Well, then, I have lots to catch you up on
I am in week #7 and plugging away. My exercise habits are anchored and I feel guilty now when I do not complete some type of exercise almost daily. I even feel a sense of guilt if my work-out is not “hard enough” (ie swimming, weights, etc) Personally, that is a feeling I need to conquer.
My new weekly goal is to get a minimum of 300 cardio minutes in weekly. Yes, a challenge. A challenge I am proud to take on. As of today, I have 160 minutes in so far.
I am mixing up my cardio to prevent boredom and more importantly, use different muscles. The elliptical machine seems to be my only staple — at least 40 minutes each use. I have pumped up my tolerance on that baby! In week 2, I was struggling to do levels 5 & 6 for 40 min. Now I am doing levels 9-13 for 40 -50 min. It is tough but my I want my legs looking awesome for summer….ha,ha
Along with the elliptical, I am using the treadmill, ski machine, and stair stepper. I recently starting using the rowing machine — phew, never knew it could be THAT hard! (I have a new-found respect for those Biggest Loser contestants during their recent challenge). I do not use all of these every time. Typically I am on 3 machines each work-out.Nutrition wise I am making better, healthier choices. My portions are so much more reasonable and I am learning to stop eating when I feel full. I still am struggling deeply with my cravings and snacking late at night. I believe that is the root of why I am not losing more weight. Time by time, little by little, I feel all of what I am doing will lead me to full control.
I tried a new recipe, courtesy of my friend Jenny. Spaghetti and sauce made with spaghetti squash as the noodles. I enjoyed this dish and will definitely make it again. One of my girls like the squash plain w/ out sauce, the other girl – all I can say is that she tried it.
Scott even ate some and didn’t mind it so much. I’m still stuck on the greek yogurt with frozen blueberries…so yummy.
My total weight loss thus far has been 13. This number bums me out…but overall, 13 pounds in 7 weeks is not so bad, is it? The devil on my shoulder is laughing at me…
My goal for the month of March was originally 15 pounds. I knew this would be a challenge. I may decrease it to 10, but I don’t want to be a loser. May see how this weeks goes as I have been doing very well the last 3 days and am down 2 pounds. Why, oh why am I so obsessed with the darn scale????
On another note, my right knee and leg have been bothering me for the last several months. Being a typical nurse, trying to self diagnose, I finally broke down and visited an orthopedic doc. My family doc ruled out a DVT (had leg swelling) and had me get a MRI. Guess what, I have a meniscus tear, severe arthritis in 3 compartments within my knee, and a “huge” (as the doc put) Baker’s cyst on the back side of my knee. We both agreed upon no surgery and a specialized knee brace for the cyst/arthritis. The sad news was he told me if I was in my 50′s he would recommend a knee replacement, but would not perform the surgery now as I am too young. As a result, I will be on arthritic meds for a while. The worst news he gave me was not about the arthritis or tear, but about the exercise he told me to stay away from. He doesn’t want me doing any type of running. This honestly, saddens me. I feel I get the best work-out from running.
I am trying to reason with myself… “maybe no running now because I am so fat…maybe when I lose more weight I can try it…just a jog to try it?…” Lots of thoughts going through my head. I will cope but this is not what I wanted to hear. At least I still have the elliptical!
I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for success to continue and for at least one person reading this to realize they too, can take small steps to improve their health!
Have a good afternoon all! Janet
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