Tag Archives: fitness

New Year… New Me: Beyond Weeks 87, 88 and 89.

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Exercise, General, Health, Weekly Weigh-In and tagged with , , , , , , ,

December was a total lost cause and I ended up (mostly water weight to be sure, but still not happy with it) almost 20 pounds from my last “official” weekly weigh-in. But I am not giving up and now that the New Year is here, I’m going to get back on track. I do not ever want to be as overweight as I was before.

I am still aiming for a 1200 calorie per week goal, but since my current TDEE is around 2200 calories there is definitely a little wiggle room there as well. So, especially on the days where I exercise, I might eat a little more, which is ok (as long as it’s not junk). I still have my small group training once a week and for Christmas I bought myself a TRX system to use here at the house.

Have I mentioned how awesome TRX is? Well, it totally is. Everyone should do it!! (seriously – all skill levels and body types – it’s freaking amazing!!)

And if you aren’t in a place where you can do a particular exercise, there are plenty of ways to modify (such as changing how far you lean back – farther is harder so less of an angle makes it easier) so it really does work for almost anyone. Also, even though it may not look like you are doing much, depending on the modifications, it can be as intense or low-impact as you need it to be.

Anyway, when 2018 started I weighed around 285, so overall I am still down almost 30 pounds for the year (currently I’m at 258), so that is something positive. I still have a long way to go (and in truth, this is a life-long journey, make no mistake about it), but I will get there.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and prosperous New Year!! Like they say… aim for the moon, and even if you miss you’ll still land among the stars!! We got this!!

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Weekly Weigh-In: Week 77

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Exercise, General, Weekly Weigh-In and tagged with , , , ,

Week 77 Current Weight: 234

Pounds Lost This Week: 6

Total Weight Lost: 156 pounds

Water weight is fun. XD

One of my goals for this current fitness challenge is to go to the gym more often. At one point I was going almost every day for a while, but as summer hit I got lazy and have only been going to my Monday evening small group training. Even though we’re getting ready to start week 3 on Monday, so far, I’m still just going my same old once a week. Though to be fair, the kiddo’s been having a rough time the last month or so, and I’m still trying to recover from the ginormous panic attack and utter exhaustion that was hurricane Florence. Everything was fine here at the house, but the mental stress of it all, not to mention we ended up leaving town just in case (since originally we were going to be in a more direct path), was pretty significant.

My eating habits have still been a little off. Either I’m not hungry or when I am, there’s nothing that I want (all I want is junk and I’m trying really hard not to give in to that too much). Hopefully, things will work themselves out soon.

I did start another HealthyWage challenge as well. The goal is to lose 25 more pounds in the next 6 months. I know it’s a fairly conservative goal (since I usually average more than a pound a week weight loss), but I also know the holidays are coming up, so I figured it was better to aim low than to set myself up for total failure. Anyone who wants to join me – please feel free.

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 57

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Exercise, Food, General, Weekly Weigh-In and tagged with , , , , , ,

Week 57 Current Weight: 257

Pounds Lost This Week: 2

Total Weight Lost: 133 pounds

Ate at my favorite Indian restaurant for Mother’s Day with the oldest and his wife (and had a couple slices of pizza Saturday), but otherwise stayed very strictly to my calorie goals for the rest of the week. Exercised every day, except for Thursday, though Monday I didn’t get my extra elliptical work in – only did TRX/strength, but just ran out of time. Waffled a bit over taking Thursday off, but in the end was just tired and needed the break.

Things Discovered: Healthy Wage

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , ,

So apparently there is an app/website, HealthyWage, that you can use to essentially bet on your weight loss goals. You pay a fee (either monthly installments or all at once, whichever works for you), which is basically your bet. If you meet your goal (minimum time frame is 6 months) you not only get the amount you bet back, but an additional percentage as well (exact amount depends on your goals and the amount of time you are aiming for).

I came across the site via my local news, so there’s at least some hope that it’s on the up and up. But I need all the motivation I can get, so figured I’d try it out. My goal is to lose at least 30 pounds within the next 6 months. That’s slightly over a pound a week, but given how things tracking over the last few months, that should be doable without risking total failure.

hw

Anyone that wants to join me is welcome to do so (referral linky nets you and your friends an extra bonus $$ amount). You can also create/join team challenges which can boost your potential winnings as well.

