It's been a while...

I'm obviously not the most consistent blogger of all time...I go months in between posts, then I try and keep it up...but life (and laziness) keeps getting in the way.  Historically, it has been the same with my weight loss...The good news is that while there will always be ups and downs, I have been able to keep the weight off that I have been losing and been managing a consistent downward trend.

I have now lost 17 pound (woo hoo!)

That is good.  Especially given the recent stresses of work, home life, family stuff and poison ivy.  Yes, poison ivy!  Back in June I got a nice rash and it is really uncomfortable when I get hot and sweaty.  That has meant no exercising.  Luckily, I been able to control my eating and have lost weight even though I have not exercised in 3+ weeks. (Today I did get on the treadmill and it felt great!)

The next couple of weeks should be interesting as I am going to Florida to help my MIL get through her second dose of chemo for colon cancer.  I will have to figure out a way to exercise away from my normal outlets.  I'll also have to watch out for my stress eating...wish me luck!

Success breeds success

Success breeds success.  Pretty simple theory.  If you are doing something that works, you continue to do it.  In my case it has been exercising. First of all, I feel great (OK, tired, but great) afterwards.  I really didn't think I would like it, but I'm addicted to the treadmill. Our very unseasonable winter (warm) has turned into an unseasonable spring (cold), which has prevented me from riding my bike as often as I would like. The treadmill has been a great backup.  Since it has been forever since I have run (1999 to be exact, well, unless you count that in day in March last year when I ran 3 miles, without training and almost died), I have been taking it slow.  The treadmill has a built in program, Walk-Run, that after the warm up has you walk for 90 seconds,  then run for 30 seconds.  Over time, I have been able to slowly build up my pace.  On Saturday, I walked/ran 5K in 40:20.  I'm not breaking any land speed records, but it is a good place to start from.  Who, knows, maybe one day I'll run in a race.  That would be something!
In the meantime, my weight is coming off slowly, but surely.  I'm back to 7 pounds lost.  A long way from 50 pounds, but I feel like I'm going in the right direction finally.  Like they say, success breeds success!

40 for 40 update

I've been "religious" (haha, get it?) about keeping to the plan.  Either on the treadmill or on the bike, I've done 40 minutes or more each day.  Unfortunately, I've only lost one more pound (for a total of 6 to date).  I've come to realize I don't have a craft beer drinking problem, but I do have an eating problem.  I can binge eat with the best of them.  And it is definitely triggered by stress.  I need to figure out how to work on that very quickly, because I can't exercise much more than I am, and most days I only have a beer.  So wish me luck as I try reduce the amount of food I'm eating.
In the meantime, there are only a couple of more days left in Lent, but I think this exercise thing is now part of my routine, I feel great afterwards, so I won't be giving it up (see what I did there?) anytime soon.

Workout motivation

Things are going pretty well on the weight loss front.  I'm down 5 pounds, and getting into a good routine on the treadmill each morning before work, now that I have given up my gym membership.  Also, this awesome weather has allowed me to get out on the bike a couple of times.

To get me moving early in the morning I've found a motivational song to start each work out compliments of Young the Giant:

"My body tells me no,

But I won't quit, 

Cause I want more,

Cause I want more!"

And yes, I really want "less" weight, but you get the point! 
Do you have a song that motivates you?

40 for 40

Lent is upon us.  This year I decided I was not going to give anything up.  I have been reading that it is better to do something new, something worthwhile during lent. Yes, it's good for the kids to give up candy and desert, but for us adults....As a result, I have added a couple of spiritual things to my daily routine, but I also wanted to do something positive for my body, and help me get to my weight loss goal. 40 is a very important number in religion.  From Wikipedia:

The number forty has many Biblical references: the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18); the forty days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8); the forty days and nights God sent rain in the great flood of Noah (Genesis 7:4); the forty years the Hebrew people wandered in the desert while traveling to the Promised Land (Numbers 14:33); the forty days Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh in which to repent (Jonah 3:4). Jesus retreated into the wilderness, where He fasted for forty days, and was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–2, Mark 1:12–13, Luke 4:1–2)

So I came up with "Forty for Forty," meaning I would exercise 40 minutes each of the forty days of lent.  Pretty good plan if you ask me! Starting on Ash Wednesday I did my 40 minutes on the exercise bike at the gym.  Today and tomorrow I hit the treadmill.  Wish me luck!

Back to ground zero

As you can see from all the posts I've been making (not), I've been really dedicated to getting in shape and losing weight (not).  Actually, I'd been doing not too bad, maintaining 7-8 pounds lost for the past couple of months. For some reason Super Bowl, and the week after, have always been a bad time for me weight wise (can't imaging why....).  As a result, at my weigh-in this morning, I was back to my original weight when I started this project back in June.  To say I am depressed about it would be an understatement.  But, there are some good things that have happened over the past couple of months:

• I (believe) I am kidney stone free (not that many of you knew I had/get kidney stones).  Part of ensuring I stay that way is I drink 10-15 8 oz glasses of water a day.  I am quite hydrated, which is a good thing. 
• I pretty much keep to 1-2 craft beers a day, which keeping with one of the themes to this blog is good.  Shows self-control and indicates that my weight is not caused by beer drinking.
• I bought a new bike after the holidays.  With the nice winter weather we've had, I have actually ridden a couple of times already which is a good thing leading into the spring, where I know bike riding will help me reach my goal and keep me healthy.
• Rose bought a treadmill.  I'm torn on this one as I have a pretty good morning routine, getting to the gym a couple of days a week to ride the exercise bike.  However, having a treadmill at home will allow me to exercise everyday inside until the weather gets bad, regardless if I am working downtown (where the gym is) or at home.  I have been on it a number of times since we got it last week, and so far I am enjoying it.  Who knows, maybe I'll start running again.
• Rose wants to lose weight also.  If both of us are on the same page food-wise, it will be easier to keep on track.

So there you have it.  50 pounds (again) to go in 300+ days.  Should be an interesting couple of months trying to kick start my program.  Only time will tell if I can do this....