Smaller Pink Cookie

I’ve been a slacker for the past week. It started with a sore throat. “Oh, I feel icky … I’m tired … I can’t work out.” Yeah, great logic there, right? No. Then I had a SUPER busy weekend - with lots of walking though, so I didn’t feel too bad. Monday saw a little time on the treadmill, then I took a knitting class on Tuesday.

Does knitting count as exercise? I mean, it has to burn calories, right? No?

So the past two days, I’ve spent a lot of time knitting and no time exercising. Now I’ve got icky sinuses and a sore throat to go with it, plus a mile long list of things to do so I can go out of town for a convention tomorrow. No excuses though - I am going to visit with my DVD player later and do some pilates. I miss the buzz of a good workout. (Winsor Pilates DVDs, in case you were wondering. Yep, just like the ones on the infomercials.)

Sunday (official weigh-in day) found me down to 212. I met my goal of Five in ‘05, part 1 - I lost 5 pounds in January. Now it is a new month with a fresh start! Isn’t it nice to have a clean slate? 5 pounds this month. That’s it. Just 5 pounds. You can do it!

I’ve earned my second star for the The President’s Challenge today. That means that for the past 2 weeks, I’ve worked out 5 days a week. Whoo hoo! Just 4 more stars and I will earn the “Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.”

Want to join us? There is a Five in ‘05 group, and we would love to have you with us!

I need to record this so that later on when I need motivation, I have it here to remember:

Today, I did 20 minutes on the treadmill (at 2.8 mph) followed by 20 minutes of pilates. When I was done, I felt FABULOUS. My pain in my right shoulder already feels better after the second day of pilates. I need to take photos today or tomorrow to mark my starting point, because I can already tell a difference in my abs. This rocks. I can do it. I am worth 40 minutes a day.

I feel GOOD.

I need to record this so that later on when I need motivation, I have it here to remember:

Today, I did 20 minutes on the treadmill (at 2.8 mph) followed by 20 minutes of pilates. When I was done, I felt FABULOUS. My pain in my right shoulder already feels better after the second day of pilates. I need to take photos today or tomorrow to mark my starting point, because I can already tell a difference in my abs. This rocks. I can do it. I am worth 40 minutes a day.

I feel GOOD.

Good news? I worked out almost every day last week in one form or another. Yesterday I brought my treadmill speed up to 3 mph with an incline of 2.5, and I’m adding pilates back into the workout routine on top of walking.

Bad news? I was retaining fluid again by the weekend - all of my joints ached. This leads to a weight gain every time, so my weigh in yesterday was back at 213 - up 2 pounds from the week before.

However … I am keeping myself motivated by pointing out the areas that are already showing signs of being a little more toned then they were a week or two ago. It initially bummed me out to see the weight gain, but I’m accepting it. Muscle weighs more than fat, and as long as the inches melt away, I’m happy.

Calorie Calculator - helps you determine at what rate you’re burning calories. I personally don’t count calories, but it is handy in determining which activity will give me the best workout. For example, riding my bike and swimming burns more than walking. That makes sense, but it’s still handy to see the numbers. [link via Syd]

Because I can never find the schedules when I need them:

- Willowbrook Class Schedule
- Highway 249 (Compaq) Class Schedule
(more…)

I have started a “Five in ‘05″ group for the The President’s Challenge. If you log in 5 days worth of activities for 6 out of 8 weeks, you will earn the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award. Not only that, but I’m going to figure out prizes to send to people along the way too! If you would like to join the group, the ID number is 26501, and select your own username on the group page - something easy to remember that I can identify you by also. (For example, I’m listed as “Christine” - make sense?)

NOTE: If you join, please leave a comment here with your member ID so I can match up who is who - it seems that even as the group admin, I don’t have a way to contact you through the website. Eep! I need to be able to contact you if you want motivational prizes along the way!

Come join us in working out and getting fit! You can do it!!!

I’ve had problems off and on (mainly on) with my right shoulder for years. In the past few months, it has been worse than usual. I need to go to the doctor for it, but … well, I haven’t. I know I need to though, so I’ll work on gettting an appointment for that. Meanwhile, I am also going to work on doing Home Exercises for the Weak Shoulder - Strengthening and coordination. Thanks to Lee for the information!

Whoo hoo! Thanks to Mel, I can now access WeightWatchers.com in Firefox! Yeah!!!

It’s 11:20 am, and I haven’t eaten breakfast yet! Ugh. I’m going to go and have a small bowl of cereal right now though. I have a lunch meeting at 12:30 that I was busy getting ready for, so of course I just skipped right over breakfast at a decent hour.

Must eat breakfast. Must eat breakfast. Skipping breakfast is bad. Must eat breakfast…

I am officially down another 3 pounds. 211 on the scale this morning, which brings my total loss to date up to 6 pounds. Wheeee!!!

However, I haven’t been good this week. I’ve been bad about some things, so my goals for next week are:

1. Write down what I eat. I skipped several days (I blame WW for only working in IE, but I need to stop the excuses). Must remember, “You bite it, you write it.”

2. Exercise, exercise, exercise. 2 times a week is not going to cut it. Sure, it’s better than nothing, but I want to do it daily, and I have no reason not to. Get the groove on.

3. Eat breakfast. I am very bad about skipping this one, and it is a proven fact that eating breakfast is key to losing weight. I need to start the day off right.

All in all, I’m happy with the loss, but I still have things to work on. Then again, that’s why I’m here…

I’m cross posting this with my main site because I like to work out while listening to music, and I figure most other people do too, so everyone probably wants a free iPod, right?