Things Discovered: Lean Bar

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

I signed up for the GNC Pro rewards program last year, which is a paid version of their regular rewards program that gives you a few extra perks, including a box of samples 3 times a year. Honestly, I’m probably not going to renew the subscription when it comes due in a couple months, as most of it ended up not being useful to me personally. I originally thought I’d be needing it more when I was going to have the bariatric surgery, but with that off the table, I don’t shop there that often (other than like every couple for some stuff that the kiddo needs), which generally doesn’t make paying for a couple extra coupons all that worth it. The sample boxes were interesting, but again, the first two only had a couple things that were even remotely relevant to me – like that yummy protein cookie I mentioned a while back (even though I filled out the profile thingy which was supposed to help customize it better), so not really worth it.

leanbar

Credit: GNC

 

The last box though, did actually have some good stuff in it, and I thought I’d share about one of them – the Blueberry Yogurt Lean Bar. It has 180 calories, 15g protein, and 10g fiber, along with other assorted vitamins/minerals (22 carbs, but with all that fiber it’s not so bad). Usually, I’m not a big fan of anything “blueberry” flavored, but this was actually pretty tasty, so thought it was worth mentioning. I’ll definitely have to check out some of their other flavors to see if they are as good. Would make a great after workout snack or even a quick breakfast for those of us that don’t like to eat a lot in the morning.

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 40

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Exercise, General, Weekly Weigh-In and tagged with , , , , ,

Week 40 Current Weight: 279

Pounds Lost This Week: 3

Total Weight Lost: 111 pounds

This week I started a “Transformation Challenge” thingy at my gym. Because we ended up having #snowmageddon2018, today ended up being the first time I could actually get to the gym (other than Monday’s quick weigh-in/measurements appointment). In the short-term, I’m probably going to be hating myself, but long-term (hopefully), this will help motivate me and help me tone up some. Today, for example, we worked on arms – if I can move them tomorrow, it will probably be a miracle. On the positive side… I got down on the floor and back up again without falling over or wanting to die. This is progress!! XD

Things Discovered: Fitness Blender

Posted by Sephira in Exercise, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , ,

So, even though I have a gym membership (and even spent several months earlier this year going 3-4 times a week), the fact is I’m fairly apathetic when it comes to exercise. I mean, I’m fat and very out of shape, so working out in front of others is not a pleasant experience (for any of us). I was swimming mostly (when I was going to my gym), but me and chlorinated water don’t mix well – my hair looked awful and my skin broke out so bad you’d have thought I was going through puberty again. My face still hasn’t forgiven me. Other exercises are sort of hit or miss, I mean, I actually like doing the treadmill thing – it’s mindless and you can watch videos or read to pass the time… what’s not to love. However, I have chronic insertional achilles tendinitis and bursitis in both feet/ankles, which makes anything that involves standing or walking for long periods of time mildly uncomfortable on the best of days and down-right excruciating on the worst. So as much as I’d like to do something to increase my fitness level, I’m a bit limited (which is why the swimming was great – until it wasn’t).

This week, since I’ve been struggling with staying under my calorie goals, I really wanted to try to pick up something that would at least burn a couple extra calories (that way it wouldn’t be so bad if I ate an extra bite or two). So I loaded up YouTube to look at low-impact, super easy, beginner cardio videos, which led me to the Fitness Blender channel. In particular, the “Calorie Burning Low Impact Cardio Workout for Beginners” and “Fat Burning Low Impact Cardio Workout at Home” vids, which are still a bit above my current fitness level (I. AM. SO. OUT. OF. SHAPE.), but both contain really simple exercises and I know given everyday use, these are ones that I can do easily here at home in less than 30 minutes. Neither burn a ton of calories (maybe 100-200 depending on one’s workout intensity), but the potential is there to do these more than once a day, especially once I get to a point where I don’t feel like I’m dying just doing the first round (ok… it’s not quite that bad, but not so much that I’m ready to go again just yet). They also have a website, which I haven’t had a chance to look at much, but others might find useful.

Anyways, the point of all my ramblings is that if I can workout, so you can you. Even if we look utterly ridiculous in the beginning (I know I do) or can barely lift your legs (this is also me) or some of the exercises we just can’t do yet – the goal is to keep working at it. Do what we can and just move in place for the parts that we aren’t quite ready for. The point is to just keep moving. One day we’ll wake up and realize that we aren’t struggling as much as we used to, and with a little perseverance we can reach our fitness and weight loss goals.