Day 308 - Weigh in

It has been a pretty fantastic day today once again!  I was pretty sure of what the results would be before I actually got them this morning because I have been doing really good in the way of watching what I am eating, and exercising regularly.  So I wound up waking at 7:30 am again after going to bed fairly early last night.  I headed downstairs, turned on the wii, and got ready for the awesome news that I was really hoping to see.  It turned out that I lost another 2 lbs this week and I am now at 189!  75lbs down, and only 4 more to go to get to my initial goal weight!  It feels absolutely amazing!

Jan and I had made plans to pick up Sara today and go to Costco, Petsmart and Safeway.  We wound up leaving the house around 10:30am and since Jan wasn't quite ready, I walked over to the Tim Horton's and grabbed myself a coffee and asked if she could pick me up there.  We finally got to Costco at around 11:30am and walked around to get our shopping done.  Actually, it was more Sara and Jan got their shopping done, I just did some looking.

By the time that Jan and I got home, it was roughly around 3:30pm.  I really didn't want to go to the gym, well I did, and I didn't.  But, I wound up going anyways.  I made it to the gym around 4:30pm and I was really surprised to see that it wasn't busy at all.  I headed upstairs to the ladies only room and got on the eliptical.  I started off on a level 4 for a min and then bumped it up to a level 8.  I left it here until the 10 min mark and then increased the level to a 10.  I left it here for the remainder of my time and wound up burning 314 calories in 30 min.

I am not sure why but every time I get off of the eliptical I never seem to feel fully satisfied.  So, I headed over to the treadmill and put it on a 2.5 speed and a 2.5 incline.  After 5 min I increased the speed to a 2.8 and raised the incline to a 4.5.  At the 10 min mark I raised the speed once more to a 3 and the incline to a 6.5.  I left it here until the 20 min mark and raised the speed one last time to a 3.4.  I went on for about 3 min, hit the cool down button and by the end of 28 min here, I had burned another 154 calories and I was completely satisfied with my workout.

Now that I am home, I will be doing my stretches, and also, I will be doing my 100 ab crunches, the plank hopefully and I will try to do at least 20 pushups throughout the stretching.  I have decided that I will be posting a few pictures that I have recently taken.  I know I haven't exactly been faithful in that department but, I feel that it keeps everyone anticipating when the next bundle is going to be up!  :)

This one was taken on my last shift at Esso.  I was really excited to be finally quitting the 2 job experience.  Now I'm not sure if it was such a wise move lol.

I couldn't quite get my hair figured out for work one day, so I took a couple of pictures and liked this one the best :)

This was taken on the night of one of the last Rush games.  I went with my cousin Stacey and we had a great time!

And lastly, these two pictures were taken last Sunday afternoon when I realized that I was now in an XL shirt instead of a 1x. 

I am now very excited to see how much more I can lose before my year is up from starting this journey and I am pretty sure that I will be able to losed at least another 25 or 30 lbs.  I will have to make my choice soon for my new weight goal as I am pretty sure I will hit my 185 within the next 2 weeks!

Day 307

After I got off of work yesterday I headed over to the gym after stopping at Walmart to print off the pictures that I had ordered to send to my dad.  I went upstairs to the ladies only room and did the eliptical on a level 14 for 5 min and then didn't really feel that good so went over to the treadmill and did 25 min there.  I really didn't leave myself alot of time before having to pick up Jan and so that's where I stopped.

Today however, I was awake at 7:30am and decided that I was going to hit the gym before Jan got up so that if she wanted the car, she would have it.  Again I went over to the ladies only room and this time I went straight over to the bikes even though the eliptical was free.  I did 20 min here at a casual pace and keeping it in between a level 4 and a 1.  From there, I went over to the other side and did 40 min on the treadmill on a 2.5 speed and varying the incline from 2.5, 4.5 and 6.5.  By the time I was done, I wound up burning 313 calories.  I figured that since I had pushed myself so hard in the last couple of weeks, and because I can feel it, especially in the legs, I wanted to do a more lower intensity workout today.

I got home around 11am to find out that Jan wanted to go and do some grocery shopping.  So, at 2, we headed out to Safeway.  We got home around 4 and then had something to eat for lunch/supper.  I know I won't be having anything else to eat and that is fine with me.  I am hoping to get to bed a little bit on the early side today so that I am able to get up and get to the gym tomorrow bright and early as well.

We will be going for a walk with the dogs here shortly and then when we get back I will be getting the stretches/core done and then heading off to bed.  My whole outlook today has been pretty good, and I have been keeping pretty positive as well.  Today I am expressing gratitude for the food that I am able to eat and the liquids (water) I am able to drink.  It has really helped to keep me alive and on the right track with my continued weight loss and not to mention the fact that I love to eat!  :)

Tomorrow is weigh in day and it is looking pretty promising.  I just hope that it is as good as I think it is going to be.  It won't be long if I keep this up and I will be at my goal weight.  And then I get the luxury of starting a new one!  :)

Day 305

I want to start off this blog on a more positive note than I have in previous ones.  I will be trying a new approach each time that I post the blog so that I can continue on the path of helping myself lead a more uplifting and happier life.

Today I woke up feeling quite refreshed from yesterdays episode of not feeling well and I wanted to kick start my day off right by thinking more and more about things that I was grateful for during my day.  As I crawled out of bed, I thought to myself, you know, thank God that I was able to open my eyes this morning.  I really am grateful to be able to breathe and use my feet even though they still hurt.  After awhile, they work just fine and I am so thankful for that.  As the day progressed on, I thought, as I passed the gym on my way to work, I am so happy that I made the decision to go to the gym and sign up for a membership to change my life around.

As I got to work, I silently thanked the LRT driver for the safety of arriving downtown so that I was able to go to work and perform my job.  It was all starting to pick me up and make me really think about everything in this life that has benefited me and helped me in my life.  As I was at work, and answering calls, I had received a call from a lady that had undergone hip surgery.  I felt bad for her but at the same time I told her, "It can only get better from here on in."  Yes, maybe she is in extreme pain, but at least she is alive and otherwise healthy. 

As I was finishing my shift I thought, boy am I glad to be alive today.  I have so much to live for.  I have my family, no matter how angry I get at some things that happen, I have my friends, and I have my pets that love me, all of them, unconditionally, no matter what stupid decisions I make.  It only got better from there.  I felt so much better, and I felt like I was almost able to conquer anything.  I went and picked up my pay stub, my last one, from Esso, opened it up and silently thanked Esso for the little bit of extra money that I had made. 

All of this stuff that happened today made me feel so great.  I know that with all of this positiveness, it will make things go by that much smoother.  This will be a practise that I am putting to the test each and every day.  Somehow I have got to be able to get myself in a better frame of mind and not hold on to grudges that I have been holding on to for so long.

I went to the gym, headed upstairs to the ladies only room and saw that the elipticals were empty and just calling my name.  Today, I was planning on finally catching up with Carmen's 391 calories in 35 min.  I started off on a level 6 and carried on for about 5 min.  At 6 min, I increased the tension 1 level higher.  Every min I increased the level until I hit a level 14.  I went on as long as I could before I had to drop it slowly back down.  I hit 35 min before I knew it and looked at my calories.  I hadn't quite gotten there.  By the time I hit 391 calories, I had missed the target by 53 seconds.  Darn!  I was so close!

