Exercise

My husband bought me a bike trainer this weekend and it couldn't have come at a better time.  We set it up in the garage and then took it upstairs to our bedroom and put it in the nook but when I tried it we decided that it wouldn't work in the house.  It is simply too loud for me to do it upstairs without waking the girls in the morning.  So I decided to use the garage.  I set it up out there and set to work.  I rode Monday and today.  It has been raining a lot here so running isn't really an option.

I'm so thankful for my husband and the things that he does for me.  I feel great knowing that I'm still getting a good workout in each morning even if it isn't in the form of running.

I hope you are all working towards your goals.  I fell off the wagon for about a week and a half but feel like I'm back on again.  Sometimes that happens but we have to get up and get back on the horse.  Good luck to everyone.

A good morning workout.

I had another great run this morning.  I have been pushing a little harder than usual.  I cut my run short by 10 minutes because it was sprinkling and looked like it was going to downpour.  I didn't want to get caught in a downpour.  It was 56 degrees this morning on my run and it was awesome.  I love cooler weather.

This morning was down to my lowest weight yet - this round.  It isn't much but was an improvement.  I was down to 187.0

So my goal for today is to get another 10 minutes of cardio today and to do my upper body strength training.

I have been trying to get in a daily ab workout as well.  I just have to be really determined.

Well my daughter is asleep and the sewing room is calling my name.

If you haven't gotten a good workout today make sure you schedule one it.  You will thank yourself for it later.

Well I had an awesome run this morning.  I decided to push harder than usual.  Sometimes I think I'm just being wimpy and today I think I proved that to myself.  I ran my miles 30 seconds faster than I have been.  That may not seem like much but it is a lot for me.  It felt great.

This weeks exercise line up is the same as last weeks:

Monday - run and strength train - upper body
Tuesday - Bike and strength train - lower body
Wednesday - video or resting
Thursday - Run and upper body
Friday Bike and lower body
Saturday - long run

Last week I started out good.  I ran and then biked and then after Wednesday I didn't do anything really.  I still lost weight until the weekend.  I lost 2 pounds last week and then gained 1 on the weekend.  I really need to get control of my weekends if I want to see this weight come off a bit faster.

I feel good and I am working on it.  I just think I mentally got burnt out last week.

I found out over the weekend that a few more of my friends are training for the same race as I am and it had me a little embarrassed by my current running.  That is why I pushed today and I'm so glad I did.

If you haven't found a few minutes to exercise today I would encourage you to find a few minutes for yourself and get your heart beating a little faster.

Today's plans

Well I realize that the day is half over but here are our plans for today. 

This morning I slept in because Yana was up for 3 hours in the middle of the night.  I think she is teething but who knows.  So I slept in this morning and then watched my friends daughter so she could exercise.  Then she watched my kids so I could go for a run.  I ran for 30 minutes and it felt great.  That was my goal for today.  I would also like to do some upper body strength training this evening.

Right now Yana is sleeping so I'm getting some stuff done on the computer.  Then we will eat lunch.  After lunch I want to go sew.  I have the tops to two Halloween runners done and want to start on a third.  I would like to take some pictures of a couple hair clips to post on my store.  I'll let you know if I get that done.

Tonight I start the next class in my cake decorating classes.  I don't have to make a cake or anything until the last class so I'll just take pictures of the things I learn.  I am very excited.  We will learn about Royal icing and really cool flowers.

Well I need to get a move on.  I hope you all have a wonderful day.

You may have noticed the new badge on the left hand upper side of my blog.  Well I habve joined her blog in my goal to lose weight.  She is also trying to lose 20 pounds in 62 days.  She is trying to start a "community" for  people who are trying to lose weight the right way.  We can share our daily ups and downs and encourage each other in our goals.

If you would like to join us please feel to to click on her button/badge "Budgeting During College".  You will find this "community" unto "20 lbs in 62 days".

As for my weight loss journey...this weekend wasn't very kind.  I originally lost 3 pounds this last week and over the week have gained 1 pound back.  So in order to stay on track I need to lose my original two pounds this week. 

This week:

This morning I biked for 40 minutes and it felt great.
Tuesday:  Run - 30 minutes - strength train upper body
Wednesday - cardio video
Thursday - Bike 30 minutes - strength train lower body
Friday - Run - 30 minutes - strength train upper body
Saturday - Long bike ride (possible Dam Jam bicycle tour - 55 miles)
Sunday - Rest.

That is the plan.  I'll let you know if I stay on track.

Have a good rest of your Labor Day.

Goals

It is now September, holy cow time is flying so fast!  I set a goal during the last week in August that I wanted to lose 2 pounds by the 31st.  I set mini goals to help me reach this goal.

I would run 4 times and bike 3 times in the same week. 
I would eat healthy.
I would strength train.

