Confessions and Realizations

Okay, I have been struggling lately with my diet and exercise (mainly diet) and I realized yesterday that I tend not to blog during these struggling times. Shame on me because isn't that why I started this blog? I should be talking about my struggles during my weight loss to help keep me accountable and for all you wonderful friends and family to help me. :)

So, here is the deal, I have taken a break from my personal trainer and weekly weigh-ins with Krista. It started getting on my nerves going to the Collonade and dealing with traffic. My other big problem with my personal trainer is the sessions became more like a small class of other ladies versus a personal session. The other ladies were also new to the program and I noticed I was working out at a lower intensity. The final problem I had with the program was the hours they were available. There are only two nights per week they stay past 3pm and they do not work on the weekends; therefore if I had a conflict with one of those two nights, I didn't have another alternative to make the day up for the week. On those occasions, the cost of my one session was extremely high and I couldn't justify it in my mind or pocket. I am not sure if I will go back or not; I haven't totally ruled it out but I needed a break.

I have been working out at home and that is going pretty good because I have quite a variety of workout options. I looked into the gym close to my house that is offering a $15/month no commitment membership and they have a lot of cardio machines and weight machines but offer no aerobic classes. I'm not sure how I feel about that so I haven't joined yet. I am realizing that I am struggling more with my eating rather than the exercise part and I don't think the gym will provide the accountability I need. So now I am not sure what to do.

I had reached the 25 lb loss mark and today I weighed and I am only down 24 lbs. I don't want to start going backwards because of the following reasons (not in any particular order) -

• My health (blood pressure, cholestorol, heart, etc)
• I haven't filled up my bracelet with beads yet
• I still haven't reached the goal where Clint has to sell his boat
• I have a lot of flab I want to get rid of on my body
• I want to go on vacation with Clint and look good in a bathing suit
• I would like to complete the 5K I signed up for by running, not walking
• I would like to buy some new clothes

I guess I could go on and on but you get the picture. So, I am still researching options. If any of you have any ideas, let me know. I really like the SparkPeople site but I find I don't log in everything I should everyday. They do have really good motivational/help articles so I should go visit for inspiration. One thing I am tossing around is finishing a room in our basement and setting it up like a gym and then joining WW again. I don't know. Why can't I be like my sister and not have a weight problem? Even though she thinks she does. :)

Thanks for reading and any/all comments are welcome.

Pam

New Additions to the Nail Household

It has been an exciting week! Monday night we brought two little puppies home to fill the void Peabody left and I must say they are cute.

The little black one is a girl and we named her Daisy; the brown one is a boy and Clint named him Rudy. They both are so sweet and playful; however, I will be glad to get through the housetraining stage. :) They will be 13 weeks old on Monday (8/3). I have let them keep me from going to workout with Sylvia so that isn't good even though I have been working out at home. I am kind of struggling with the whole personal trainer thing because they now have so many clients that it isn't really "personal" training and it is very expensive on my budget. I noticed the gym close to my house has a special for $15/month and no contract. I have been thinking about that because then I could go at more convenient times and more often per week if I want to workout, plus it would save me a lot of money. I looked at their site and they have a weight loss program so I think I could still weigh in and be accountable. What do you all think? Is it a mistake to change? I kind of think I need a change because I feel like I am getting burnt out from going to the Colonnade twice a week. I also need a kick regarding by eating because I haven't been as strict as I should be. Hint hint, I need a kick. :) Okay, here are some more pictures of my little puppies.

Umm...

I have been wondering why I haven't seen any comments lately and I just discovered two that were hidden. I have obviously done something to my settings to make me have to select the comments before they post. I wonder what I did so I can undo it?

Yesterday, I ran/walked my longest distance to date so far, 2.45 miles. I am so excited and totally know that I will be able to finish the 5K in October by running, not walking! Are there still no volunteers out there to join me? It's for a good cause and if I can do it, anybody can do it.

I am still missing Peabody really bad! I know we cannot replace him (there will never be another Peabody) but I have been thinking about getting another one and did call about some dogs tonight. We really like Dachshunds so we want to stay with that breed but I am thinking maybe a different color so they won't look exactly like Peabody. I say "they" because we are thinking about getting two dogs, a brother and sister. Peabody had such bad separation anxiety whenever we left the house and we were thinking about getting another dog anyway so why not get two from the start? I found two potential owners tonight so maybe we will go look at them this week. A few days ago I found some on www.petfinders.com but I waited too long and they are gone. Anyway, maybe I will be posting new pictures soon. :)

I think Clint wants the computer so I better sign off. I hope to post some pictures from my vacation next post.

Good night.

Catch Up

A lot has happened since my last post so I am just going to list the highlights since most of you talk to me on a regular basis anyway.

