Walk This Way...

I went for a walk this morning and quickly remembered why I usually wait to walk after the sun goes down. I started at 10:30, and I didn’t make it back to my car until 12:30. Of course, me being me, it could not be just a normal, simple, little walk. It was 95 degrees outside, and the sun was blaring, so my brilliant idea was to cut down a “nature trail”. I use this term loosely because the only nature I encountered was trees and mud and mosquitoes the size of pterodactyls. I was hot and sweaty, and by the time we emerged from “nature”, we still had about 2 more miles to go. I felt like I was on Survivor Island. I began to imagine oases and mirages. I was completely out of water when an angel from God appeared in a TECO truck. He stopped, and cool air wafted out of his open window. He asked “Do yall’ need anything?” I replied “Do you have any water?” He said “no”, but pointed to this giant blue pipe sticking out of the ground “That pipe has drinking water. I can open it up for you.” He offered, and I gratefully accepted. My face felt swollen, and I began to see spots in front of my eyes, so I knew I had to get cool and fast. When he opened the valve to flush the system, it looked like someone opened a fire hydrant on a NY city street. I waited for a few moments to get rid of the stagnate water. He then lowered the pressure and I filled my cup and I got myself wet. It was a shock to the system because the water was so cool, but it was just what I needed to make it back to my car. I wiped off the baby with a cool, wet cloth and made sure she had plenty of water. She drank 8 oz during the course of our walk. I was worried that was too much, so I gave her some Pedialyte when we got home. She was no worse for ware! I finally made it back home to the air conditioning and my comfy couch. I was toast for the rest of the day. I slept through most of the Yankee game…which was awesome by the way. I am super tired so I am going to hit the sack! I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Don't Call It A Come Back...

Well, despite the fact I was disappointed about that stupid, annoying pound, I dragged my butt to boot camp tonight. I am so glad I did. I used this minor setback to fuel the fire of determination that is burning inside of me. I decided that I was going to dig in and push hard. What I found when I got to that point was surprising. I found a fountain of strength and energy that was buried under the fat way, deep down inside, and I RAN. I actually ran. It felt awesome. I could only run for about 25 seconds at a time, but the important thing here is that I ran. I was tired and hot and sweaty and gross, but I felt amazing. Also, my husband bought me a “you’re doing great” gift. I was so surprised. When he came to pick me up from boot camp, he presented me with an awesome nail kit with lotion and oil and a buffing block (the Dead Sea stuff that they sell in the kiosk in the middle of the mall). He is the greatest. He always knows just how to make me feel better. I am so excited about this week. I am going to follow my meal plan more closely and make sure I am getting enough meals in the day (no more skipping breakfast) to keep my metabolism going. I am in hopes that will be enough to finally get the scale moving in the right direction! I hope everyone has had a good week so far…only 2 more days to the weekend. Please don't forget to let me know if you are interested in kick ball so that we can get something set into stone. The Yankees are in the playoffs and the game is on TV, so I am going to go watch them dominate the Twins...Let's go Yankees!

This Was Not Part Of The Plan.

I anxiously stepped on the scale this morning. My scale talks in a female robotic voice. I waited with baited breath, a moment passed, and she blurted out "your weight is 400 pounds." It was if she was mocking me. My first reaction was to open my bedroom window and toss the lying Jezebel into the pond behind my house. I had a feeling that sneaky little pound was stalking me, but I vow to get rid of him, plus a couple of his annoying little friends this week. In addition, I plan on filing a restraing order so that they can't come back. I didn't walk tonight because I have a very early morning tomorrow. I have boot camp tomorrow afternoon though, so I am sort of grateful for the rest. I plan on walking my normal 3 miles on Thurs and Friday at the least. Well, that's it for tonight. I am going to bed after a frustrating day!

Working Hard...