I left the gym feeling very satisfied with what I had done.  That was pretty impressive for me, and I was extremely determined to hit that record.  I went to pick up Jan from the LRT and called Carmen to let her know.  I told her, you know, I think if you are going to set a record for me to beat, you should probably make it easier for me.  We both laughed and she told me that I could always try and beat her jog time of 3/4 of a mile.  HA HA!  Not gonna happen with this chick.  Not yet anyways.  We decided that we would call it a tie, 391 calories on the eliptical in 35:53 is pretty damn good.  :)

When I got home, I was feeling pretty tired.  I really didn't want to do anything else let alone, stretches and core exercises.  However, me being the good girl that I am, I did it anyways.  I went downstairs, cleaned out the litterbox and then came upstairs to get the torture over and done with.  I held the regular plank for 35 seconds, the side plank on each side for 20 seconds each, a total of 100 ab crunches and my normal stretches that I am required to do on a regular basis.

Now that I am finishing up with this blog, I am feeling very tired, but at the same time, I am feeling extremely satisfied with my day.  I am sure that I am going to sleep well tonight, and that tomorrow will be just as good as today was.  In fact, it will be absolutely fantastic once again and I can't wait!

Day 303

It has been another wonderful day!  If I have many more of these, I just may start floating around in the world because I am feeling so high!  Before supper last night I had a little bit of an issue.  I was feeling pretty terrible and I kept feeling a sharp pain in my chest whenever I would breathe either in or out and I thought maybe, seriously maybe, I was having a heart attack.  I wan't completely sure what was going on, so I opted to get my stretches done and go and lay down for a little bit to see if maybe it would make a difference.  It seemed to alleviate the pain a little bit so I figured that I should be going to bed early and try to get some rest.  Even though I wasn't feeling to great health wise, I was still in high spirits though so, it turned out to be good after all.

This morning I woke up at 5:30am not sure exactly how the day was going to go.  I was still pretty tired even though I had roughly 9 hours of sleep but, the pain in my chest had seemeed to move on.  I went outside to have a smoke and as I was out there my body felt like collapsing underneath me and I got dizzy.  I am thinking that the smoking needs to stop.  I want to quit anyways, so I guess tomorrow I will have to be using the nicorette that I bought even though I hate the taste of it.  They do work somewhat so I guess it is time.

The day went pretty good at work, I had a little bit of coaching and when I got off at 12pm, I immediately headed off to the gym to get a workout done.  I knew that because of our session yesterday with Jeremy that I was in a little bit of discomfort and I did want to do my cardio today, but I really didn't want to push myself to the point that I wasn't able to continue for the next week.

I headed up the stairs after changing and went over to the treadmill.  I set it on a 2.5 incline and a 3 speed for 7 min and then raised the incline to a 4.5.  I carried on for another 8 min and then once again increased the incline up to a 6.5.  I went on to the 22 min mark and raised it one more time to a 9 incline.  At 30 min I dropped the incline back down to a 2.5, lowered the speed to a 2.8 and left it there until I hit the 45 min mark.  I then lowered it to a 2.5 speed and carried on for the last 10 min and hit the cool down button.  In my hour on the treadmill, I burned 381 calories.  Apparently my morbid thinking thinks that is a mellow workout but, looking at the calorie burn, I guess not.

I got home at around 2:30pm with a tea for Jan, and a coffee for myself.  I sat to relax for awhile before getting the energy to get the other part of my homework done today.  I brought out the yoga mat, got down on the floor and held the plank for 40 sec.  I then did the plank on each side holding it for 20 seconds on each side and sat on the mat to stretch my legs out.  I then laid down and went into 40 ab crunches, brought my hands above my head and reached above me and pointed my toes.  I went into another 40 ab crunches and then pulled my right leg across my body and held the stretch for about a min.  I did another 40 ab crunches and did the other side.  40 more ab crunches and then did the last stretch that I normally do with my ankle on the knee and drawing it up towards my chest.  I did the other side and in between did 20 more ab crunches for each.

Jeremy would be proud because I was only supposed to be doing 10 min of core and stretches every day but, I wound up doing 45 min combined! :)  200 ab crunches later, and with the stretching under my belt, I do feel much better now than I did before I started.

I will be going to the gym tomorrow again aftter work, and I may just do the eliptical tomorrow.  Because I did the treadmill for an hour today, my feet are feeling just a little on the sore side and I think it would be a wise choice to take it easier tomorrow on the feet.  I may do some strength training as well tomorrow as I will be getting to the gym at around 1 and I will have roughly about 2 1/2 hours to pick up Jan from the LRT.  I guess I will have to see how it goes tomorrow.

In closing, I am going to try and get to bed fairly early tonight, I am pretty tired, and not only that but, I think having a good sleep every night should help in keeping me feeling good.  No more staying up late for me!  :)

Day 302 - Session

Today has been another good day.  I think more and more good days like this and I won't have to worry about doing the blog anymore!  Just kidding!  I wound up waking up late this morning.  I didn't get a good sleep last night and wound up crawling out of bed at 6:15am.  I made it just in time to leave the house at 7am and away I went to work.

I am feeling a little bit better on the phones, but, there are quite a few things that I am still a little unclear of and I am sure that I will be receiving some more coaching at the end of the week.  All in the process of learning right?

I was lucky enough to get a call that lasted until almost half an hour after my shift ended.  I thought that maybe I would be late for my session with Jeremy but, I arrived early and was upstairs and ready to go right on time.

I was on the treadmill for about 12 min before he was ready to come and get me and when he did, we made our way over to the TRX ropes.  I did about 15 reverse lunges here and then he gave me a medicine ball and told me to lift it above my head and then drop it on the floor.  I then had to squat and pick it up and repeat this about another 15 times.  I went back to the TRX ropes, this time doing about 20 rows on it and then I had to lift a heavier medicine ball about 12 times this time.  I finished up on the TRX ropes with the rows one more time and then I got to do my favorite activity in the world.

I got to go down and up the stairs 3 times!  Yay!  From there, I went over to a different machine that I had to kind of squat in a half squat, pull a rope towards me lifting weights, step to the side and pull again alternating each side.  Back down and up the stairs and then I was able to rest for a couple of min to look at Jeremy's picture of his neice that was just born this past Thursday! :)  I love looking at baby pictures and he sure looked to be the proud Uncle for the first time!  He also showed some pictures of his mom and dad and of course, the proud parents.

Back over to the pulley rope after the pictures, and this time he put the weights up a little bit.  I did this again about 12 times on each side and then we made our way downstairs where I had to do leg lifts on a different machine 12 times on each leg.  I had to go up and down the stairs 2 times but this time he switched it up a little bit.  As I was going up the stairs I had to take them two at a time and then come down normally.  Went over to do the leg lifts again and then the stairs twice again two stairs at a time.  Jeremy at this point had to run off for a min by the time I got back downstair and I took that opportunity to sit down on the stairs and rest to wait for him.

