weighed in at 179.2 lbs! yay. Tonight, the gym kicked my a**!!!! I only made it through 2.75 sprints at the end of the workout, but i did all the other weights. Still disappointing... i can't seem to get to 3 sprints during training!

The last time i was in the 170's, i was in college... the last time i was in the 150's (my ultimate goal) i was in highschool. In both cases, i don't remember ever having to work at it, i just remember that it just was... and now, at 36, i have to work so hard for it! if ever there was any doubt at how the metabolism changes as you get older, that doubt should now be erased!

here is my interesting observation of the day... every guy i have ever spoken to about this challenge and weight loss, always ALWAYS offers up their weight numbers... their heaviest and what they are today. I find that really interesting, because i don't share ANY of my numbers! i feel like even if i weighed 110 lbs., i probably wouldn't ever say anything... all afternoon i've wondered why that is... other things that people are really private about, i am not (like money/salary), but for this, i won't talk about it... i'm still not sure why i don't want to share it with others... maybe when i get to 150 i'll shout it out in normal conversation! :-) or i'll go to therapy to understand why... :-)

In July news, for the last hour, i've been attempting to take a picture of July using my PS3 controller as a pillow, but she keeps waking up and moving. by the way, SO HAPPY to learn that the PS3 remote doesn't have to be plugged in! :-) thank you Roma!!

Day #2 spent on the couch...

I never thought i would be tired of watching bad TV, but after being stuck at home sick for two entire days, i can honestly say that i'm done with the bad TV! ... for now... :-) I am hoping to leave the house and have some personal contact tomorrow... so, this will hopefully be my last day/night spent on the couch snuggling a box of Kleenex!

There have been some benefits of this swift and unexpected sickness:

1. I've lost weight due to not being hungry :-) i weighed in at 181.1 this morning...
2. I've caught up on MUCH NEEDED sleep... i have slept more soundly and dream-free (thank you Nyquil) for the last two days/nights than i have for the last 4 months!
3. I got the day off from work i've been dreaming about for the last 3 months! granted, most of it was spent sleeping, blowing my nose and feeling sorry for myself, but that was SO much better than spending it worrying about product launch/readiness details - which just gives the sad picture of what has been work-life for the last 4 months.

I'm really hoping that in the next two weeks i can hit 179.9#'s as that will be my halfway point for the total weightloss goal for the year, and i'll be 1 month ahead of schedule... woo-hoo!!

soooooooooo very sick......

but weighing 182.1 pounds! :-) Sick never looked so good! :-)

I hope it's just stress.......

because i'm SUPER not feeling good today... i've had 5 cups of tea and 1 cup of coffee... and yes, i'm still going to training tonight... because i DO NOT HAVE TIME TO BE SICK, and thus must power onward... oh, chicago vacation, when will you get here... ???

hello black pencil skirt..... it's been a long time!

today i got to wear my favorite black pencil skirt, which hasn't zipped up for well over 8 months! YAY... it is somewhat less pencil-y than it should be, but omg it fits me... YAY!! i cannot wait for the fall, where i will do some serious shopping in smaller sizes, but for now, i'll just rejoice in re-visiting my favorite clothes in the larger sizes...

Career Advice... hmmm... where to start?

Gymmed my bootie off on Sunday at training, where we did the killer cardio work out... which, yes, almost killed me. Luckily it didn't, allowing me to eat my bootie off on Sunday afternoon at the fun surprise party for Ling. I'd have to call this a weightloss wash... :-) This morning, i packed my gym bag, with all intentions of doing killer cardio on my own after work... but that quickly faded at about 30 minutes into the morning commute, when i was fighting off closing my eyes to go back to sleep!:-) which strangely carried on the WHOLE day where i fought off the urge to go back to sleep!! :-) After work, i'm meeting up with a friend of a friend for coffee and some career advice about how to move out of logistics in the retail industry to logistics in the electronics industry. I'm always excited to talk to other women about career advancement, especially when they have a great resume as this girl does... i think i get as much out of it as they do, just a reminder to give up the planned escape to a career as a trophy wife! :-) lately there have been so, so many hard days, it's hard to remember that i actually like this career... :-) all of my mentors and career people have all been men (well, and my mom)... i've never reached outside of that for advice and encouragement... i have to say, i do like that i'm someone that people reach out to :-)... Happy Monday... back to the gym tomorrow!! :-)

