Diane

This idea was inspired by her 10 day challenge as presented on her site and the TODAY show yesterday.

Would anyone be interested in a WATP challenge for the month of March?  The goal would be to use one of her workouts for the majority, if not all, of your cardio workouts for the month.  To determine the effectiveness of it, you could either go by the scales, measurements or both.  Nothing overly formal. 

Last year when I started trying to lose weight I stared with the original Walk Away the Pounds DVDs and was losing about 10 pounds a month.  Then I stopped using them and doing other things.  I haven’t lost much weight since.  Want to see if it works again.

Anyway, if you’re interested, just let me know. 

Well, 32 minutes 48 seconds to be exact.  I must say that, along with Tanis, Tasha and Denise, I love Leslie Sansone.  Yes, her constant chipper attitude gets on my nerves, but the lady knows her stuff.  I’d had the Walk and Kick DVD for a while, but hadn’t used it until today.   It certainly won’t be the last time I use it.  I used my heartrate monitor and was in the 80 -85% for most of the workout!  I can’t hardly do that on a treadmill. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day.  Winter mix here, but a good day anyway.

I’m curious to know what people think when they hear the terms Graphology or Handwriting Analysis.  I have heard so many differing opinions and beliefs on the subject that it’s gotten me curious what those outside of my circle think.  Can’t think of a much wider cross section of life than BuddySlim!  I truely appreciate being part of such a diverse group of people.  And are any of you graphologists?  Thanks!

Okay, so I have been feeling rather bad off and on for a couple of months now.  Just get to feeling better and some bug hits again.  First time around was the first vacation my husband had had in months (Christmas) and he took care of the kids and house while I was extremely sick.  Over the past 2 months, he has made dinner for the kids quite often, cooked for himself, cooked for me if I wanted him to, done laundry, dishes, and whatever else he noticed I was getting behind on, all without my asking. 

The past week or so, he has been sick with a terrible cold, but has still done his job, working 60 - 80 hours a week and still tried to spend as much time with the kids as he can.  This week I caught the cold and have had a terrible sinus headache for days.  Yesterday when he called before heading home he could tell I could barely breathe through my nose.  He stopped on his way home to get me a neti pot.  He even knew which store had them. 

I must say, I still have the headache, but after using the neti pot, I can actually breathe without a lot of discomfort.  Takes some getting used to, but once I figured out the right angle, it worked pretty well.  It’s a weird sensation, but worth it.

Ever since I started getting this cold, I have been giving the kids Airbourne and they aren’t getting sick.  I’m rather amazed.  They typically catch everything.  Now I will be getting some for myself, though I’m sure the Pixie Sticks version the kids have tastes much better.  It’s expensive, but no more so than the cold meds and Motrin that I have to use just to have them be able to sleep for a few hours if they get sick.  I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone.

Have a good Wednesday, everyone!

As I write this, my daughter is completing her very first Kid’s Walk program by Leslie Sansone.  She is 4 years old and so happy to have her own exercise show.  I guess my exercising is paying off for more than myself.  She has a healthy attitude toward it, commenting that it needs to be part of her day, just like Mommy, that she needs to be healthy.  My 2 year old has been doing it about half the time, but his attention span is a little shorter than his sister’s.

I had concerns about the kids seeing me exercise and getting a complex about their bodies.  So far she hasn’t made any comments about getting fat or not and she eats pretty well.  Like most kids there are days when she doesn’t eat as much, but then makes up for it the next.  And speaking of eating, I need to make dinner.

Have a great evening everyone.

When I fall, I certainly do it in spectacular fashion.  This week I fell - very little exercise, diet out the window, sleep patterns completely obliterated.  Nothing was out of my control, but I let it be.  TOM visited, bringing all his pain and negativity with him.  My husband worked many, many hours of over time so I felt like a single Mom all week.  My migraine meds have caffine and they generally hit at night so very little sleep.  I over did it on sugar - no candy, though, and that has made me even more tired.

So, what to do about it.  I am going to go back to what I say I’m going to do and this time I will do it.  I am going to take more drastic measures that I haven’t done before - cutting all refined sugar from my diet and getting up at 5 a.m. to do my cardio.  It’s the only time I can be fairly certain I won’t be interrupted.  I’ll still go to the gym and do my strength training and possibly some extra cardio as well.

Well, since my 5 a.m. wake up starts tomorrow, I’m headed to bed.

