1 month

One month ago I began exercising and dieting. My goal was to lose one pant size. However I don't think I quite reached that goal. I am a skinny size eight and a chubby 6 as I have heard stated before LOL I would love to be a comfortable 4. But just because I didn't make it into my favorite pair of jeans doesn't mean progress wasn't made. When I started off I took my measurements. Here they are:
Waist -28                         Now:   28
Belly - 36                                     34
Butt - 41                                       40
Thighs-39                                     39
So although it isn't a drastic change, there is still change. I really feel like I can still improve my eating habits and I want to do some different types of exercising. Yoga, biking and possibly running (that's my last resort :) along with my zumba workout. On the flip side I can't tell you how encouraging it is to have my husband workout with me. I laugh watching him do the zumba moves, but we keep each other going. I also have a harder time seeing a change, then I would get discouraged and he would constantly tell me how he can see the difference.
A support system is vital because there will be days when you want to quite or slack off (which leads to quiting). I also think it is important to have realistic expectations. I will always have wider hips and a bubble butt. (not a bad thing) I will never have toothpick thighs and I may always have a "baby pouch" and that's okay. I can have  toner thighs and butt, firmer abs and no muffin top :) I can reach a size 4 but more importantly be tone and healthy ! That is my goal.

A vicious "cycle"

I am convinced that dieting and exercising may be more difficult for a woman. Here is my reason: I have been exercising for two weeks now. I have been drinking 3-4 bottles of water almost everyday. I have cut my portion size nearly in half and increased the quality of food I eat. It is now the beginning of week 3 and I noticed that I am so much more tired than I usual. My food cravings (junk food) has gotten stronger and my stomach feels bloated even if I suck it in! Can any of you ladies out there relate? Even further, can you diagnose the problem? Anyone? Anyone? Yes Lady in the back of the room stuffing chocolate cake in her mouth? (She answers) "P.M.S"!!!! Bingo, you got it. Hormones are out of whack and therefore your body is out of whack. I find my motivation to exercise non-existent. The strength to resist junk food at low capacity. All I want to do is crawl under my blankets, grab a bag of chips smothered in Nacho cheese and turn on the TV. Do men go through these changes? Do they hit these walls? And am I going to feel like this month after month or does it ever get better inspite of the hormonal change cursed on us because of Eve?
I don't have that answer yet and neither does the lady in the back scarfing down chocolate cake. What I do know is that my body has been in control of me for way too long. I give into its desire for Jet's pizza and bread sticks way to easily. The fatigue makes me want to do what it says and just sleep or do nothing. So I have to fight back. I can't give in. I can't say "I'll just work out double time tomorrow" because we all know that that's not going to happen. I may not have my heart in it but if I keep pressing on then this to shall pass :)

One week. Any difference?

The hardest thing about working out is not seeing immediate results. You see it immediately when you gain it, but not when you are working hard to lose it. I think this is why so many people quit. It is discouraging when you are working so hard at something and you see nothing. But isn't that just an illusion? I mean, I have worked out for one week. I have curbed my eating diet, and I have cut my soda to about 1 a day. I have also increased my water in take dramatically. To be honest I don't see much of a change. I'll reach for a pair of jeans and it still takes me 4 hops and a squat to squeeze into them. (girls you know exactly what I'm referring to!) HOWEVER!!! I honestly feel a difference. I know the water is flushing out my system, the exercising is making my muscles ache (or should I say "my fat ache" because there isn't much muscle just yet). And mentally, I think about exercising, I think about what I am eating and I feel icky when I eat something that isn't so healthy. My body likes what I am doing. My mind likes what I am doing. My eye's on the other hand  does not like what it sees. I often think, " I wish I could just get all the extra stuff cut off and  have my old body back and then I would REALLY take care of it." But then I wake up and face reality. It's going to take work. Easy is not always the best. I'm doing things the healthier way. (don't get me wrong, I always pray and ask God for a little Divine intervention as well) LOL I think when I reach my goal, I will be so happy to feel and SEE  what I have accomplished through hard work. It's going to be worth it. I have faith that this stuff works :)
NOW I am going to post my measurements :
Waist 28 inches
Belly 36 inches
Butt 41 inches
thighs 39 inches (that's the total circumference of both legs together, not individually ;)
I'll measure again in about a month.

What the Heck was that?