On the comeback trail

Ok so I haven't been doing much the past few weeks besides work. Work has been killer lately and I've been coming home late, eating late and just watching tv. Not even been on the net much. Got around to reading Leenie's updates and got motivated since I can't lose this bet right? Well the truth is I will probably lose but I am going to try my best to make it respectable. I weighed my self this morning after working out again this week and eating a lot less and am down to 201.2. My lowest since this began. I've dropped 5lbs in four days. I am down over 9lbs total. With about a month left to go, it is a long shot for me to win but I'll be downing the laxatives or having gastric bypass done if need be.

Seriously, congrats on the work so far Leenie. Can't wait to see you in a few weeks. WE will have to hit up the Piñata whiel I'm in town!!

So...burned...out...

I made it through tonights training... though, i'll admit i was only at half speed... i'm just physically exhausted and mentally exhausted! On the other hand, I'm happy i made it to the gym at all today, and moved around for at least an hour... :-) and now for a three day gym rest! i didn't eat completely clean today... sadly partook in stress eating at lunch of curly fries... but, everything else was clean, so i'm hopeful i'm still in the 181's tomorrow morning! And now, another July story... so, July has been acting like a cat that is half her age since yesterday! so, as i came in from the gym, there she was at the door... waiting to run out! luckily i moved quickly enough to block her with my gym bag! she has not made a run for the front door for years! and now twice in one day? and then, i watched as she jumped from the couch, to the coffee table, to the scratcher cat shrine, then back to the couch! it's been years since i've seen her move like that! and she has also been playing a lot with her toys lately too... i'm finding them all over the house! i have decided that all of these things are signs that she is happy that spring is here! :-) only one day left until friday... thank god!!

The scale this morning....

read 181.2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) it was also 5:22AM, so i thought... maybe i'm miss reading this scale... so i weighed myself 4 more times and it was the same... YAY!! Hopefully i can maintain/hold it for the week... but for today, i celebrate... :-) Ok, and because i know this entry would not be complete without it, a July story from this morning... as i opened the door to leave the house at 5:40, she darted outside, where it was so dark! thankfully she paused on the porch, and looked back at me, with a mixture of "aren't you going to stop me, i could get hurt or lost" and "free at last, free at last"... luckily i was able to chase her down and get her back inside without her biting, scratching or hissing at me... she was really antsy last night, so i'm not sure what is going on with her... waaaaaayyyyy too much excitement for an already waaaaaayyyy too early morning!

Spaghetti Arms and Spaghetti Legs

Tonight the gym seriously kicked my A-S-S. Here is the circuit... 10 kettle bell squats, 7 push ups, and triple-threat with the medicine ball (lower abs, hamstrings, and bootie)... by the end of the work out I had done 70 push ups, 100 squats, 36 lower abs, 36 hamstrings and 36 bootie squeezes... # of times i wanted to throw-up = 5, # of times i cried = 2. :-) i will be taking motrin tonight, as tomorrow it will be more of the same at training. This morning I woke up at 182.6... i'm hoping that i can stay in the 182's this week, because i SWEAR, these last 5 pounds of the 180's are taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!! On the eating side, things are going good. I've eaten out twice in the last 6 days, and i found it easier to select healthy options, healthy portions, and still enjoy and be full. Even eating pasta and rice! definately eating out has become less daunting. to treat myself for the insane workout tonight, i will be eating a soy ice cream sandwich, at 80 calories from Trader Joes! :-)