I went to boot camp today, and Marilyn is kicking it up a notch. I guess that's why she calls it Kick It Up Boot Camp. The first 2 weeks she was so sweet and gentle. I guess that is your grace period. I didn't hear "Stacy, you may not want to do this" or "Stacy, you may want to modify this exercise this way" once today! Today, I met the full on, in your face, get your butt moving and don't look back Marilyn, and I kind of like her. I need a kick in the butt once in a while. Let's face facts, I am 399 pounds. Obviously, something went awry with my self motivation techniques at some point. I work very well under pressure, and I truly believe that I can do anything. I have no mental blocks to hold me back. In my opinion, that is the hardest part of the battle...getting mentally tough. I heard a saying once that pain is just weakness leaving the body. Well, I got rid of a lot of weakness today. The workout today focused mainly on arms and abs. According to Marilyn, everything should be a ab workout...Yippee!! The most consistent thing that I hear during my hour long sessions is "Keep your abs tight and your shoulders back". I feel like I'm in charm school. She might as well walk around with a wooden ruler and whack people while reciting the phrase "No Slouching"!! I am kidding of course, Marilyn is the best, and she has been a tremendous help. I have learned so much in the 3 short weeks that I have been attending her classes. I am looking forward to seeing what she has in store for me as I begin to shed the pounds. As I become more agile and flexible, I am looking forward to more difficulty. One of my long term goals is to be able to run. I am not talking a cute little trophy wife jog. I am talking a full out, pedal to the metal, hide and go seek (not it) kind of run. I know that sounds insane, but whoever said I was completely normal? Another thing I want to be able to do at some point is a military style push up (not some girly, sissy, knees bent, I might break a nail kind of push up). I would like to request something from my faithful readers. I don't know how possible it would be, but I would like to organize a kickball or softball game (Kickball requires less equipment), and I would like for you to participate. Please email me if you are interested at Stacypie3279@aol.com so that we can figure out a date, time, and location. I am going to call it a night for now. I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I don't want to hear about anybody with a "case of the Monday's" Good night for now...sleep tight!

Life...

It is so hard to stay focused when life is happening all around you. I didn't walk yesterday or today because we have been busy trying to get the house clean and back in order. We spent all day cleaning yesterday, but I did manage to make a delicious dinner. I cooked chicken, a bag of frozen mixed veggies, celery, carrots, chopped garlic, and onion in the crock pot. Once the chicken was cooked through, I took the chicken and vegetables out of the crock pot and cooked some brown rice in the stock. Once the rice was tender, I put the chicken and veggies back in. It was so good, and it was just the ticket after a long day of work. Of course, laundry spilled over into today. Laundry in never completely done with an infant in the house. I just had to get out of the house today, so we did some grocery shopping and went to the mall to pick up my daughter's Halloween costume. She is going to be a lady bug...too cute. I got a deal on her costume at Children's Place in Brandon Mall. The Halloween gear was 30% off, so I was happy about that. We had another great dinner tonight. I made a strawberry, chicken salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I used a bag of spring mix salad greens; I added some chopped Romaine hearts, sliced strawberries, chopped walnuts, grilled chicken breast, and gorgonzola cheese. I made the vinaigrette with 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 3/4 cup EVOO, 1/2 Tbs salt, 1/2 Tbs pepper, and 2 Tbs Splenda. I whisked that all together until the salt and Splenda were dissolved, and then drizzled the mixture over the salad. It was literally the 1st salad that I have ever made at home that I actually enjoyed. I even have enough for lunch tomorrow...I am looking forward to it! I have boot camp tomorrow, and it is the beginning of a new class. I am really excited about that, and I hope to see some of you there. I think I am going to call it a night. I will post more soon. Sweet dreams!

Success...