We went over to a secluded area of the club where I had to do 15 side arm lifts with a 10 lb dumbell in each hand and then step ups.  He let me rest for a few seconds, I repeated and then repeated this set one more time.  We made our way back upstairs over to the bike where I was put on a level 12 tension for a min, reduced to a 4, back up to a 12, and then when I couldn't go on anymore we negotiated to alternate a level 8 and a level 4 for the next 12 min.  By the time I was done, we had set up our next session for next Tuesday when he is back from Las Vegas at 11am.

All in all, it was a fantastic workout! Jeremy was really impressed with my intensity today and made sure to let me know a few times throughout the session.  We talked quite a bit and it was all good.  My homework for the next week is to do 4 hours of cardio and 10 min of stretching and core every day.  Pretty much the standard homework that he normally gives, but I always make sure to remind him either before the session is over, or text him later.

I guess it's a good thing that I am off work at 12pm all week!  I should be able to get some pretty good cardio in and even go pretty hard as well! :)

Day 301 - Weigh in

I finally made it to day 301.  Amazing how time seems to just fly by!  Yesterday I had full intentions of getting in a 2 hour workout however, it just didn't happen even though I was up early.  I woke 7:30 am and had my breakfast made and eaten by 8 am.  I figured I had pretty much all day to get that workout in so I was really in no rush.  I should have just gone when I got up.  It turned out that Jan had a call from one of her friends at 11:30am.  Her friend had just picked up a new car and wanted to know if Jan would like to go to Ikea for the day.  She was supposed to go and pick up a cat scratching post and bring it home but, wound up asking me if I would mind staying home until the post could be delivered at 1:30pm.  I agreed and then by the time it arrived and I was finally able to go to the gym, it didn't leave me much time to do my workout, come home, shower, change and get ready to go to the Rush game.  I had to be in Devon to pick up my cousin and I just didn't have time.  So, I left the workout undone yesterday.

We had alot of fun at the game last night.  It was Stacey's first time going and it was also the first time that we were able to actually hang out just the two of us.  Our Edmonton boys wound up losing, 9-6 but it was still a pretty good game.  I am so thankful to Jeremy for getting me those tickets.  I have missed going to the games and next year I am hoping to be a season ticket holder with Stacey.

We left Rexall at around 11pm, headed towards Clareview to get the car, grabbed a coffee on the way and then headed back out to Devon to drop her off.  By the time we go there it was 12am and I went inside to use the bathroom and my aunt was still up.  We decided to have a chat and by the time I left it was 2am.  Oh boy, I know I am going to be a tired chicky tonight.  I got home around 2:45am and headed straight to bed.

This morning I was awake at 8am and slowly got out of bed.  I knew that if I didn't get up at that point that I wouldn't be getting up until much later and I have housework to do today and maybe if I am feeling up to it I may be heading to the gym afterwards.  I will have to see.  Anyways, I came downstairs, very excited to check the weigh in.  I stepped on the scale and it read 191!  I lost another 2 lbs this past week making my total weight loss 73lbs!  I am so so SO excited about that!  It just makes me even that much more determined to get a good weigh in for next week as well!

Another thing that had me so excited and anxious this week is what happened on Friday morning.  About a month or maybe even a month and a half ago, Jan and I had gone to Costco and I bought a pair of pants.  At that time when I got home and tried them on, they didn`t quite fit.  I was able to get them on and done up, but they just didn`t look good at all and they also didn`t feel good.  I was able to put them on and wear them to work on Friday!  It was so awesome!  Last night, for the game, I decided that I wanted to try on a shirt that I hadn`t been able to wear yet.  That fit too!  It is still a little bitt tight, but it doesn`t look horrible at all. 

I am extremely proud to say that since I first started this weight loss journey, I started out in a 4x pants, and a 3x shirt.  Now, I am in a size 16 pants, and xl shirt!  This is getting to be very interesting indeed!  I know that when I am down to a size 14, I will finally be on the content side and very happy with myself and the way that my life has changed.  Don`t get me wrong, I am very ecstatic about what I have accomplished in my life this far.  I probably wouldn`t have made it this far without the encouragement and support of some of the people that have picked me up and helped me out in this journey and to them, I am eternally thankful.

Over the last couple of days I have made a few more decisions in regards to some of the changes that I want to happen in my life.  For starters, I am going to start removing the negativity in my life by elimintating those that are bringing me down.  It seems like I start getting my head back into the way that I want to be, start loving life and enjoying it the way that I was intended to life it and it seems like I just get knocked back down further.  I am not handling that very well and I need to do something in which to correct it.  So, I am deleting facebook.  I know I have done this before, but, I think it is the right choice for me.  I need to have a clear head, and I will be continuing the blog, but, those that are wishing to continue reading, will have to save it in their favorites list and should they choose to make comments, will need to make them on the page of the blog now that I have it set up where people may do so.

Anyone that is wishing to keep in contact, can contact me on facebook until the end of next week, I will then forward on my phone number and or email address, but in all seriousness, the only reason why I have kept facebook was for the fact that I could post my blog for those that are wanting to read it.  Other than that, and the fact that I like to get updates on my awesome nieces and nephews, I don`t play the games, and quite honestly, I don`t have any use for it.

This week I work 8 - 12 all week, and tomorrow I have my session with Jeremy at 1:30pm.  I am very excited to go and share with him the success that I had this week and I can`t wait to see what he has planned for me.  It should wind up to be a very interesting and intense session as per usual.  :)

Day 299

I'm thinking today's blog is going to have to be a short one.  I am very very tired today and really anxious to get to bed early.  By early I mean that I am hoping to be in bed and sound asleep by 8pm.  It has been a long day, and a full day, even though technically I didn't do a whole lot, I still worked hard today at both my job and my workout.

This morning I wound up sleeping in until 6:15am.  I really did not want to get up as I had such a terrible sleep last night, and was freezing cold as a result of it by the time I got up.  So I didn't get breakfast this morning and that's ok because I just stopped and picked up kind of like an egg mcmuffin from the Treats coffee shop by my work and had breakfast there.  The day went on pretty well, I wound up receiving some coaching this afternoon which I am thankful for, because I know that I have made a few mistakes, but wasn't exactly sure what.

After work, I was really excited to get going to the gym and complete my workout for the day.  It would mark the successful completion of my "homework" that Jeremy had given me, exceeding it by about half an hour.  I arrived at the gym at 2, and went into the locker room to change.  I went up the stairs and right into the ladies only room.  At that time of day it is really nice because there is noone there and I basically have the run of the room for myself.  It really is quite peaceful. 

I got on the eliptical and immediately set the level at an 8 and started to give it for all it was worth for about 3 1/2 min.  I then lowered it down to a 1 and continued on for another min.  I then decided to try something new and go a little bit higher, so I put it up to a level 10 and tried going as long as I could and then drop it back down to a one for a min.  I kept doing this for 31 min and really was hoping to continue on with the level 10 for the last 4 min but, I just couldn't do it.  I was so tired and wound up quitting at 317 calories burned.

