Days 83-89 and Month End Review

Day 83 was Monday.  I no longer remember what happened on Monday, but I did not exercise.

Tuesday is our Aqua Zumba day, but we had a late meeting at work and we did not get to go.  Heather tried to be the angel on my shoulder and told me how much better I would fee if I worked out, but alas, I did not heed her advice.  I told myself tomorrow.

Wednesday after work I thought of Heather and her advice and this:

So I got on the treadmill and did 31 min of walk 3 @ 3.0 min and run 2 min @4.0.  I did 5 intervals with a 2 min warm up and cool down @2.0.  If you have been paying attention I decreased my rest walk from 4 min to 3 min between intervals.

Thursday I had good intentions of going to Aqua Zumba, but I left my clothes at home.  BOO!  So I came home and hit the treadmill for the 30 min random hill walk.  The average incline was 6.0--not bad.

Friday after work we went out to eat.  We tried yet another pizza place for Jim and I gave in to temptation and ordered wings w/ a salad.  I am so glad I did!  These were probably the best wings I have had since moving here!  WE also ordered a cannoli to go that we were supposed to share, but I ate it all.  No work out completed.

Saturday we spent at home cleaning house.  I washed down the kitchen cabinets, straightened out the living room, vacuumed the floors, base boards and furniture, and steam mopped the house.  After that I hit the grocery store, showered and took a nap.  After a luxurious nap we went to dinner at a Peruvian resturant, AJ Limon.  It was delish.  I had tacu tacu with grilled beef.  The tacu tacu is a rice and black bean "pancake" similar to Cuban moro rice.  I liked that we tried something new and different.  We will definitely be going back.

So today is Sunday and day 89 of this journey.  This week my motivation flagged I believe in direct correlation to my posting on this blog.  Knowing this I am making a promise to myself to not go more than 3 days without posting.  I know life sometimes gets in the way, but I need to put myself first in this process.  This week while I did not exercise as much as I previously did I still ate reasonably well--barring our restaurant jaunts.  My goal is exercise at least 5 days next week.  Today is not over yet, and I plan to get on the treadmill at some point today.

Today I weighed in at 236.2 for a total of 1.6 lbs lost this week and 32 total.  I am happy with this number.  I also posted my measurements--total lost is now 12.5in.--over a foot of myself gone!  At the end of April I will post new progress pics.  The beginning of May we go on our cruise!

Days 80, 81 and 82

Friday I came home from another rough day at work and Jim was not home.  I forgot he was going kayaking after work.  I called him and told him I was going to take Friday as a rest day.  I gave myself a kick in the pants and got on the treadmill.  I did 9 intervals of 4 min walk and 2 min run.

Saturday I did nothing but get my massage.  It was heavenly.

Today I do not feel so hot.  I have had a nap on the couch and have zero energy.  I am going to take it easy and jump back on the horse tomorrow.

This morning I weighed in @237.8 for .6 lost.

Days 76, 77, 78 and 79

Time to catch up...I have been a bit lazy about posting.

Monday was treadmill time.  I  walked/ran 8 intervals of 4 min @ 3.0 /2 min @ 4.0 and finished the hour walking @ 3.0.

Tuesday was aqua zumba...still love it!  We paid $21 for 6 classes through Groupon.  To continue it is $35 for 6 more classes.  I am planning on this.

Wednesday was treadmill time again.  I walked/ran 7 intervals of 4 min @ 3.0 /2 min @ 4.0.  Then I did 2 more intervals of 5 min walking and 2 min running.

Today I did the random hill walk on the treadmill.  I was 12 min in when I hit the emergency stop so I started over.  Then I hit it again during the cool down, so I have no idea what the average incline was.  Boo.  I have figured out I can go in and out of the program before starting to try and get more challenging hills.

I am so excited for my massage on Saturday.
:)

Days 73, 74, and 75

First off....10% goal reached!!!  YAHOOOO!!!

Friday I came home from work and ran/walked on the treadmill.  I did 36 min including a warm up and cool down @ 2 min with 5 intervals of walk 4 min @ 3.0 and run 2 min @ 4.0.  there was one run interval that I looked down and had actually gone over the 2 min mark and was feeling good, but that did not happen on the rest. ;-)  I hpe next week to up the number of intervals.