I can’t.  I can’t picture myself thin.  I can’t picture myself any way but obese, not when I really try.  Ironically, when I just have an image of myself that isn’t a conscience thought, I’m not overweight.  It’s when I try to visualize the person I want to be at the next step of a healthy life that I just can’t see a healthy person. 

I try not to dwell on it, and I’m pretty successful with that.  Avoidance is a trait I mastered long ago.  Some times it’s helpful, other times not as much.  Is this an important step that is just holding me back, hindering any progress I think I’m making?  Or is merely the fact that I think it probably is enough to make it such?  Or am I just over thinking the whole thing, trying to expand my mind when I should just get out my Polish, German and Spanish books to reclaim the languages I once spoke?

So, can  you picture yourself at your ideal weight, not as you are, unless you’re already there, and not as some figure of what popular culture has lead us to believe is the ideal?  Do you have a healthy image of where you want to be?

Have family in Maine and Colorado.  They’re getting a ton of snow.  I want some!  Winter season is so depressing without snow.  I never would have told my husband about the job posting in Ohio if I’d known what “winters” were like here.  I expected 60’s in Dallas, not Cincinnati.  I could handle that temp there.  Here?  I just want some freakin’ snow!

Okay, that is out of my system now.  Things have been going pretty well, I think.  Figuring out that I actually get a cardio workout in every time I do my weights was a pleasant surprise.  It takes me 45 minutes for the full circuit and my heart rate is in the training zone for most of that.  If there is time before I have to get the kiddies out of Child Watch, I use the elliptical or treadmill for 35 minutes as well.  Still trying to get in 45-60 minutes of cardio a day, not including the weights, but if I don’t on those days, I’m much less self condemning if I can’t fit in 2 hours that day.

I think some many have been mislead by my last blog - I’m actually not feeling bad.  I went to the endocrinologist because I’m tired all the time (partly because of having 2 small kids) and because I haven’t lost weight in months no matter what I do.  I do need to watch my diet a bit more, but, aside from the tiredness, I don’t feel bad.  The test results do answer a couple of questions.  One being why my joints ache more than I think they should and why they hurt worse after having icing.  Doesn’t even take much, just one small spoon, and the next day I ache.  I always thought it was the fat, but the doctor said it was probably the sugar.  Nice to know.  Oh, I decorate cakes - that’s why there is icing around occasionally.  And the second question is - Why does caffine make me tired?  It raises blood sugar levels in people who have elevated sugar to begin with.  I was the only person I knew who used Moxie to get to sleep!

Hubby worked for almost 30 hours straight and is now sleeping.  Has to go back in for another 12-24 plus 4 hours of driving time some time today.  You’d think I was married to a doctor, not an engineer.  Oh, well.  Gotta get the kids out of the house for a bit.  They’re getting cabin fever and the volume level is going up.  Besides, we need milk.

I had the follow up with my endocrinologist today.  Nothing wrong with my thyroid -yeah!  Have to have some tests redone because I was on a steroid when the tests were done and, despite what the lab techs said, they affected the outcome of several tests.  I need to have a couple more tests before she can make her official diagnosis, but she is pretty confident that it is PCOS.  I have to keep exercising and follow a diet low in sugar and simple carbs.  According to the tests, I was also deficient in Vit. D and pre-diabetic.  How fun.

I’m not going to let all this get me down.  Doing so will only make it worse because I would stop exercising.  It is very frustrating to exercise, watch my diet and have the scales stay the same.  I’m going to stop weighing myself every day even if it means putting a padlock on the scales (doctor style scales) and my husband having the key.  I will weigh in every Sunday morning (Yes, Foxes, I’m still in).

Well, I’ve got to go figure out what I can eat.  I didn’t think my diet was that bad, but apparently it’s not what it needs to be. 

I’m not talking about the challenges on here.  It’s the Biggest Loser type competitions where money and community are involved.  For those who have and/or are participants in such things - does the money at the end of it motivate you to do better?  Or does it keep you on track to know that you are competing with people that you will see a few times a month?

The local MOMS group that I belong to is having a 12 week one and I’m thinking of joining.  The amount of money required is minimal so the end result won’t be that large.  I guess my biggest drawback is that I know there is a personality conflict with the woman heading it up, but since she has this conflict with just about everyone, it’s not that big of a deal to me since I know it’s not personal.  (She’s the president of the chapter this year.)

Hope everyone has a good day.