200 lb Milestone Reached!

I weigh 200.5 this morning. Can I ignore the .5 and count this as my 200 lb milestone? i think so and I am!!! YAY! I haven't weighed this much/less since before my honeymoon two summers ago. When I went on my honeymoon, I weighed 193, but when I got home after a week in the woods, I weighed 201. Too much yummy barbeque and beer I suppose.

THIS IS THE LAST TIME I WILL EVER WEIGH THIS MUCH.

I'm not going to give in. My lifestyle is changing for good. I will never go back. Being healthy and thin is too important for my health, physical & emotional. I feel too good to become a fat cow again.

down 1/2 a pound...

I'm down .5 today making it 10 lbs down total since I started the Shred. It seems like it was coming off so slow and now all of a sudden, it's 10 lbs gone. WOW.

I'm still not feeling tip top. I really don't know what is wrong with me. I'm beginning to think that my being sick has nothing to do with those sugar free hard candies because it would not be lasting this long. Must be something else, an energy depleting bug for sure.

The uncomfortable pain all over my body from last night is mostly gone. My left ankle is still a bit sore, but other than that, all gone.

Hurting...

So my whole body is hurting... well, not my whole body, but a lot of my body. My left arm hurts like I slept on it wrong, just a dull aching that wont stop. Both shins hurt like they have huge bruises on them (one does have a bruise and I don't know where it came from), my left ankle feels like it doesn't want to hold me up and my butt hurts. I was lying on the couch at one point today and when I got up, it felt like I pulled a muscle in my right butt cheek. It hurts bad now... like it did when I was pregnant. I think the doctor called it my sciatic nerve? Anyway, I'm wondering how it's all going to feel when I try to shred in the morning. Why, 13 days since I started, am I having so many issues. This is when I'm suppose to be feeling good darn it. I think tomorrow I'm going to add some Pilates into my day. Maybe my whole body just needs a good stretch.

I wasn't very hungry today, so I chose to use the rest of my points + a couple on a candy bar, a 3 Musketeers Bar to be exact. And it was king size too (9 points). But... if I had chosen a king sized Snickers Bar, it would have been 21 points, so I'm happy with my choice and don't feel one bit guilty about it.

Tuesday's Food Journal

Couldn't Do IT. (Shred Day #13)

I started level #2 today and got about 8 minutes into it and had to stop. The plank positions really hurt my neck. Because of the hump I have on the back of my shoulders/neck, when I'm in the plan position, it feels like bones are rubbing together and is excruciating. I've tried to get into different (modified) plank positions, and it still hurts. So, I went back to level #1 and did that workout instead. I got a good workout and sweated up a storm. My legs hurt bad. I think not doing that workout for 2 days made my legs not as used to that exact workout. I was feeling guilty the whole time, like I failed. But seriously? Who did I let down? Myself! Nobody else cares. Jillian doesn't know me. I don't know if anyone even reads this blog other than me. So who cares. If I'm happy with the workout I got today, then that's all that matters. And I am happy with it. I'm a ton happier with the workout I got today than I have been with the last two workouts on level #2. I'll try level #2 again in a couple days, but I don't think I'm going to have much luck with it until my posture gets better. The more weight I lose though, the better it's getting, so I'll just wait until I lose a little more.

I haven't ever actually read the directions for the 30 Day Shred. I've gotten bit's and pieces of info from different message boards/reviews, but not exact instructions. One person said that you do each level for 10 days making it a total of 30 days. Another person said that you do level #1 until it gets easy and then move on to level #2, then to level #3. I thought the 10-10-10 seemed like a reasonable pace, so that's the way I chose to do it. But since the whole thing is basically a 30 day workout, I'm still going to count today as Day #13, because it is 13 days that I've worked out. I'm not counting the two days that I didn't work out though. Some people on the message boards count the days they skip, but I don't really think that's fair.

Measurements...