I still had about an hour before I had to pick up Jan from the LRT so I figured that I would just get on the treadmill for a little bit at a slow pace and go for as long as I tired or until I had to go.  I did the first 15 min on a 0 incline and 2.5 speed and then upped the incline to a 2.5 and carried on.  At the end of 30 min I hit the cool down button and by the time I finished I had butned 183 calories there.  I got a total of 500 calories burned today marking my total burn since Mondays session 1964 calories.  That's pretty darn good and it doesn't even stop there!  Tomorrow is my two hour "last chance" workout.  I hope I can do well, and I am actually going to try to get at least 45 min on the eliptical, 45 on the treadmill, and 30 min on the bike.  I will have to see if I will be able to but that is what the plan is.

Tonight I am, as I said earlier, heading off to bed early.  I plan to do my normal 4 stretches, with 20 ab crunches in between each one, and then through in the plank for hopefully 30 seconds for each the normal, and on each side.  I have some awesome news to share on Sunday for weigh in, not too sure about numbers, but, there is definitely some awesome things happening!

Day 298

Wow, another great day.  I am very excited to see what is going to be happening within the next couple of weeks, let alone the next couple of days.  When I got into work this morning I opened my email at work, opened the resume that I sent to myself, and attached it to a job posting at work.  Hopefully I will be able to get it as it a chance for me to continue doing what I am doing but with more hours.  I applied for the full time position that was available.

After work, I made my way over to the gym to get my workout done.  I was really excited because so far this week I have become more and more dedicated to the exercise and I am noticing that I keep doing more and more each day.  How wonderful!

So, I changed my clothes, and headed up to the ladies only room.  I jumped onto the eliptical and away I went.  I started off on a level 4 from the get go and carried on for 4 min.  I wasn't really feeling the burn in the legs so at 4 min I increased the level each min until I reached a level 9.  At 20 min I decreased the level to an 8 and carried on for the remainder of my half hour.  By the time I was done, I wound up burning 307 calories.

I wasn't feeling very satisfied with my workout so I figured I would carry on with the treadmill.  I started off on a 2.5 incline, and 2.8 speed and then after 5 min increased the incline to a 4.5 and the speed up to a 3.  I raised the incline one more time to a 9 and left if until I hit the 15 min mark.  Then I reduced the incline and wound up doing a few switches.  I wound up jogging on the treadmill for a total of 10 min on a 4.4 speed and a 2.5 incline for 1 min, and then a 4.5 for a min.  The rest of the time the incline was not on at all.  But, I was still impressed that I did it.  At the end of this half an hour treadmill session I had burned 213 calories and considered my gym workout to be complete with a total calorie burn of 520 calories.

When I got home, I made myself some supper and then started getting my laundry done.  I got back to the main level and carried on to do 48 lunges, and 48 squats.  My legs are now feeling pretty sore but, then again, I have been doing the stairs every day before and after work, and I keep doing some extra stuff as well when I get home.  Maybe this weeks weigh in will be really good, who knows?

I only have another half an hour of cardio to do before my homework from Jeremy is complete so tomorrow I will be going to the gym after work once again, and this time, I won't be pushing quite as hard.  I don't know, I hope I don't anyways.  I really don't want to kill myself before Jeremy gets a chance to on Monday.  lol

I will be doing my stretches before I go to bed in half an hour, with about 60 ab crunches and then I am going to call it a night.  I am really hoping tomorrow and Saturday are absolutely wonderful as well and then Sunday I am able to relax and put my feet up for one day....

Day 297

What a great day indeed.  I can`t believe that I actually made it through the day with enough energy to complete what I had set out to do after work.  It is still mind boggling to me and very amazing that I still have the heart and soul to try and give it my all.  In the last 2 weeks, I have to admit, I kind of lost the willpower to continue on.  I didn`t try nearly as hard as I should have, I dropped off of the healthier eating that I was on, and I basically just gave up.  Jeremy had called me out on it on Monday and wound up getting me thinking quite a bit in the last couple days and I realized last night that yes, he was right.  I wasn`t happy and I was in a way almost giving up.  I had no positive energy, I had no ambition, and I just didn`t want it.

This is why today, I have done as much as I have.  I look back on what I have done and what I have accomplished in the last 7 months, and I remember the pain that I was in.  I remember the way that I could not walk up the stairs at all without practically dragging myself up the stairs by the railings.  It was absolutely pathetic.  I look now at the way I am, I can practically jog up the stairs, almost run down them without fear of falling.  I can speed walk on the way home from work, jog, on the treadmill.  My back doesn`t hurt nearly as much as it did, in fact, there`s alot of the time where it feels absolutely great!  This is what I am going to be focussing on from now on.

So after work today, I headed to the gym and made it there for 2pm once again.  I went straight up to the ladies only room, jumped on the eliptical and started out on a level 3 and increased it slowly until I hit a 6.  I jumped off at the 15 min mark and wound up burning 150 calories.  I am pretty sure had I kept going, I may have come pretty close to matching carmen`s 391 in 35 min.  But, I decided that I really didn`t want to continue on the eliptical anymore.

I headed out into the main area, got on the treadmill, and put it on a 4.5 incline and a 2.6 speed.  I did a bunch of altering in the speed and incline here, and burned 428 calories in an hour.  I even wound up doing a 3.4 speed at a 9 incline for about 3 or 4 min.  Once I got finished on the treadmill, I didn`t really feel like I was done though.  So, I headed back into the ladies only room, and jumped on the bike.

I started off on a level 4 on the bike and carried on for about 5 min.  I was reading my ereader and didn`t even realize I was at that point so, when I looked up and saw the 5 min mark, I decided to raise it up to a level 6 for a couple of min.  I then started to feel the burn in my legs finally and dropped the tension back down to a level one.  By the end of 15 min I burned 72 calories and I figured that that was a pretty good workout for one day.  At the end of my hour and a half session, I wound up burning 650 calories total.

I was feeling pretty drained by the time I got home, and so I rested for a bit until I finished making supper and eating.  I then turned on The Biggest Loser from last night, my facorite show, and started on my stretches.  I laid down on the yoga mat, did my first stretch and then went on to do 20 ab crunches right after.  I even made sure to bring my shoulders up off the floor a little higher than normal so that I could get more of a burn in.  I went on to do one side of the torso twist, repeated the ab crunches, did the other side, 20 more ab crunches and then the last stretch with pulling one leg up towards my chest and then the other.  After each of these sides I did 40 more ab crunches for a total of 100.

I didn`t stop there though.  I wanted to make sure that I was going to be ok for my session with Jeremy on Monday, because I know that he will probably try and beat the crap out of me once again, so I went on to hold the plank for 25 seconds normally, and 20 seconds of the side plank on each side.  Now that I have finished the stretches, and all the core stuff, I am now pleased to say that I am completely and utterly drained and ready to go to bed.  Tomorrow I have decided once again to hit the gym, maybe for an hour and a half again, I will have to see.  I am starting to feel much better on the whole idea of continuing on with this journey and finishing what I have started.  Yes, today has been an amazing day indeed!  :)

Day 296

Ok so yesterday didn't go so well.  It went well in regards to the session and the actual working out aspect but, the interaction between Jeremy and I wasn't very good.  Neither one of us had a good sleep the night before, and we were both pretty crabby so that caused a little bit of friction and hostility on both parts.