Saturday I got up and rode the bike for 2.78 miles and then we were off for the day on the boat.  When we came home I hopped on the treadmill for the random hill walk.  This time the average incline was only 2.0.  I guess random really means random.  We had dinner out with our friends, Emily and Chris at a new restaurant in Cape Coral called Blaze Bistro.  It had truly phenomenal ratings on Trip Advisor and for good reason.  We shared 2 apps--the almond fried brie and the calamari.  For dinner I had the seared Ahi Tuna which was delish!  We each also ordered dessert and shared.  It was soooo good, but no, we did not finish them all!  LOL!

So this morning I got on the scale and I weigh 238.4--so close to a total of 30 lbs lost.  This makes 4.6 lbs lost for the week and 29.8 lbs so far this year.  This puts me over my 1st 10% goal of 27 lbs.  Do you know what that means???  MASSAGE TIME!!!!  I cannot wait!

So my next 10% goal is an additional 24 lbs.  That would put me @ 217.2 with a total loss of 51 lbs.  I will have to set a new reward for myself.  It may be another massage....we shall see.

I did my yoga DVD after watching CBS Sunday Morning with Jim and before typing this.  I feel so relaxed now.  This afternoon we are going to see the Italian water circus that is in town.  Should be fun!  Now I am going to move 4 stones from the pounds to lose jar over to the pounds obliterated glass. :)

Day 72

This was my motivation today:


I had a DAY at work.  I was supposed to leave @ 1:15, but my new manager asked me to stay late.  Granted, I still left early @ 3:15, but I was not very happy. Oh well, I have a job.

I got home and sat on the lanai dinking around on the internet.  I went to Pinterest and found my motivation above.  So I got up and got on the treadmill for the random hill program.  Man, are my thighs burning!  The average incline was 9.0 with a speed of only 2.0.  After a rest I did my upper body strength training.

Dinner tonight was meatless.  This is a Stacked Black Bean Enchilada Pie from A Little Bit Crunchy a Little Bit Rock and Roll:

I ate a bit too much cheese while preparing this.  Also I had smaller low carb whole wheat tortillas.  It was a cheesy, carb loaded, yummy, meatless meal.

Days 70 and 71

Yesterday I went to Aqua Zumba with my work buddy.  It was still alot of fun. This morning I could feel it in my shoulders and thighs mostly.  It is definitely a cardio workout.  I went to bed last night @ 9:30, day light savings time be damned.

Today I came home from work and got on the treadmill.  I did a little something different.  I ran 2 min @ 4.0 with a rest @ 3.0 for 4 min.  I could only do 5 intervals of this.  I am excited to see my stamina during the running increase.  Now I will work on increasing the intervals.  Then I can work on decreasing the "rest" time.  The total treadmill time was 38 min with a warm-up and cool down.

I have seen the idea below on Pinterest to give a visual to your weight loss goals.  You fill a glass with stones to represent pounds to lose and another for pounds lost.  I have not labeled them yet, but I'm pretty sure you can figure out which is which.  I look forward to emptying the glass!

Day 69

This is what I had to keep telling myself today when I came home from work.

It finally worked and I got on the treadmill and did a 30 min hill walk @ 3.0.  For dinner we had ham steaks with mac and cheese and roasted cauliflower.  Not bad.

Day 68

I got up this morning and lazed around.  I was a bit stiff after yesterday.  Had some coffee and cottage cheese with blueberries before I motivated myself to start moving.  I did my yoga DVD and am so glad I did.  I feel so relaxed and energized at the same time.  I am getting ready to shower and run some errands with the hubster now.

This week I lost 2.2 lbs.  This makes and even 25 lb weight loss.  As good as this sounds I have 2 lbs to go before I hit my first 10% milestone of 27 lbs lost.  I have promised myself a hot stone massage when I hit that milestone.  Ahhhh, I cannot wait!!

Namaste.

Days 66 and 67

Friday was a long day at work and I took it as a rest day.  Not much to report, but we did find a new pizza place we liked.  Paradise Pizza in Cape Coral.  I had a salad, but ate some of Jim's crust.  Yummo!

Today I attacked Saturday as promised.  I got up @ 7:30 and had some coffee.  I realized I was almost out and I was planning to ride my bike anyway, so I rode off to Publix to pick up more coffee.  It is only a 2 mile ride total, but it was cold and windy!  I came home and had more coffee...side not I tried Publix's Colombian coffee k-cup and it is GOOOOD.  After a second cup of coffee I did my upper body strength training.  I did 3 reps of this video.   After a 3rd cup of coffee I hopped on the treadmill and did 65 min with 16 reps of walk/run @ 3.0 and 4.0 respectively.