Okay, so I didn't want to wait and did my measurements now. The kids only tried to take my tape measure twice, so we're doing good.

Most of my body parts measured the same as last time with the exception of my waist (-1"), my bust (-1/2"), and my butt (-1"). Slow going, but hey, that's 2 1/2" I lost this week. And even though my arms aren't losing any (like I think they should), they sure are looking different. They look much more toned and not so flabby. My mother-in-law even commented on it over the weekend.

I just realized that I lost 2 1/2 lbs this week and 2 1/2" this week. I wonder if we're on to something.

Down 1.5

I'm down 1.5 today for a total so far of 9.5 lbs lost. It's coming off slowly, but coming off none the less. I'm still not quite feeling great, but not as bad as I have been. I'm looking forward to my workout today to see if it's getting easier yet. My sis-in-law Jacque is starting Level #2 today. I hope I haven't scared her too much.

We are going to the beach next week with my family and will be there for 6 days. My family likes to eat and it's always after a dinner at my Mom's house that I end up a couple pounds. I really need to start preparing now, and plan meals, drinks and snacks that I can enjoy without sabotaging my whole new healthy found lifestyle.

I just noticed that it's time to take my measurements again, so I'll get that done when the kids are napping, before I shred.

Have a great day....

Monday's Food Journal

Level #2, Day #2

I wish I was still on level #1. This is killing me. I'm sure skipping a day isn't helping and neither is being sick. I hope, like level #1, it will get easier the more I do it. I want to cry. My left leg hurts so bad and has since the warm-up jumping jacks. :( There didn't seem to be as many planks this time... I don't know how Natalie and Anita do it with smiles on their faces the whole time. I wanted to scream. And Jillian... I want to tell her to shut-up. That's all.

Still Sick...

I'm still sick. I felt absolutely horrible yesterday. I fell asleep on the couch at my In-Law's house while waiting for everyone to be ready to go to the Saturday Market. We were there for about two hours walking around in 90 degree weather. Everyone was eating such yummy, greasy food and I was so jealous. We got to the last 'food court' area and there it was... a fruit stand. I bought a cup of fruit and it was delicious. It included cantaloupe, watermelon, coconut, jicama, mango, cucumber, and pineapple. The vendor was even nice enough to squeeze some lime on it for me. I'd never had lime on fruit before, but it is something that I will definitely be doing in the future. I had also never eaten a chunk of raw coconut. It was awesome. I wanted to go right to the store and buy one.

When we got back to their house, I took another nap on the couch, until my husband and kids were ready to leave. I had every intention of shredding when the kids went to bed, but I just couldn't. I felt so dizzy and light headed every time I would stand up. I thought it best if I just took a day/night to rest and hopefully feel better in the morning.

Do I feel better today? Nope! But I'm going to make myself shred. Maybe getting my heart rate up and blood flowing faster will help. I can't commit to doing every single plank exercise, but for the ones I don't do, I will commit to doing a different exercise (from level #1).

I didn't journal my food yesterday because we weren't home most of the day and then last night, the last thing I wanted to do was stare at a computer.

I am up .5 today, which is probably due to my Aunt coming to visit. I can't wait until she leaves. She is probably the cause of this whole sickness anyway.

Down 2.5...

I was so determined not to eat any extra points last night, but while I was laying on the couch watching a movie, I needed, er wanted something. I remembered that I had a can full of sugar free hard candies from about a year ago. Hard candy doesn't go bad right? I sucked on a few, and a few turned into a few more, and a few more after that. When the movie was over two hours later, I had eaten 18 of them... oopsies. 18 = 4 points, so I went over. Bad Heather. I started another movie because I wasn't tired, but this time got a bottle of water to sip on. My stomach really started to growl. And then it wasn't just growling, but gurgling and moving and making all sorts of crazy noises. It would not shut up. I ended up on the toilet for about 35 min (TMI?). Turns out:

• Consumption of sorbitol and mannitol, the sugar substitutes, can cause diarrhea . And now to this list we are adding Splenda

Who knew?! I sure didn't.