Today I had a little bit more sleep than last night, so, after I got off of work tonight, I decided that I would take a trip to the gym and do a workout before supper.  I got to the gym at 2, got changed and headed upstairs to fill my water bottle.  As I was going up, Jeremy smiled and waved at me, I returned the gesture and I knew that we were both alright lol.  I headed off to the ladies only room and got onto the eliptical to start.  I wound up going strong for 21 min burning 207 calories and then decided to go onto something else for a little bit.

From there I went onto the bike and did 14 min there burning 87 calories and figured that it was good enough for the time being.  I was thinking that I still needed to talk to Jeremy about our next session and was hoping that I wasn't too late to catch him.  As I came out of the ladies only room, he was just coming out of his office so we went and set up our next session which is next Monday at 1:30pm.  So it looks like I still have 3 hours and a little bit more of my cardio homework to do, so I think tomorrow I will be staying just a wee bit longer to make up for today's shorter session and also to make up for the awesome supper that I made tonight.

I had been having a really bad craving for nachos in the last couple of weeks and I finally decided last night that I was going to buy the supplies for it and make it tonight.  The only problem is that when I make nachos, I make enough for at least 4 people and it is so hard to stop eating them because they are so awesome.  I am hoping that this week's weigh in is not in jeopardy because of that decision but, at the same time, I am very glad I did make them.  It doesn't make sense to ignore the cravings because otherwise you wind up binging on something else that you don't want and the craving doesn't satisfy the craving.

Anyways, I will be doing cleanup from supper shortly, and then afterwards, I will be getting the stretches done and then heading off to bed early because I would really like to have a fairly decent night's sleep for a change.  :)

Day 295 - Session

Ok, some days, I just really want to hit the man.  Especially on days like today.  Don't get me wrong, it was an amazing session, but, sometimes I think that Jeremy enjoys getting under my skin.  Today was one of those days.

I wound up doing a bunch of shadowing at work today.  I wasn't completely ready to get on the phones by myself and I thought that maybe I just needed a little bit more help to feel more confident on the phones.  So, pretty much all day, I was either having someone sit with me, or I sat in with someone to hear how their calls go. 

I got off at 1, headed to the gym, and made it there by 2, just in time for my session.  I started out doing 12 step ups on each leg, and then I had to do 12 weight lifts with a steel bar with my knees bent slightly.  Jeremy then went and got 2 5lb dumbells and brought them over and when I went up on the step ups, I had to do a side arm lift with both of them as I made it to the top.  Again, 12 times on each leg.  I did the steel bar lifts again and then once more on the step ups.

I then had to go down and up the stairs 3 times and when I got back upstairs he had me do 20 ab crunches, the side plank on each side, and then 20 more ab crunches.  I was able to rest for a minute and then repeated once more.  Another quick rest and then repeated for the last time. 

While I was doing these last ones, he set up a chair on one end of the gym and the middle sized step up on the other and I had to do a side lateral step fairly quickly, stopping at each "chair", sit down and then stand back up.  I had to do this 8 times on each chair and then was able to have a rest.  I did it once more, this time with the 5lb dumbells lifting them above my head three times and then I did the side step laterals, sitting on each one 4 times.  I was able to rest and then did the side steps one last time this time with 2 10 lbs dumbells.

Once I finally finished this, Jeremy told me that today we were going to do a jog on the treadmill.  I wasn't quite sure if I was going to be able to do it, but, he was adament and made me do it anyways.  I was quite happy because I was actually able to do it.  So today, I jogged on the treadmill, finally for the first time in 7 months at a 4.2 speed!

My homework for the next week is to do 4 hours of cardio, and I am pretty sure that I will surpass that, and of course, stretching is a give in.  I will try to step it up a little bit more and get some core done as well because I don't think I made him happy today.  I have been a little defiant the last couple weeks and I am not sure why but, I think it is just because I am getting tired and I just want to be done with this whole journey already.

I am not sure when my next session is, Jeremy leaves for Vegas next wednesday and Monday is month end at the club so he's pretty busy with that.  Anyways, I will have to see what the next week brings, hopefully things will be better in the next couple days in the way of getting back into the groove of things and getting back into a better frame of mind. 

Day 294 - Weigh in

Hmmm, weigh in day once again.  I feel like I haven't done anything at all in the last week and quite honestly, I haven't done anything.  Last Tuesday I received some terrible news that my Great Grandma had passed away and therefore, I really haven't been feeling up to continuing on with my journey.  I did wind up going into the gym on Wednesday for half an hour but, my heart just wasn't in it.  I was thinking that maybe I could just go and get some stress out there through the machines and even though I was there for half an hour, I just did not feel satisfied.  So, away I went.

On Friday we had the funeral so my brother picked me up at 10 am and we headed out to Westlock, Alberta.  Under the circumstances, it was awesome to be able to go on a road trip with him and get to know him better.  I am glad that we went together.  On our way home, we stopped in to see my Grandpa Stuart.  I have missed him terribly and we really should be going to see the family more often than we do. 

Yesterday and today, I haven't felt really good.  I think with everything that has been going on in the last week, I have been going through alot of issues internally and I believe that I am starting to get over them and work them out now.  Tomorrow is a new day, I will be going to the gym after work for a session with Jeremy at 2 and I am nervous, but at the same time I am looking forward to it.  I am starting to get back into the groove of things and plan to go to the gym every day after work this week and the following weeks to come.

I was awake until 2 am this morning and even though I have been not having enough sleep, I was still up at 8:30 am to get started on my day.  I went downstairs, turned on the wii and prepared myself for a gain in weight.  It didn't happen once again!  I lost another pound last week putting my weight at 193 lbs and a total weight loss of 71 lbs.  Only 8 more lbs to go until I hit my goal of 185.  It is very overwhelming and very exciting all the same.  I still have yet to decide what my next goal is, but I will definitely have it in place for when I get to the first one.  :)

Today marks the 15th of April, and it would have been my mother's birthday today.  I still miss her terribly but at the same time, I am at ease with not having her here.  I can say that it is the first time that I have not been an emotional mess on this day as I have been in years before.  I usually wind up wishing her a happy birthday still when I wake up in the morning and today I didn't.  So, I am wishing her a happy birthday now, here in my blog.  I love you mom!

Anyways, as today is my last shift at Esso, I am going to be getting my stretches done in the next few minutes and then heading off to work for the last time.  I will miss all of the regular customers, and the slow pace of the Sunday shift, but I am very excited to finally be down to only one job and having my 2 days off a week again.  I am not sure what I am going to do with all of the free time, but I am pretty sure it will be used in the gym at least a couple hours a day to fill the boredom.  Maybe I will be able to finally plan some road trips and see some family that I haven't been able to see in previous years.  That would be really nice as well.  So I leave you now with a smile, and I will be sure to post the blog probably before supper tomorrow night with the events of tomorrows session.  :)

Day 288 - Session/Measurements

It has been the most wonderful day off today!  It started off kind of not so good, but, by the end, it really turned out to be quite fantastic!  I was notified last night when I got home from my easter dinner that my great grandmother was in the hospital and not doing so good.  So naturally, I didn't wind up sleeping really good and wound up getting up around 7:30am.  I didn't eat breakfast this morning, (no I did not tell Jeremy) and instead, went upstairs and jumped in the shower right away.