Tomorrow I plan on doing my yoga DVD to find my zen.  Oh, and I got my Bondi Bands in:

I found a coupon code on RetailMeNot and bought all but the pink one on clearance.  I LOVE them.  The do a grrrreat job of soaking my my sweat and keeping my hair back...and I think they are super cute!

Days 64 and 65

Wednesday I had to force myself to exercise after work.  I took the bike out for a ride and came home.  I wanted to do upper body strength training after, but failed to motivate myself.  At least I did something...this is about moving more.

Today was supposed to be my early day at work, but the best laid plans of mice and men...you know how that goes.  By the time I got home I was not feeling the workout, but got on the treadmill anyways.  I did a 30 min hill walk @ 3.0.  After I started to prepare this week's meatless feast.  We were supposed to have Tagliatelle with new potatoes, green beans and pesto: 

But instead had spaghetti with fingerling potatoes, green beans and pesto.  It was delish!  Not the healthiest thing I have made, but yummy!  I also roasted the green beans at the same time the potatoes were cooking instead of steaming them and my pesto came from a sauce pouch.

I will probably take Friday as a rest day and ATTACK Saturday! :)

Day 63...AQUA ZUMBA

After work today, myself and two of my coworkers headed to the pool for aqua zumba.  It was so much fun!  There were about 20 of us and there was a nice mix of young and old and thin and not so thin. :)  We were told the pool is like Vegas...What happens in the pool, stays in the pool.  For an hour we jumped and danced and shimmied and shook.  It was awesome!  I was not so coordinated, but it did not matter...you can't see what is going on under the water and no one except the instructor was perfect--and even she messed up a few times.  Did I mention how much fun it was?  I think I got a pretty good workout because I feel plenty tired now.  If you have a chance to try aqua zumba I highly recommend it!

Days 61 and 62

Sunday I took the bike out for a ride as promised.  Then Jim and I set off in the kayaks to do some fishing in the canals.  We were gone almost four hours with a lunch break back home.  I caught the only fish of the day!  Unfortunately, we had a hard time getting the hook out because I did not st the hook fast enough.  I felt really bad for the little bass.  I did not hit the treadmill last night.

Today was HELLACIOUS at work--so busy!  I thought about skipping my workout, but I made a commitment to myself.  I walked/ran for 60 min doing the 2 min walk and 1 min run intervals.  I did 15 intervals and finished the hour walking @ 3.0.  I am beat.  I ordered my bondi bands this weekend and cannot wait until I get them!

Tomorrow is aqua zumba!!!

Days 58, 59, 60, and 61--Feb Month End Review

GOOOOOD SUNDAY MORNING!!!

Time to catch up the last few days...

Thursday I did not workout.  After work I met Jim after work for dinner at Pizza Fusion.  I had the veggie Farmer's Market personal pizza on the whole grain crust. Yummy.  After we went to the Barbara B. Mann to see Bob Newhart.  The opening act was awful, but Bob was funny. 

Friday I came home from work and walked/ran for 50 min.  I Changed up the intervals to 2 min walk @ 3.0 and 1 min run @ 4.0.  I did 14 intervals with a warm-up/cool down.  I thought I did 15, but I hit the emergency stop about half way through and messed up my count.

Saturday we took the boat out and it was a BEAUTIFUL day, although a little chilly while the boat was moving.  We had a nice lunch at the Pink Elephant on Boca Grande.  I had a very unhealthy salad and we split dessert.  We cruised around the canals and I found my dream house....just need to win the lotto.  Then we found a deserted sand bar and anchored to walk around and I found tons of shells, sand dollars and an urchin and a star fish.  It was lovely!  We came on back home and no exercising was done.

Today after I finish this post and my coffee I am going to take the bike out for a ride.  Later today we plan on seeing the Lego Movie.  This afternoon/evening I plan on hitting the treadmill for another run/walk with the 2/1 intervals.

So I have completed another month.  Two months down, a lifetime to go--this is a lifestyle change after all!  For the month of February I have lost 9.8 lbs and 3.25 in.  This brings my 2 month total to 23 lbs and 11.75 in.  I am proud of my progress!  Below are my progress pics.  It is hard to see a difference because the original pics I took in front of the open doorway.  I thought better of that this time and we took the pics in front of the door.  I can see more "definition" of my rolls.  lol.