January 1

The Good: I had a wonderful day relaxing with my husband. I am in the middle of reading a book by Amy Parham who just published a book about weight loss (check out my bookshelf below). She was a contestant from South Carolina on Biggest Loser a few seasons ago and just released this book today. Lucky for me, I had already ordered it off of Amazon.com before its release date and got it in the mail last Thursday! I enjoyed reading it while I walked on the treadmill today.


I also was excited that I started lifting weights again. I used to love weight lifting when I worked out with a trainer at Gold's Gym in high school. There is something about the "burn" feeling that makes me feel good inside! I love feeling my muscles working! I did several circuits of arms today with 10 pound weights. I always used to give an excuse when Shawn would mention to me about working with weights. I always said I needed to only focus on cardio because I want to get the weight off. After reading several books, I have discovered the importance of weight lifting. 1) The more muscle your body has, the more calories you burn while being idle, 2) It helps tone your body while you are losing weight so you don't end up with tons of excess skin, and 3) it allows you to lose extra inches in areas that cardio won't do. I am going to work with the 10 pound weights for a little while and then move up. I don't want to hurt myself but jumping in too fast and lifting weights that are too heavy.

The Bad: I let myself go too far again today without eating. I did not eat a snack in between my brunch (10:30) and my dinner (5:30). I could definitely tell I was starving after working out before dinner. I was trying to "save" up my calories for a yummy New Year's day dinner at my parents house but I think I did more harm than good. I need to remember to eat at least something in between meals so it keeps fueling my body. I just hate to eat when I am not hungry but then I end up becoming hungry but don't want to eat anything for a snack because I am about to eat a meal. Must do better on that! :)


The Ugly: I have to start school back in 2 days. :( I have been SO successful during these last 2 weeks and I am getting some anxiety about going back to working full time days after my break. I am so relaxed right now and it makes it a lot easier for me to think about working out and my food intake. I am a stress eater and always have been so I am very worried that I will go back to old habits in a few weeks. The good thing is I have enough people around me supporting me that I don't want to let down and I also am much more aware of food and how I handle food which will be very helpful when I do start to stress out. Shawn and I also went and put a mini-fridge in my classroom yesterday so I can keep it full of fresh fruits, yogurts, healthy snacks, and water. I feel like having those items right under my desk is going to help me a lot!
The biggest change and challenge is going to be waking up earlier than I am used to. I am guilty and will admit that I usually don't get up for school until 6:20 and am out the door by 7. Shower and everything. The problem is, I never cooked breakfast, I always used the easy way out and went by Chick-fila or grabbed something unhealthy at the house to eat on the road. I now know I cannot do that anymore. I now will have to manage my time better to allow time for cooking breakfast and fixing my lunch.
On top of that, I am trying to exercise at least 45 minutes-1 hour before school each morning to help boost my metabolism first thing in the morning. I also am usually so tired when I get home from school that working out or doing cardio is the LAST thing on my mind! I am excited about walking with my neighbors who are also some of our best friends in the afternoons. They will keep me motivated to get my second workout in for the day. I read in, Where Did All the Fat Go?, written by Dr. H from the Biggest Loser that if you workout twice a day, you are giving your metabolism a huge boost in the afternoon. It allows you to burn more fat because you are giving it an extra boost in the afternoon after you already jump started it in the morning. He says you can lose a lot of weight by doing this, which is my goal. We will see what happens but I will say that I am going to have to hold myself accountable and go to sleep earlier at night so I can work out and have enough energy to get through 2 workouts and my daily job. I know I can do it, I just have to keep telling myself that it will be worth it!

I did not weigh myself today because I am going to try to hold off until Monday when I weigh in at my Weight Watchers meeting. :)


My Bookshelf: