Tuesday 16 September 2008

Week Three and Hanging On

Hi Everyone,

Well it has been two weeks and the start of week three for me in this journey. So far I have managed to loose 11.6lbs, which I am really telling you so I can be accountable. I have been down the road of dieting many times before and usually at a 20lb loss, I give up....

Can anyone here tell me why it is when people start to notice the weight loss and compliment me that I give up....
Do any of you have that same phenonmenon. It is like I just start to feel good and then poof I quit... Just doesn't make any sense to me.

So this time as I am getting rid of layers of myself, I am going to try to change the self talk into the positive stuff. I can do this. I don't need to quit at 20 lbs. Even if it is tough which it will be I can still carry on one day at a time.

I am glad to be a part of this blog group as an extra support as I go for better health.

I found a neat recipe on one of the blogs linked to this. They were talking about egg muffins. This is really quiche without the crust made in those silicone muffin cups. I tried it out. Works really good, handy to have ahead for breakfasts. You can freeze them too. It is a southbeach diet recipe.

If you have any favorite healthy recipes or ideas please pass along. I would appreiate fresh ideas.

Have a great week.

Shan and Belinda how are those arms now? Feeling the benefits? I applaud you on....

Thursday 11 September 2008

Jelly Arms

Thanks Shan! My arms feel like jelly and my upper chest as if someone punched me all over. :)

Today when no one was around at work I got down in on the ground in the hallway and tried for my next set of pushups. I'm so glad nobody suddenly came down the stairs, they might have started CPR. :)

I got no further than the first set of cheating pushups. I could hardly use my arms to push myself off the ground! I'm not giving up though, this is good pain.

Miracles, and Freakin' Sore Armpits

I did the first day of the 100 pushup challenge today. O.U.C.H. I didn't expect it to be that hard. I did 20 on the initial test, so I saw the instructions for the first day and thought "Tchuh! 10, then 10, then 8 then 6?! That's going to be a cakewalk!"

Um, it wasn't a cakewalk. It was bloody difficult, and I can tell you right now I will be amazed if I can EVER do 100 consecutive pushups. BUT I WILL SOLDIER ON. No quitting for me. I'm taking tomorrow off then I'm doing it all again on Friday. I think I may do Day One again because I had to do the last two pushups of the third set (the set of 8) on my knees. But I managed 10 for the last, maximum-rep set, anyway.

And now for something really extraordinary: I got an email from a reader yesterday. This woman reads my blog but doesn't comment, and lives in Chicago. The email is as follows:
When I first read about the theft of your bike, I thought, "Hey, I wonder
if she'd like Sam's old bike." Then I dropped it, because, well, because. I have a nice quality mountain/hybrid bike in my basement, about 3 years old. It is sturdy and well-made.... Contingent upon not-outlandish shipping costs, would you like it?

And that, my friends, is what is known as "God closing a door and opening a window".

Tuesday 9 September 2008

It's an Ill Wind that Blows No Good

I friends; it's me checking in.
This morning I was down to 149.8. This is largely due to an stomach bug that I have been battling for the past 11 days. Not pleasant, but it had its points! :)
Shan, I was so busy today that I did not start the push up challenge, but tomorrow I definitely will!
At the worst of my upset stomach, I was eating only to keep body and soul together. I realized after I started to feel a bit better, that I had stopped the constant grazing that I am prone to do!
Maybe I should try chewing gum!
If I can keep off what I lost and maintain the momentum that will be awesome. And on with the push ups!
Shan, I'm praying about that bike too, that you'll get it back. I know that humanly speaking that's next to impossible.

Monday 8 September 2008

Thinking about getting rid of something.....

Monday September 8th, 2008

Hi fellow bloggers, I have officially joined with you on this quest for better health. I have commented occasionaly on the blog, but am now making this official. Hi, I am Libby, which was a nickname from childhood. I am not much of a writer, but if I get inspired by an idea or something I've heard that I feel coud be useful I will pass it along.

I started last week with my resolve to loose weight. I have a lot of it to loose. Every step is a step closer than the day before. I joined Weight Watcher's on tuesday last week and have been packing lunches since then. I lack in discipline in that area. This week all is wel though I have managed to pack my lunch and yes actually eat it too. Do any of you have that problem?

After talking with a friend this weekend, I was inspired by something she shared about weight loss. SHe heard someone say : I am not loosing weight anymore, I am getting rid of it. When you loose something you always end up trying to find it.

So out with the idea of loosing and in with the gettting rid of the extra pounds. Ah ha, a lightbulb went off for me. I am going to get rid of as much of me as I can. And to top it off, I can also clean house on the inside. For example which parts of me do I want to keep. What parts of my character would I also like to get rid of in the process and what are the qualities htat I want to keep. For me this is an exciting new way of looking at my situation.

May you all have a good week, and thank you all for your inspiration to me thus far.

Libby

100 Push-ups Challenge

Is anyone interested in doing the 100 push-ups challenge? It's simply a 5-week schedule for training yourself to do 100 push-ups consecutively, vastly improving your fitness and muscle tone at the same time.

It takes thirty minutes per week - ten minutes on each of three days, with a rest day in between. Not much time commitment, but we all know that push-ups are a great fitness tool.

I started out with 20 on the initial test (just do as many as you can, with good form, and no cheating) which puts me in group 3. So my first week of pushups will follow a schedule like this:

Day One:
10 push ups
60 seconds rest
10 push ups
rest
8 push ups
rest
6 push ups
rest
As many push ups as I can do
End

Day Two:
12 pushups
90 seconds rest
12 pushups
rest
10 pushups
rest
10 pushups
rest
As many as I can do
End

Day Three:
15
120 seconds rest
13
rest
10
rest
10
end

I think it'll be interesting, though I might have to do them on my fists because I am troubled with wrist pain.

So is anyone else In?

Thursday 4 September 2008

Back on Four Wheels

Early Monday morning, my bike got stolen. It was in the shed in our back yard, with a proper door and everything...although the deadbolt was not locked. We got careless.

I posted about it on my regular blog, but I think people were mostly sympathetic about the cost involved...the real issue for me actually is that my bike was my main way of staying in shape. I got a lot of exercise on that bike...early in the summer I was riding four or five times a week. That changed later, when things got busy, but at least the bike was always there and I knew I could hop on at any time and get my heart going.

I would classify this event as devastating. I feel almost panicked about it. I can't afford to buy another bike. I can't even afford a mid-range bike like the one I had - it was $500 ten years ago. In fact, now that we are knee-deep in mortgage and kids and credit-card debt, we can't even afford a crappy bike. The only way I will be able to get one is to use the dregs of my (small) ICBC settlement from 3 years ago, but I was saving that $500 for something else - my mom is planning to take me and my sisters on a trip to NYC next year and we have to provide our own spending money. $500 isn't much but at least it would have got me some, I don't know, fabric or something.

It's embarrassing to admit that we're so poor I can't buy a bike...but that's how things are.

Actually I feel like I might cry now so I'm going to stop talking about the bike.

Belly dance starts up next week, and although I don't think we can technically afford it (see "Poor", above), I'm going to take the lessons anyway. If I am really dedicated and practice every single day, it will be worth the $45 a month. What I'm going to do this time is, I'm going to measure my waist now, and then measure it every month during the winter, when I'm dancing. Should be interesting...and probably more relevant than my weight.

Tonight I went to visit a friend of mine who has just moved back to town. She has a Wii Fit. She offered to set me up on it, and I hopped up on the platform. It was good to see that my weight is just above 184, still, even though I have been extremely careless about my eating lately. And the Wii assesses your balance and "Wii Age" based on your weight, height, and balance (which it uses as an indication of fitness). My balance was excellent - probably because of the belly dance - and my Wii age was assessed at 35...which I will be on October 16. I think this is okay - I am not sure how it all works, but it seems to me that if you are in poor shape your Wii age is higher than your actual age, and if you are in great shape your Wii age is lower. So I am happy with Exactly The Same.

My friend said I can come back and play with her Wii Fit anytime - so I am going to go to her place on the weekend, I think, and see if I can't work up a sweat. It should be fun.

I had a good time tonight, and my friend told me "You look fantastic", (I think she meant "thinner") but really I feel very down. I haven't got over the loss of the bike...I seem to be sinking into a depression about it. Hopefully once dance starts up, I will feel more optimistic about everything...and maybe God has a plan for a bike for me, which won't cost too much and will be even better than my old one.

But I still wish it hadn't been stolen.


Take care guys.
Shannon

Wednesday 3 September 2008

Ups and Downs


Hey Friends, my last two weeks have not been great, and I felt badly about that after having felt so inspired in my last Beginnings and Endings post.

Being accountable here has been such a help, though, that I don't want to remain in hiding. So here I am, biting the bullet!

On Tuesday the 26th I was 152.8, which was after a weekend celebrating our 39th wedding anniversary by eating! The warm goat cheese with almonds (to start,) the wine etc., were all great, but...I'm not sure I'd do it all again next time.

I also didn't do what I'd planned in terms of exercise, although I went for a walk whenever I could manage it. I realize that I need to make it a higher priority.

On Tuesday the 3rd (yesterday) I was 153.2, which I think had more to do with a stomach problem I was having. This morning I'm back down to 151.4.

I wanted to post a couple of photos that encouraged me, taken in August of 2007 and August 2008.

Sometimes we don't realize how much difference just 5lb can make. In 2007 I was 157 and in 2008 I was 152.2. Those few pounds made a big difference when I see the photos.

So this week I am trying for start of the next 5lb off, and aiming to build in exercise in fact and not just in my mind!

How is everyone else doing? I would love to hear from you!
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