Well it is the 2nd of September and I wanted to tell you that I achieved my main goal.  I lost two pounds by the 31st.  I didn't make all my mini goals.  I only ran 3 times and biked twice.  I did try to eat healthier and although I didn't strength train as much as I should have I did more than was before.

I have run and biked this week.  I have eaten healthy this week until today.  I have struggled to be good today.

I hope that you are all reaching your goals, whatever they may be.

Exercising this week

I have a friend who lives near me.  She has three girls.  Two of which are now in school.  We both would like to be able to exercise every day but with our husband's going to work early and having children it makes it hard.  We talked about it and decided that we could help each other.  Every morning after she drops off her two oldest at school she will then drop her youngest off at my house.  She will then go exercise for 30 minutes and then I'll bring her daughter and my children to her house and then I'll go exercise for 30 minutes. 

We did that this morning and it worked out really well.  Now I don't have to go to bed with the chickens in order to get up before my husband goes to work.  Since I can now exercise on a regular basis again I sat down this morning and wrote out a schedule for this week.  Here it is:

Monday - Run 30 minutes easy run
                Strength train - upper body
Tuesday - Bike 30 minutes
                 Kettle bell workout
Wednesday - Run - 20-30 minutes - interval training
                 Strength train - upper body
Thursday - Bike 30 minutes
                 Kettle bell workout
Friday - Run 35 minutes
             Strength train - upper body
Saturday - Bike ride - 1 hour
Sunday - Rest

That is the plan.  So far so good.  The run went great.  It felt good.   It was definitely an easier run because I'm not sure I could have done much more.  Tonight after the girls are in bed I'll do my upper body strength training.

I challenge you all to find at least a few minutes for yourselves today.  It was nice having a few minutes to run and just think.

Have a wonderful day.  What do you have planned this week?

Oh ya - The Biggest Loser

Sorry.  I completely forgot to keep you posted on the families Biggest Loser contest.  We were originally going to end on the 1st of August but we decided to wait til the next week so we would all be home from vacation, have a couple days at home with our own scales, and so it would be on a Wednesday.  Then we got sick and things came up so we didn't end up ending it until a week ago.

I went from 198 to 191.  It took two months and although I am happy to have lost the weight I am not happy with how week my will  power was.  After Sarah I was losing 8 pounds a month and it took me two months to lose 7 pounds.  I did tone a lot.  190 was a wall that I really struggled to overcome.  My goal this week was to get past that wall.  I woke up this morning at 189.6 which was awesome.  So I have tried to be good today so I don't go back up past 190.

Anyways I didn't win the Biggest Loser contest.  I came in second actually.  My sister in law lost 6.?% and I lost something like 3.3%.  I am happy that I lost the weight and I will keep going.

My new goal is to lose two pounds a week and if I can do that then I will be to 170 by the end of October...right before we hit the holidays.  It is easy to maintain than to lose during the holidays so that is my goal.

My family is thinking about starting another round of The Biggest Loser sometimes early next year after the holidays.  I look forward to it.  I am hoping that I am already to my goal weight so then any weight I lose on top of that would be nice.  I'd probably work on toning more.

For all of you who are trying to lose weight...just keep working at it.  Don't give up.  I tell myself to give up every time the scale gives me a number I'm not happy with and that lasts for all of about 30 seconds and then I'm back trying to figure out what the problem is. 

Here are a few weight loss tips that have helped me in the past and are helping me now:

Get enough sleep - that is very important actually.
Drink lots of water
Exercise - going for a walk is exercise.  We all have to start somewhere.
Have fun.  It isn't work doing if it isn't fun.  Just because we are trying to lose weight doesn't mean we have to give up living to do so.  Find fun activities that help keep you active.  Sometimes I just dance around the house with my girls and it is surprising how quickly I get tired.

Have a good day...go out and do something good for yourself!

Question of the day (week)

Well I have now been home from Idaho for a week.  I finally got out this morning and went for a jog.  So here is the question that I have been asking myself all week long.

Is it alright to exercise when sick?  from the shoulders up that is.

We all got sick on our vacation.  It is some type of a cold.  My throat hurts, the back of my neck hurts and earlier in the week my lower back hurt.  I haven't had a lot of energy either.  So I rested all week.  We didn't go outside hardly at all because it is so hot outside.  I set my alarm a few times but just couldn't get myself out of bed.  This morning almost turned out the same.  I lay there thinking to myself that it was too dark outside.  Then I figured I'd have to start running at night again and then the fact that it was so hot outside at night changed my mind.

So I did it.  I ran 1.6 miles in 20 minutes.  Not super fast but given the fact that it has been a week and half since my last run and I don't feel that great I figured it was a good run.

So my answer that question above is that it all depends on how you feel.  I felt ok.  I figured if running wasn't going to work then I would walk and still get at least a little exercise.  I have felt really good all morning.

Then later I did a pilates yoga workout which also felt really good.