I got to the gym and I was still not really in high spirits, I was a little nervous about the measurements, and trying to get myself in the gym mode, but nothing really seemed to be working.  Finally Jeremy came and got me from my treadmill and told me he had a gift for me.  I turned around and looked at him with a puzzled look and he handed me 2 slips of paper.

He got me 2 tickets to The Rush game for April 21st!  I was really shocked and very surprised.  So I gave him my thanks, put them on his desk and off we went to get started on the workout.  I started off sitting on a bench facing some weights, grabbed the handle from above me, sat down and pulled the weights down.  I did 12 of these and then I had to go to the other bench and do 12 pushups on the bench and repeat these 2 more times.  From there, he had me go down and up the stairs 3 times and then we headed over to the chin up and dips assist.  I did 12 chin ups, and 12 dips and then he sent me to the stairs again for another 3 times.

I went back to the chin up and dips assist, did 12 more of each and did the stairs another 3 times.  One more round on the dips and chin ups and then we moved over to the TRX ropes.  Here I had to hold the TRX ropes with one hand, squat down and while squatting bring the opposite hand behind me reaching towards the floor and while pulling myself up, bring that hand towards the roof alongside the ropes.  I had to do this 12 times on each arm and then we moved over to the next TRX rope where I had to do 30 assisted ab crunches and then a 3 min sprint on the bike on a level 8.  Down the stairs 3 times I went afterwards and then repeated the circuit one more time.  This time I had to continue on the bike for another 2 min on a level 4 at a lower speed for a cool down and then we went on to measurements.

Jeremy took my weight, did the measurements, and then had to lay down on the "bed" and he hooked me up to a machine to tell what the inside of my body had to say.  He left the room to go get the sheets that he printed off and started to go through them with me.  The results are as follows from July 11th.

I have gone down:

4cm in the neck
26 cm in the glutes
3 cm in the shoulders
13 cm in the thighs
28 cm in the chest area
26 cm in the belly area

As he was reading these numbers to me, I didn't say anything, I had tears running down my cheeks and when he looked up at me and asked why I was crying.  He didn't think I was happy but, I just said I am very happy and that was just what happened.  He smiled at me and was so happy about the measurements that he dropped the measuring tape on the floor.  It really is a great feeling to have accomplished so much.

It looks like it is back to work for me tomorrow and I am very excited to go back.  Having 4 days off is really great but, I felt like I didn't accomplish anything except for laziness all weekend!  As I do not start work until 10am, I will be heading off to work with jan in the morning and going to the gym before work.  If I feel up to it afterwards I may go back to the gym for a little bit, but I highly doubt it.  My next session with Jeremy is not until next Monday at 2pm after work, so that should be a great end to the day!

This wasn't the end to my day though.  I headed out to my brother's place in Devon to visit with them, Blaine and Patty and the kids.  It was really awesome to see them and I never fully realize just how much I miss those boys until I see them.  They grow up way too fast! 

From there, I made it home just in time for Jan to leave and pick up Sara from the LRT.  So, I decided that maybe I would go for the ride and we went and picked up Merv, and then headed out to the cemetary to visit Granny and her husband's grave.  When we finished there, we gave Sara a ride home and then Merv offered to take us out for supper.  Jan needed to get home to get her laundry done so I went with him and we wound up going to Humpty's for supper.  It was very good and now that I am home, I am going to do only my stretches and then I am off to bed.  It has been a very full day and with not alot of sleep.  :)

Day 287 - Weigh in

Well, another week has gone by and as April 15 gets closer and closer, I am feeling a little discouraged but yet very proud of my accomplishments.  I had a fantastic day yesterday, with my workout and I can tell.  My whole body is aching from using muschles that I am not used to working.  I think it is high time that as well as cardio I start doing the strength twice a week as well.  I am sure that Jeremy will make sure to keep this up as I am purchasing some more sessions from him this coming Friday.

Today is my rest day from exercise so, this blog is all about how I am feeling and also the weigh in.  Since it is Easter weekend, and I will be busy both today and tomorrow, it may prove to be a fairly challenging week in regards to finding time to get the exercise in.  But I am sure going to try!  :)

I wasn't really feeling all too confident this morning in regards to my weight but, I turned on the wii and stepped on the scale.  It turns out that I have lost another pound!  I am now at 194 with a total weight loss of 70 lbs!

I feel great body wise, emotionally, not so great.  I am up and down, especially in the last few days but, I know that it is because I am really starting to miss my mom once again and I just wish I could hear her voice one more time.  However, it can't happen and I know that she is watching.

Another thing that has been weighing on my mind is the fact that I have done so much in the last year in regards to changing my life around and having a more positive outlook on life that it is almost unbelievable.  It's hard to imagine that I have had the strength to keep at something for longer than a couple of months and I have been finding that I feel very anxious if I don't get to that gym.  Even if I'm not feeling good.

I know that I have said it before, but I have made the decision to quit the smoking once again.  I am going to follow in my brother's footsteps and try the nicorette gum.  I am really hoping that I can beat it this time and not go back to the stupid things.  I found that with the new job, I am smoking alot more.  Not because I am allowed to, but because I find that when I do get home I wind up going more often for a smoke out of boredom. 

So today, I smoked my last cigarette of the pack at 9:15am.  I will be heading up to the shower in about 15 min and running to the drug store after to get a few packs of nicorette to assist me in this journey.

I received some really good news yesterday as well.  I am not prepared to say what it us just yet, because I don't want to make too much out of it.  I can say however, that this piece of news just may change my life even more than I though possible.  I have to make sure to play the cards right and read them the right way or else it could just end up not being as great as I thought it will be.  Either way I have won something great and I will not let it go.

Day 286 - Session

What a fantastic day indeed!  I am so happy today, and very excited to keep going on the workouts with Jeremy!  Have I ever missed that boy!  I did the treadmill for 12 min before having to stop to go to the washroom before starting the session.  I went past him and he asked me where I was going and that we had a session and I told him that I knew, just had to go to the washroom.

We started off doing 12 sets of the seated rows lifting 55 lbs moved off to the side to do about 15 step ups, and then repeated the rows and step ups 2 more times.  I then had to go up and down the stairs 3 times and I was quite happy to do so because as I usually do stairs o nmy way to and from work, it was quite easy for me.  We went back to doing the seated rows and step ups for another 3 times and then down and up the stairs 3 more times. 

Once I got back from there, he had me sit on the stability ball and while seated do side arm lifts alternating each side with a 5 lb dumbell in each hand.  After this, I had to alternate doing front arm lifts with them as well and then down and up the stairs again.  We repeated the stability ball exercises one more time and then we made our way outside. 

