Tricked!

Yep!  It's a post!  I know it's been awhile (7+ months), but I figured I should either delete the blog all together or get my act together and start posting.  So, I'm posting.


I was actually tricked by my doctor into agreeing to exercise every day for at least 30 minutes.  I really do mean tricked.  He told me he had a sure-fire solution to my problem, but he would only tell me what it was if I agreed to do it.  So I said yes, and this was the first of five things I agreed to do every day.  Ironically, it wasn't for weight-loss.  But that's all the information you'll get out of me on that situation.


So since that agreement I have exercised 3 out of the last 6 days, which for all you non-mathematicians out there is 50%, or an F.  Wait - I'm reading a book about being more optimistic (Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman, which for all you psychology nerds out there, this is the guy that experimented on the dogs and coined the term "Learned Helplessness" . . . ) so let me rephrase that:  I've been able to exercise three times in a week!  Which considering how busy I've been is quite the accomplishment.  


Better.


So far it hasn't been anything fantastic, just taking walks around my neighborhood, but it's been fun.  I want to do some hiking, since I live in a hiker's paradise.  I'm planning on hiking to the top of my faux volcano again and I think I should hike Johnson's Arch again before they close that trail for the season.  If anyone has favorite hikes around St. George let me know so I can add them to my list of places to go to.  I'm also going to get my bike out and use that.  I'm considering getting a gym membership again - I haven't had one since my back injury, but if I do I think I'll wait until the summer when it's too freaking hot to exercise outside.  

A Loss is a Loss, No Matter How Small

Okay, it's been two weeks since I last weighed in (I was out of town for Pioneer Day).  And I know I didn't eat very well the first of those weeks (you should try my cousin's home-made ice cream.  It makes me wish I could digest dairy).  But I worked a little harder this week and it paid off.  Not by much mind you, but any little bit helps.

Btw: my apologies to Dr. Seuss for the title.

*That* is commitment!

I discovered the secret to loosing weight!  I put my bathroom scale on my carpet instead of on the tile in my bathroom floor and I lost 70 pounds!  Ha ha, if only it was that easy.

My favorite way to exercise has always been swimming.  I was on a swim team when I was in middle school and even though I didn't enjoy competing I did enjoy working out.  Well, we have a great aquatic center that I now live just down the street from, and since I need to have a way to exercise I decided to buy a swim pass.  I could have bought a 3 month pass, a six month pass or a year pass.  It was cheapest in the long run to buy a year pass, so that's what I did.  I'm planning on going twice a week and if I do it'll mean I paid $1.73 per swim session.  Much better than their $6 per session they usually charge.

So I either got really ripped off or I just made a really good deal.  Now I just need to stay committed.

Lessons Learned From a Four Mile Hike

This morning I woke up at 7:30am (thanks to my cat), and since I couldn't sleep I decided that I would go take a walk.  I had mapped out a couple of routes on Google maps and had one that was almost exactly 4 miles.  I figured it was early enough in the day that I could go that far and be home before it got too hot.

Well I brought along my camel back (best invention ever - a must have when living in St. George) and my iPod and set out.  I was not the only one out that early, I was passed (I didn't do any passing) by several people, two of whom were wearing Iron Man t-shirts and looked like they belonged on a cover of a fitness magazine.  I turned after they passed me and enjoyed the view.  :)

The bad part about walking around where I live is that no matter which way I go the last leg of my walk is going to be uphill (unless I hike the faux volcano again).  The last mile was all uphill and into the sun.  The last block was the steepest of all and I pretty much wanted to kill myself by the time I dragged myself into my driveway.

So, the lessons learned from today's exercise include don't buy a house at the top of a hill if you plan on taking a lot of walks.  Always take your camelback with you if you're walking around in St. George in June (or several other months).  Make sure the route that you take has sidewalks on it, there was about a two block section that didn't have a side walk and it was on a busy road.  And last but not least: make sure you can handle a three mile hike before you tackle a four mile hike!

Oh, and I weighted myself this morning, which I usually don't do (I usually avoid the scale like the plague), but I was curious.  Anyway, the numbers were much easier to look at than they were yesterday, so now I just need to keep it up for the next two weeks.

-M-

Poor Choices on Week 4

So I've known for the past 5 years that I am lactose intolerant, but I can have some dairy as long as it is small quantities.  Well, earlier this year I came across a killer Tres Leche cake recipie and I couldn't resist.  I usually just make it for parties or things like that were I won't end up any more than one piece of it.

I made it for my housewarming party last Saturday, but only half of it got eaten.  So . . . guess what I had a lot of?  Not just is it cake, but it was Tres Leche cake (which translates to 'three milks cake'), so it reeked havoc on my digestive system.  So I gained weight this week.  Bad Mindy!

While I'm thinking of it, I'm not going to weight in next week.  I'm going to be in Lewiston for a family reunion, and won't have my scale and I'm a firm believer of using the same scale to weigh in.  I'm still going to have to be active and eat in moderation.  So any of you family members that will be there, let's stick together and keep each other from eating too much!

-M-

Time to Get Serious!

A friend of mine invited to to join a Weight-Loss Challenge that Rezults Fitness center is sponsoring.  Her brother did the last challenge and lost 30 pounds!  So I went to my first meeting tonight.  They have a fitness class where they talk about different things that affect weight loss and then you can work out for free at the gym.

You have to weigh-in and have your measurements taken and if you end up gaining any pounds between weeks you have to pay them a dollar per pound.  I decided that I want to get back down to my pre-back-injury weight by the end of the summer!  I'm really hoping I can do it!

Today's class talked about metabolism and ways to keep it up during the day.  One thing they suggested was to eat small meals 4-5 times a day, so that you never get hungry.  The trick is that they're small, healthy meals.

After the class I worked out at the gym for about an hour.  I've been trying to stay active without a gym but there's no good substitute for the weight machines.  I'm going to be sore tomorrow!!

So two goals: Never have to pay money because I gained weight and to get back down to 270 pounds!

-M-

Week 3 in Summary

This week was a good week!!  I lost 1.8 pounds - down to 298.2!!!

I even exercised twice, both were aerobic even.  On Monday night my ward played Human Foosball for our FHE.  I didn't really want to play, because I'm usually a hinderance to those type of things, but I got roped into it.  It was really fun!  I got some running in and I even scored 3 goals over some really big guys in my ward!  The really nice part about it was that I didn't feel like I was exercising, it was just fun.  It was a lot of running, and I had to do it, because I was attached to 2 other people, but it was still fun.  Especially when my team won. :)

The second time I exercised this week was on Thursday after my cooking class.  I was feeling really lethargic and tired and just didn't want to do anything, but I knew I needed to walk.  So I put on my walking shoes and grabbed my iPod and headed out.  I ended up taking this really pretty bike trail for a ways that ran by a creek - I never knew that St. George had bullfrogs, but apparently there is like a million in this little creek off of Sunset Boulevard and Dixie Drive.  On the way back home I took a dirt trail next to a canal and then back up the hill to my house.  The next day I plugged my route into Google maps and found out I walked 3 miles!

I really need to get serious with this.  My favorite pair of jeans wore out this week and I had to go shopping for new ones and it was the most depressing thing I have ever done.  I should have more time after this week - I'm having my house warming party tonight so I won't have as much pressure to get things done like I've had in the past.

Two points of news: 1- I'm going to do my weigh-ins on Saturdays now.  I was only doing them on Sunday the last two weeks because I had to work on Saturday.  2 - I'm getting real internet on Tuesday, so I should do a much better job of keeping this up to date!

-M-