This morning, I felt like I had been throwing up all night... just a really nasty rotten feeling in my stomach, emptiness, and a horrible headache. The rest of that sugar free candy is going in the garbage. I'll chew gum tonight if I just absolutely need something.

I figured that I'd be down today after last nights stint on the toilet. I'm a little scared to eat because we are going to the Saturday (& Sunday) Market down town today and I don't want to have to rush to find a nasty portable bathroom.

I tried on some shorts today that I haven't been able to wear since two summers ago and guess what... THEY FIT... all three pair. I'm so excited. So I guess even though the weight isn't coming off as rapidly as I was hoping for, I still am shrinking. YAY!!!

I'm not going to Shred until tonight after the kids go to bed. I need to give my body a little time to feel better. I don't think I could get through it right now anyway... especially since I'm on Level #2 now.

Saturday's Food Journal

I had a very hungry day today. I ended up taking a nap this afternoon so that I wouldn't be tempted to eat. I didn't go over my points though and I don't plan on it.

Shred Level #2, Day #1

Yuck Yuck Yuck Ouch Ouch Ouch... Planks... I hate planks. Planks hurt my hands. Planks hurt my wrists. Pretty much every other move in Level #2 is some form of a plank. My hands still hurt and I finished over 1/2 an hour ago. My legs hurt, my abs hurt and my arms hurt to boot. I can see why it's a good idea to do 10 days of Level #1 before going on to Level #2. If I hadn't already had some stamina built up, I never would have gotten through the first 5 minutes. What a pain! I'm trying to figure out if I hated Level #1 this much after the first day too, or if this is a new found hatred. Either way, I HATE LEVEL #2 and I can't wait until it's over. I read that there are NO PLANKS in Level #3, so at the least, I have that to look forward to.

I just enjoyed a post-workout snack of a vitatop and a tbsp of peanut butter.

Best snack ever!

Friday's Food Journal

Well at least I'm aware of what I ate right? The points may vary a tad bit, since I don't know exactly what my Mom puts in her jello salad or caesar salad, nor do I know the exact brand of ice-cream. But I'm sure these point values are close enough. Will do much better today!

I'm UP!

Well, I went to a BBQ at my Mom's house again last night and guess what, I'm up two. Funny how that always seems to happen. It's my fault. I ate a bunch of french bread... 5 or 6 slices. Bad Heather. I don't even know how many points it is. I'll have to look it up. I also ate a scoop of ice-cream and half of a brownie. The brownie wasn't even good. It was covered with too many nuts. My sister-in-law said she was going to go have one and I told her it wasn't any good, so don't bother. She asked me why I was eating it then and I had no reason. She took it away from me mid-bite and said I've been doing so good, why ruin it on a yucky brownie. I wish she would have done that with the french bread too.

I get so annoyed with other people sometimes. My parent's are overweight too, yet they don't (actively) do anything about it. My Mom says she's losing weight, but I don't know how it's possible with the things she eats. I try to tell her how she could make whatever she's making a lower calorie dish, but she doesn't seem interested. I just get so frustrated when people say they're dieting, or doing WW, but they can't seem to lose any weight. It's not rocket science people, if you follow the plan and follow it correctly, you're going to lose weight. DUH!

But back to last night. I felt so sick when we got home around 10 o'clock, which is why I didn't blog. My body is so used to good wholesome foods, that when I put that sweet ice-cream and brownie in it, it rejected it. The good thing is, that I actually crave healthy food now. I don't crave the junk anymore, so I'm not sure why I ate it last night. I know I didn't eat 2 lbs worth of food last night, but the food I ate is still sitting in me and probably holding on to a lot of water. Thus the 2 lb weight gain.

I'm starting level #2 of the Shred today, so maybe I'll burn off some of those unpleasant calories.