I am fairly certain that he wanted to talk to me privately about a few things, which is fine by me and we did.  I will not disclose that information here but, let me tell you, it was very interesting.  Outside, we did walking lunges across the parking lot and back, and then he had me do 15 squats and on the 15th squat, hold it as long as I could.  I did that, and then he asked me if I held the squat and even though I confirmed that I did, he made me do it agian.  So, I held it one more time.  I had to do the walking lunges across the parking lot one more time and back and then we headed back inside.

When I got inside, it turned out that our session was over, but, I didn't stop there.  I did 15 min on the eliptical burning 153 calories and then decided that I was a little too tired to continue on.  So, I made my way over to the Esso, grabbed myself a coffee and waited patiently (rather impatiently in fact) for Jan to come and pick me up.  It was an awesome workout and I am sooooooo excited to see what the man has in store for me on Monday!  With tomorrow being weigh in, I am very anxious to see how I did, I am a little bit nervous, but hopefully it turns out well.  :)

Day 285

I woke up bright and early this morning feeling fairly refreshed and ready for whatever the day was going to bring to me.  I was awake at 7am, out of bed by 7:30 and even had my breakfast made and eaten by 8am.  It is quite surprising because normally it takes me a few hours to get mobile and ready to go on days off.  But, considering the fact that I spent just about all day yesterday in bed with the exeption of 3 or 4 hours, I think that was the problem yesterday.

Anyways, I was showered and dressed by 9:30am and out the door heading towards the gym by 10:30am.  I headed upstairs to the ladies only room when I got there and jumped on the eliptical to start my workout.  I alternated the tension from 4 to start and then after 5 min dropped it down to a level 1 and then started to slowly increase the tension every min by 1 level.  I hit a level 8 and left it there for the remainder of my 30 min and burned 300 calories.

I wasn't quite ready to go so I figured I would get on the bike and try that out for a little while.  I started off at a level 4 and left it there for about 9 min and then dropped it down to a 1.  I slowly brought it back up each min until I hit an 8 and then after 2 min, dropped it back to a 1 again.  Again I increased the levels each min and at the end of another 30 min I burned 152 calories on the bike for a total burn of 452 calories.  I was feeling pretty good and thought that maybe I would carry on the workout once I got home but, I just didn't feel up to it.

I decided that since Jan was gone and wouldn't be home for supper that I would take a walk and go pick up a sub for supper and also go to Esso and grab myself a coffee.  I got home, ate supper and drank my coffee and after a couple of hours, went downstairs and cleaned out the litterbox for the cats.  From there, I went upstairs to my room and put on some music and started to go through some of the drawers in my room and declutter them.  I spent 2 hours up there and now that I am back downstairs, I am thinking that maybe I am ready for bed.  It has been a relaxing day yes, but it has also been kind of busy all at the same time.

Tomorrow I have a session with Jeremy, I didn't really want to get the blog done earlier because with Jeremy, there's no telling if he is going to cancel on me for a Saturday or not.  But, since I still have not received a text message from him saying he was cancelling, I think it's pretty safe to say we are still on for tomorrow.  I am kind of nervous because I haven't been in a session with him for about 2 months now and not only are we doing one tomorrow, but we are also doing a session on Monday as well.  Not sure if I am going to be up for this but, I'm excited all the same.

I am going to be doing my stretches shortly here, because I know that I am going to need to be in tip top shape for tomorrow and then I am going to head for bed.  Maybe a good nights sleep will be good for me.  After our session tomorrow I am hoping to stay for either a half hour or an hour to get some cardio in.  Hopefully it will help for next weeks weigh in.  :)

Day 283

Ok, it's blog time, once again.  I am in a really chatty mood tonight, not sure as to why, but very chatty.  So, if the blog is a little on the rambly side, it's probably due to the fact that I had a really great day,  It started in the morning and carried on to my evening and I am sure that I am not stopping once this blog is done.

I was awake at 5:15am and came downstairs to get ready for work.  I had my breakfast by 5:50 and was headed into the shower by 6am.  I figured that I might be able to leave just a little bit earlier today but, as it turned out, I wound up leaving about 15 min late.  Who would have thought that getting up earlier would result in being late?  Usually it means that you are going to be early.  Oh well.

As today we were on the phones all day pretty much by ourselves, I was feeling pretty nervous last night and therefore it resulted in me not eating anything for supper, and going to bed late.  Having a text conversation until 11pm doesn't help either but, meh, the conversation was good.

I got to work, and wound up getting on the phone pretty much right on time.  I was pretty impressed that I wasn't late and continued on to have a really good day.  The first call that I got was a little bit intimidating and it was almost like I was a lost and confused little puppy dog, but, with the help of one of the people on the floor, I got through and went on to the next one.  As I was carrying on with the calls, it was really starting to become a little bit repetitious and I felt a bit more comfortable by the afternoon taking them.

At 3, we had a fire escape meeting where they showed us the escape route that we should take without doing all of the stairs.  We went down to the second floor and went up a flight of stairs and then went back down to the exit.  I love doing the stairs!  Thanks Jeremy!

After work, I took the stairs down to the churchill station, and then once I got to clareview, hit the stairs again.  I am hoping to maybe keep this up every day as it really does make me feel good to do them.  I got to the gym at around 4:30, chit chatted with Jeremy for half an hour as well as Francois for a couple min and then I got shooed away to go and do my workout.  I sulked for 10 seconds, and headed over to the eliptical.  In the main room!

I can't remember the different variations that I did with intensity but, I do know that I did a level 8 for 2 or even 3 min twice, a level 4 for about 5 min, a level 6 for 2 min and the rest of the time in between, a level 1.  As my feet have gone through complete torture with the treadmill for the last 2 days, and the fact that I have been in high heels for 8 hours a day in 3 days, my feet were killing me.  I stopped the eliptical at 21 or 22 min (can't remember which one it was) and called it a day.  I did wind up burning 241 calories in that time, so I am thinking that if I am better on my feet tomorrow, I might actually get close to Carmen's 391 calorie burn in 35 min!  :D

Another thing that I am really happy about is that I was able to talk to Sara finally for quite a bit today.  We are fairly close together in the call centre so, I know if I have an issue or if I can't remember how to do something, I always have her nearby.  And the best part is that we are good friends and we can possibly finally do things together!  :)

Now that I am at home, in the comfort of my crocks, I feel like doing more stuff.  So once I am done with the blog, I am thinking I will go downstairs and get some lunges done, as well as some squats and dumbell exercises.  I am thinking maybe 60 squats, 40 lunges and at least 4 of the dumbell weight lifts 15 times each.  From in between each rep, I shall do the stairs and then when finished, come upstairs and get my stretches done as well as 80 ab crunches to 100 and if I am still feeling up to it, 50 lower ab crunches.  I think that will be a sufficient enough workout!

Once I am done this workout, I am going to get part of my lunch prepared for work tomorrow, and then head off to bed early for a change.  Hopefully I can sleep good tonight and get to work either early or at the very least, on time.  Tomorrow is the last day of the week for me and I am very very excited!

I forgot to mention!  I now have a session on Saturday at 1, as well as my session on Monday at 11 and the following Monday at 2.  I am so ecstatic to get going on it again!