My daughter slept in her own bed all night last night and for her nap this afternoon. Here’s hoping for another successful night tonight. I took the night off because I am feeling a little worn out. It has been a rough few nights and it is going to take a really good night's sleep for me to be all caught up. I will be back at it tomorrow. My poll has ended, and the popular vote for chucking the weight loss program in the past is lack of motivation. I have totally been there. When I was younger, I was defiant about losing weight. I didn't feel it was necessary for me to conform to society's standards. As I got older, that translated into lack of motivation because I was just so used to being lazy and fat! I really started to be concerned about my weight when I got engaged. I had a vision of myself walking down the aisle looking like the Michelin Man, so I joined a gym and got my bohunkus on the tread mill. I was on a low carb diet as well, and that seemed to work, because with the combination of diet and exercise I lost 50 pounds. Once the honeymoon was over, however, I quickly gained back all the weight I lost plus a few. I got comfortable again, and life kind of got in the way and I just gave up. I was complacent in this holding pattern until my husband and I started talking about having a baby, so when we stared trying, I got back on the wagon. I chose a low fat and low calorie diet because I realized that low carb could not be a lifestyle change for me. I just can't live without bread or pasta forever. Once I got pregnant, the "diet" and exercise was out the window again because I miscarried previous to getting pregnant with my daughter and I was terrified that it was because of something I did, so I sat with my feet up for the first 6 months. By the time I felt comfortable enough to go for walks again I was 7 months pregnant. For those of you that have ever been pregnant, walking is the last thing on your mind in the last trimester. I waddled like a duck, and my bladder was the size of a flattened penny, so walking was out. I had this sensational idea that I would get out and walk with the baby once she was born, but when she got here I found out that things didn’t fit in neat little boxes of time anymore. I felt like my entire day was consumed by just trying to keep her fed. I was having trouble breast feeding so the schedule was as follows: offer her the breast, give her bottle, try to pump. By the time I finished, it was time to sterilize the breast pump and start all over. I was an emotional wreck because I had my heart set on breast feeding, and that just didn't happen. I was physically and emotionally exhausted for the first 3 months of her life. People kept telling me that things would get easier, but the light at the end of the tunnel seemed to be the headlamp of an oncoming train. We finally got over the hump of 2 am and 4 am feedings and the colic...oh the colic, and by the time she was 4 1/2 months old, I decided to get my life back in order. I was terrified the first time I stepped on the scale. I swore to myself that I would never be back to 400, but low and behold...413. I weighed 1 pound less than I did before we started trying to conceive. I was back to square 1. That was a huge blow to my morale, but I came to the conclusion that nobody could change my life except for me, and I had a brand new reason to stick to it this time. So, here I am, well on my way to getting healthy. I guess my whole point to this long and drawn out story is that you have to find your own source for motivation. It helps me to see my daughter while I am eating and working out. She is a constant reminder why I am doing what I am doing. Thanks for listening to my story. I hope everyone has a terrific weekend! I will post more soon, but until then, I bid you good night.

Sleepless in New Tampa

Exhaustion has reached a new level! We are in the process of transitioning my 5 1/2 month old daughter from our bed to her crib. It has only been 3 days, but I am tired. She has done pretty well getting to sleep in her crib, but by 2 am she is screaming her head off. I thought the sleep depravation was over when we got through the colic stage, but I guess it was just beginning. I went to boot camp yesterday, and boy did I get a workout. I climbed up and down a hill 8 times and when I say hill, I don't mean a slight incline, Think San Francisco! I did 100 sit-ups, jump rope, 50 crunches and some arm and leg work. Not to mention, we played tag twice. I had so much fun. I felt like a kid at recess!! I will be hanging from the monkey bars with my munchkin in no time, so if you see me at the playground, I am won't be hanging there because I have some mental instability, it will simply because I CAN!! We went for another 3 mile walk today. I made it in 72 min. I know that wasn't as good as my previous time, but we had a cranky baby on our hands, and I had a serious chaffing situation (let's just say that I found out that I had a hole in my pants about 20 min too late). One of my friends on Facebook posted some info on the Inaugural Florida Half-a-thon and 5k Race at Fort Desoto on March 21, 2010. I think I am going to register, and I will do my best to be in running shape by then (well, at least jogging shape). Marilyn told me about another 5k in Westchase on the morning on 10/31/09. I think I am going to register for that as well just because I have never participated in a 5k, and I want to get some practice in. I found out that a 5k in not the same as 5 miles. I’m sure that you all probably already knew that, but I didn't, and when I found out that it was only 3.1 miles, I breathed a sigh of relief. If I had to go much further than 3 miles at this point, I think my ankles would go on strike! It has been a long couple of days, so I am going to see if I can finally get some sleep. Nighty Night!