• Peabody became ill
• I went on vacation with my niece to visit my sister in NJ
• Peabody passed away while I was on vacation
• Had a wonderful time in spite of being depressed about Peabody. BTW, The Little Mermaid on Broadway is fabulous! Spent too much time and money at the American Girl store. lol
• Made it back home after a major flight re-route, not fun!
• Happy to be home and see Clint but majorly depressed about Peabody. He was such a big part of our lives and it is really hard with him gone.
• Took the remainder of the week off from exercise.
• Started working out again last week. Running is going really good. At my weigh-in, my weight stayed the same. I guess that is good after being on vacation; I did have several pieces of birthday cake. :)
• This week, I have really tried to get back on track with eating and exercise. So far, so good. I had a good weigh-in today; my total weight loss is 25.5 lbs. yea me!
• I started tracking my personal weight and exercise goals on http://www.sparkpeople.com/. It's a fun site and you should check it out.

I guess those are the major highlights. I will really try and keep up with this blog.

Running Update

Running is hard! I am not enjoying it but I am still willing to stick it out and see if it gets better. I am hoping the benefits I will see in terms of toning will out weigh the struggles of getting through the run/walk. I am also trying to remind myself this is only my second week of training. I am going to download some new music to my i-pod; maybe that will help. I read about a site called www.dontquitmusic.com and I am going to check it out.

Tonight I go see Sylvia so that will be fun. She has started me doing kick boxing to help tone my lower body. You would think between my run/walk and personal trainer seesions I would be in super shape but everything takes time right? As Nan tells me, I didn't put this weight on overnight and I am not going to lose it overnight either. It is coming off and I feel so much better than I did a few months ago; if it takes a year, that is okay.

So, what do you all do to stay in shape? I want to hear from you.

Recipe for Artichoke Dip

I have been going through some magazines around the house and I came across this recipe for Artichoke Dip. I haven't tried it yet but I thought I would share with you all because I know at least some of you entertain and may want to try. It is not fat or sodium free but better than a regular recipe. This recipe came from the May issue of Health Magazine -

Artichoke Dip (makes 6 servings)
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup light cream cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella, divided
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbs chopped scallions
1 tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine artichokes, mayonnaise, cream cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 3/4 cup mozzarella, garlic salt, pepper, scallions, and parsley in a bowl; transfer to baking dish.
2. Top with remaining Parmesan and mozzarella; bake 20-30 minutes or until golden and bubbling. (Serving size: about 1/2 cup)

Calories 159; Fat 9g; Chlesterol 23mg; Protein 11g; Carbohydrate 9g; Sugars 1g; Fiber 0g; Iron 1mg; Sodium 684mg; Calcium 268mg.

Let me know if you try it and I will do the same.

No Plateau Yet...

I know I am always excited but this has been a pretty good "voyage" so far. Today at weigh-in, I lost another 2 lbs. for a total of 23. I am so proud of myself and excited about reaching 30 soon. I think a lot of my success can be attributed to a mind set. There have been a lot of times in my life when I wanted to lose weight but wasn't successful because I don't think I wanted it bad enough. A few months ago, I hit rock bottom by feeling bad, over all health not great, and I was out growing my fat clothes. That was a bad moment! Now I feel like I can do anything given enough time which is why I know I will be successful this time; it may take a year to get my BMI in the range it should be in but that is okay, I just have to keep going.

By the way, did I tell you all about my blood pressure? My blood pressure was inching up and my GYN was really concerned which is one of the reasons I got serious about the weight loss. Anyway, I had an appointment the other day with my GYN and my blood pressure was great! He couldn't quit praising me for the efforts I have made and how good I was doing. He just went on and on and I really felt good leaving there for a change. Next year, I won't dread it so much. One thing I still need to work on is my bad cholesterol number; when I had it checked, it was a little high but the doctor said my diet and exercise program should help it to lower. My good cholesterol level was good so the overall ratio was fine but I still would prefer that number to be lower. I will have it checked again at the end of July so keep your fingers crossed.

Does anyone have any questions or a topic you would like me to talk about? I don't mind sharing almost anything so go ahead and ask. I won't tell you my current weight though. Some websites I have found helpful are www.mapmyrun.com (thanks Keela) and www.health.com. They both have a lot of useful information in terms of diet and exercise. Mapmyrun.com has a cool feature where you can put in your walk/run route and it will tell you the distance and a lot of other stuff. Check it out; it is a fun site. I also have found out the diet I am on is similar to the Zone diet for those of you curious. I have really come to see how some carbs are really bad in the diet, especially if you are overweight in the first place. I really try to avoid breads, pastas, potatoes, rice, etc.