Day 282

Blog time, again....  I am unsure as to what has been happening in the last couple of days.  I am not really myself in the way that I have been easily irritable and not really feeling good.  I think my nerves are getting the best of me and I am really nervous about starting on the phones tomorrow.  Not really nervous in the way that I can't do it, that's not the issue, but in the way that I still don't understand a couple of things and I just don't like the idea of putting someone on hold to look up an answer to a question that they may be asking.  I'm sure that it will all come in due time.  But even still, the nerves are hitting me.

Anyways, this morning I wound up doing the stairs at both clareview and churchill, going to work and also coming home.  I decided not to pack my gym clothes with me to work today, I figured that from now on I will just come home, change quickly and go to the gym instead of walking over and then expecting Jan to come and pick me up.  The car has to go back that way regardless so it's just easier if I take the car myself and then that way I can stay later if I wish, or stay only for my hour.

So let's get right down to it.  I made it to the gym at 5 and went upstairs.  By the time I got there, I noticed quite a lot of training going on with tons of people and went into the ladies only room only to find out that it too was extremely busy.  I turned around and went back into the main area, settling on the treadmill once again.  It's really not that good for my feet, but, while I am working on it, it's a good go and I usually suffer afterwards.

I hit various speeds, up to and including a 3.2 on a 9 incline for about 4 min and stayed on there for my full hour.  I just propped the ereader up, started reading and no sooner had I started my venture into the fantasy world, Jeremy came up to have a little chat with me for a few min.  I wanted to talk to him for a little bit tonight in regards to the contest, sessions, and a few other things but, as I was busy doing my workout, he just told me to go and see him before I left.

Of course, by the time I finished my hour long workout on the treadmill and burned 441 calories, I was headed down the stairs and Jeremy was on his way up stating that now he was busy.  I asked how long he would be, and with his reply of roughly an hour, I said that I would not be staying and wound up leaving.

I feel pretty good with doing my full hour at the gym, I will be doing my stretches tonight before bed, a few ab crunches and also possible some weight lifts with the dumbelslls.  Other than that, I will be trying to hit the bed a little bit earlier tonight because with being on the phones tomorrow morning, I want to be completely refreshed and have my head screwed on straight for the task that will be laid before me.

Anyways, not much to tell for today, hopefully my weigh in goes good this weekend.  I really want to be successful once again this week.  :)

Day 281

Today marks the last day of school for me.  Although I am still a little bit unclear of a few things, I am very excited and happy to finally be done.  Tomorrow is the big test day, as well as a little lunch party as well and then on Wednesday we are on the phones finally.  It's been a long haul, but, it will be worth it all in the end.  :)

As I didn't get much sleep last night, I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to do tonight at the gym, or even if I was going to go.  After waiting anxiously to get off of work, and bustling my bottom to get home, I changed my clothes, talked to Carmen for about 40 min and was off to the gym.

Once agian I was unfortunate enough to not get the eliptical, and I thought that maybe I would just go and do it in the main area, but, as I walked back out there, I decided that I didn't really feel up to the eliptical anyways.  So, I got on the treadmill, starting off at a 2.5 incline and 2.5 speed.  After 5 min, I raised the incline to a 4.5 and carried on.  5 min later still, I raised it one more time to a 6.5 and carried on.  At the 20 min mark, I raised the speed to a 2.8 and then at 25 min up to a 3 speed.  When I got to 30 min, I lowered the incline down to a 0 and the speed down to a 2.5 again and then started all over again.  I hit the cool down at 45 min and by the time I finished 50 min, I had burned 337 calories.  I figured that wasn't too bad for a treadmill workout!  :)

Once I got home, supper was ready and waiting for me so I ate and prepared myself mentally to get my stretches done.  I wanted to get some sort of a strength workout done so after I stretched the legs out, I laid on the floor and did 15 bench presses with the 5 lb dumbells and 20 ab crunches.  I went straight into the stretch where I put the arms above my head and reach as far as I can while pointing my toes and then repeated the bench presses and ab crunches.  I then grabbed my left leg and pulled it across my body, repeated the bench presses and ab crunches and then repeated the other side and finishing off with you guessed it, bench presses and ab crunches.

For not wanting to do any of it at all today, I feel that today turned out to be quite successful and I am fully satisfied with myself for kicking myself in the rear and just getting it done.  Tomorrow I will be heading to the gym straight after work, once again, and hopefully this time I will be able to get onto one of those elipticals.  Apparently I have a new calorie burn to beat, as my darling sister-in-law has set the new record at 391 calories in 35 min.  Ugh!  Makes me feel good though, at least I have something to strive for and it also helps me to get that extra calorie burn in there!  Thanks Carmen!

As it is 8:30pm now, I must get ready for work tomorrow and get to bed at an earlier time tonight.  Tomorrow is going to be another succesful day I am sure and I couldn't be happier!  :)

Day 280 - Weigh in

Wow, what a week!  It's been pretty crappy this week considering the fact that I hurt my knee last Monday and I wasn't able to get much done in the way of exercise.  On Friday, Jan and I went out for supper with a bunch of people to A Taste of Vietnam in Sherwood park so therefore, I was unable to go to the gym as I had hoped that I would be able to.

Yesterday, we went to the farmer's market downtown, bought some bread and a few other things, then carried on to go to Walmart, the bank and then finally home.  By the time I got here, I didn't feel like going to the gym so I did my few stretches that I usually do, and then we sat around here and watched TV for the rest of the evening and just relaxed.

This morning I slept in a little bit, until 9:30am and came downstairs to get the weigh in done.  I was almost a little bit scared because of the events of the last week and I thought for sure that I would have gained weight rather than lost because there wasn't much I was able to get done in this past week.

Boy was I wrong!  I stepped on the scale and it registered me in at 195lbs!  I lost 3 lbs this week!  I am sure glad that I did the 2 hour workout last week because it sure helped me out this week.  I now have only 10 lbs to go and I have reached my goal weight before my deadline.  I am extremely excited about that and I know that I can hit this goal within the next month so now I am going to have to get thinking on the next goal.  This whole experience is very intriguing and also very challenging which is what I am fully enjoying,

This week is going to be a short week, thank goodness for that, I will be doing my usual hour long workouts Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as well incorporating a fifteen minute strength training each day.  On Friday and Saturday, as I do not have to work, and considering the fact that Jan is home as well, I will be hitting the gym for 2 hours at least on both days.

I did go to the gym today, if only for a little bit.  I was really excited to go but, as I walked in the front door, I really didn't feel like being there.  I believe that the excitement was just because of the fact that I was able to get out of the house by myself for a little bit and have some alone time.  Anyways, I was hoping to get upstairs and get onto an eliptical but, as I rounded the corner, one was in use and the other was out of order.  Figures.  So, I did the bike instead.  I was on there for 30 min, alternating the tension between a 4, 6 and 8 and burned 165 calories.  It's not very much, but, as I was experiencing a little bit of discomfort with my knee, I didn't want another episode of pushing myself too hard and wind up losing my workouts this week again.  I changed my shoes, jumped in the car, stopped at Timmie's and came home.

Before work, I will be doing my stretches, maybe a few ab crunches, and then I should be ok for a workout for today.  Besides, isn't Sunday supposed to be a "rest" day for all?  :)