Gratis is at it again! You can already sign up to get a FREE iPod Shuffle! Just sign up and refer THREE friends, and you’re all set! Please sign up under me!

Speaking of freeeeeeee things, want to help me out? I only need TWO more people to complete the Free Photo iPod offer! TWO! Several people signed up under me, but only 8 people have completed the offer - and I need 10 people to complete their offer to earn a free iPod. If you signed up under me already, could you complete your offer? Or if you didn’t sign up yet at all, would you mind? Pretty please? Just go to FreePhotoiPods.com using my referral link and sign up and complete an offer.

Heck, as long as I’m linking, I’ve signed up for the Free Flat Screen TV (or monitor) offer. When I’m walking on the treadmill, having a nice TV is definitely a perk! (I already have a 27″ TV downstairs, so this would be the gameroom TV.)

I’ll be really, really grateful for anyone that signs up under me for ANY of these offers. So grateful that I will randomly select one of you that complete offer and buy something off of your Amazon wishlist or send you either a $20 Amazon or iTunes gift certificate - your choice! It’s a win-win situation!

Some of you are probably thinking that the free iPod thing is just a scam, right? Well, I know it works. I earned a free 20gb iPod (for Mike) in the summer of 2004. Kymberlie earned one, along with a flat screen TV. Emily earned one. Promoguy earned one. It’s not a scam. I promise.

Sign up. Be entered to win stuff from me. Earn a free Photo iPod, a free iPod Shuffle, or a free Flat Screen TV. How cool is that?

I just discovered the Discovery Health :: National Body Challenge - they offer a lot of good tips on weight loss, and I am going to sign up. It starts on January 15th and goes for 8 weeks. Who wants to join me?

The NATIONAL BODY CHALLENGE is a free, eight-week, nationwide initiative, in which Discovery Health Channel is challenging Americans to improve their health, shed extra pounds, and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Designed to meet the needs of every individual, the NATIONAL BODY CHALLENGE is a weight-loss and fitness challenge that gives you all the information and inspiration, online and on television, to help you meet your personal health goals.

I am tracking my food points, but I’m just tracking them on the WW site for right now. I might copy them over here at some point, because it is easier to see them all on one page here, but for now - baby steps.

I weighed in today - I’ve lost 3 pounds! Whoo hoo! (I need to add a starting weight/current weight thing to the sidebar.) I realize a chunk of this is water weight as I am not as swollen and my joints aren’t as stiff as they were a week ago, but I still think some of it has to do with staying within my points allowance all week long.

Weight Watchers isn’t happy with me for losing 3 pounds though. I was chastised when I entered my weight:

WELL DONE! You’ve recorded a loss this week. That’s great news!

However, we notice that you’ve lost more than an average of 2 pounds per week over three or more weeks. This rate is too rapid — it may be unsafe or unhealthy.

While we’re proud of your achievements and pleased you’re making changes in your life, we need you to concentrate on one more thing: You should slow the pace of your weight loss to no more than 2 pounds per week. Click here to read more about the effects of rapid weight loss. (Links to WW members only page.)

Here are some tips on slowing down your weight loss this week:
Make sure you’re not skimping on your meals. If you’ve been saving your weekly POINTS Allowance, try using some this week.

If you’re exercising a lot, try to swap some (or all) of your bonus activity POINTS values for food.

I only used 3-4 of my Points Allowance points for the week. I did try to swap out all of my bonus activity points though for food. On the page with the information regarding the effects of rapid weight loss, they specify that they want you to lose at an average of two pounds a week after the first three weeks. Since this was week 1, I’ll make adjustments but I also think it will all stabilize soon.

The President’s Challenge - You’re it. Get fit!. I signed up. 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, you can earn the presidential award!

Last night, I poured a Pepsi to drink. It sounded like it would be yummy with the tacos. I’ve been trying to cut back on them for a week or so, but I hadn’t given them up completely yet. When I took a sip of it last night… blech! It didn’t taste good at all!

How did that happen? Not that I’m complaining, but it still caught me off guard! Now where’s my Kool-aid?

I won’t normally cross-post between my main site and this one, but I wanted to spread the word on this to everyone possible!

I’ve created a “5 in ‘05″ webring so that people that want to participate along with me can join in. I thought this would be a nice, easy way to find each other’s sites. Interested? You can join here.

Julie has set up a Yahoo group for us too - you can join it if you are interested.

Working together, we can do it! We can do it! Five in ‘05!

Morning
1 Bagel - 4.5 points
Cream Cheese - 3 points
16 oz Kool-Aid, Cherry Sugar-Free Mix - 0
Lunch
1 serving Lipton alfredo pasta side - 7
16 fl oz Kool-Aid Kool-Aid, Cherry Sugar-Free Mix - 0
Evening
16 fl oz Kool-Aid Kool-Aid, Cherry Sugar-Free Mix - 0
2 Taco Bell Beef Soft Tacos - 9.5
Snack:
16 oz Kool-Aid - 0
Fudge (small square) - 1
Blue Bunny Sugar Free Crunch Bar - 2

Total Points Used: 27 /26 + 1
Activity Points Earned: 1 (20 min. walking, treadmill)
Flex Points Used this week: 1.5 out of 35 (balance of 33.5)

I ache. My throat hurts. My joints are still swollen. I feel icky. Blah, blah, blah, whine.

I almost let all of this stand in my way earlier. Almost. Then I got on the treadmill and walked for 20 minutes. Not at a great speed (just starting out), but I walked.

And it felt good.

I need to remember this the next time I’m considering whining instead of walking. Just get up and move.