I was suppose to wake up early to work out this morning. Well my husband and I were going to but my daughter kept waking up throughout the night. (she has an ear infection) So sadly, it didn't happen. We took her to the Dr.s and then after that we came home and we "planned" to work out real quick before Miguel had to go to work, but we ordered pizza instead. Not just any pizza, but Jet's pizza. Deep dish, Garlic buttered crust, covered in cheese and pepperoni. We also got  side of cheesy bread sticks. I ate one piece of pizza and two pieces of oh so delicious bread sticks. Half way through I started wondering about how many calories I was eating and how much harder will I have to work out to burn it off? What was wrong with me???? I've been exercising, isn't that good enough? NOPE. Now my conscious is nagging me. I have never in my life felt guilt for eating greasy, and fatty foods. Maybe it's because I've never weighed this much before. Maybe it's because I'm dead serious about wanting to get skinny. Or maybe it's really being scared to death of working out and not seeing any results because I love pizza way too much! (okay, breathe Esther. Soon the spinning will stop) All I know is that this is all new for me. I never had to diet before. I never had to care about what food I ate. but those days are long gone. I need to forget about those days and do something about today.  I need to keep pushing forward. Okay.... the spinning has slowed down. OH one more thing! After eating that yummy pizza, I ate a Krispy Kreme glazed donut.... :sigh: Dear God Help Me!!

March 4, 2011 *day 4

This is the first week of discipline and exercise.  Day 1 was pretty hard. I did 30 minutes of cardio. It's a dvd that has 30 minutes of cardio and then 30 minutes of targeted sections (upper, lower, abs, etc...) Do you want to know what dvd it is? Carmen Electra's strip tease disc 2. It's the aerobics one. I know there are more difficult dvd's out there but I feel like this one is set at my pace yet it is still very challenging. Right now, I can only get through the cardio. The other thing I am doing is Zumba on the Kinect. I know some of you are laughing right now and think "no wonder why she can't lose weight." but seriously the Zumba one kicks my butt and it is so much fun. I love to dance, so this is perfect for me. I struggle with regular work out dvd's because they become boring to me.  So these are the two that I am doing. I think I'm going to look for a good Yoga dvd as well. (the wii was awesome for yoga!)
The other area I need to work on is my diet. I'm not a calorie counter. (too lazy) But I am paying attention to what I eat and how much I eat.
Here is my plan. Every morning I eat a turkey sausage with a slice of cheese on a bagel.(I should probably do it on wheat.) For lunch I will eat something a little heavier. ( I love burgers, chicken salad, pizza, subs, whatever) and then for dinner something light. Maybe a veggie salad. I dunno. Just light.
I also want to cut out sugar. That means, cookie's, lemon pound cake,cheesecake, chocolate,brownies, candy....:sigh: all the things that make me happy. I'll have 1 cup of coffee a day and 1 diet soda a day.  My goal is to increase my water intake. I think if I cut out soda and water from my diet and drink mostly water it will make a big difference.  I am also hoping that my increase in water will help get rid of slight hunger pains from being border line dehydrated.
So good stuff. All of this may seem wrong and a waste of time, but for me it is better. I know it's healthier.

Here I am on day 4. and I have to say that I am actually enjoying working out. Today I did 20 minutes of Zumba and then 10 minutes of dancing. I already feel a little better. I'm excited about working out. I'm excited about making a change :)

My Crash Diet...

There is a reason why the word "DIE" is in the word Diet. It's hard. It takes discipline. It takes strength and it takes consistency. First let me tell you about my oh soooooo rockin' body. (cough cough ) I am 5'5 and I weigh 140 lbs. ! (please if you weigh more than this , please do not cast any stones) As of right now I fit into a size 10 in Misses. My problem area's are my stomach, thighs and butt. I will even say that my upper arms are getting thicker as well. It seems as if all my fat falls straight past my boobs and sinks to my lower half. Now, I know that I am not fat. I know I'm not overly over weight. BUT I am still over weight. I have always been a size 4/6 and then I had 3 kids. With each child I kept about 10lbs. So here I am 30 lbs. later. and it's just getting worse. You see, I don't eat healthy foods. I don't drink water. (except what I make my coffee with) and I don't exercise. I DO eat lots of easy microwavable foods, I drink plenty of coffee and soda's, and I have also picked up a sweet tooth along the way. (I blame my kids for that too :) I'm a mess. I feel like a mess. I just don't feel healthy. I look in the mirror and I'm not happy with how my body looks. It frustrates me that I have to keep buying new jeans in a bigger size.(and I LOVE shopping)  Here is the thing, when will it stop? I know that it won't stop on it's own. I can't keep living this way, it's unhealthy. But most of all, I want to teach my children the importance of living healthy and being healthy.  That brings me back to the beginning. "Hi, my name is Esther and i'm a Junk Food Junky." (I think I just lost a few just by admitting to that ) I want to use this blog to keep track of what I am doing, what I am eating and my ups and downs throughout this life changing expidition. Maybe you'll want to join me. We can suffer together and rejoice together. God knows that I'll be shedding some tears, and hopefully a few pounds along the way!