Fitness Friday (2)

Here's the recap to week 2.

It wasn't as great as week 1.  It's been a whirlwind of a week, with so much to accomplish in the evenings.  Last Saturday, Alex got a flat tire on the bike so we had to take the bike to the shop and drop it off Saturday afternoon.  Our gym at the apartment has a remote to get into it.  The remote was on the keys to the bike, which we didn't get back until Tuesday evening.  

Sunday & Monday - I did a kettle bell workout.  For those of you that have never used a kettle bell, I recommend going out and getting one, PRONTO!  Not only do they do amazing things with just a 10 lb weight, but the various exercises you can do with them are incredible.  I don't know, I'm weird I suppose, but I do enjoy the kettle bell exercises I've found.  And since A has really helped me learn how to do squats accurately, I feel like I'm getting an incredible workout in my apartment.  (And it's free!)  

Tuesday - We had to go get the bike and pick up a baby shower gift for a baby shower we're going to this weekend, so no work out was had that day. 

Wednesday & Thursday - YAY FOR CARDIO!  I finally was able to get in some cardio.  I discovered something else this week too.  I can take my iPad to the gym, open the Kindle app, increase the font size (I'm blind without glasses - but I don't wear them in the gym) and get some reading in too!  It's like I'm being productive AND working out at the same time.  Plus, it makes working out not seem so... chore like.

I'll do one more day of cardio tonight, just to get in my 5 days for the week.

Eating - now that's a differnet story.  It's definitely been somewhat of a struggle this week.  School has been overwhelming, so I haven't eaten perfectly.  It hasn't been terrible, but not nearly as awesome as it was week 1.  My plan is to completely change that for week 3.

Oh!  And weight loss so far - 0.8 lbs.  I was hoping for a much greater weight loss, but anything is better than nothing.  So yay!

Fitness Friday (1)

Here's my first accountability post.  And I have to say, I'm beyond proud of myself this week.  :o)  

After having a pity party for one, I woke up Saturday morning and got a workout in.  It wasn't the best, I didn't meet any PR or anything, but I did it.  Sunday - the same thing.  I skipped Monday as a rest day, which was totally planned.  Did the elliptical on Tuesday, lifted weights on Wednesday, rested on Thursday, will get a quick run in tonight, and plan on doing some weight training and running on Saturday.  My weeks are going to go from Sunday - Saturday, so I will have achieved my goal of 5 work outs this week!  Yay!

Food - for the most part I did pretty well.  I went over calories on Monday, but that was due to poor planning on my part due to a work function for a new employee.  Other than that - I stayed within calories each day.  I won't say that my eating will always be perfect, or that I won't have some slip up days, but I will do my best to stay on track.  

It's amazing how just one week can make a difference.  I'm already feeling better, although the scale hasn't moved even .1 lb.  That's okay.  I'm hoping for a big loss next week!

Alex is trying to convince me to start doing the P90X workouts with him.  I think I'm going to try it.  I just have to remember (which I'm still struggling with) that I've never been the athletic type, and I have to work for it.  I wasn't blessed with a high metabolism.  I won't ever shape up as quickly as he will.  Partly because I'm a female, and partly because he's always been insane physically.  If he's willing to do this with me and for me, I'm on board.

For the start of this journey, I'd have to say that week 1 was a success.

Those feelings...

This is a hard subject for me to blog about - but here goes nothing...

As women, I think we constantly strive to "feel good about ourselves."  We want to look in the mirror and feel beautiful.  It doesn't matter if our spouses tell us daily we're beautiful. If our friends tell us that we're amazing.  It simply doesn't matter, because all that matters to us is how we feel about ourselves.  That's hard.  

Any who knows me, knows that for the majority of my life, I've struggled with my weight.  I was "skinny" in high school - but I still wasn't confident in my body.  I've never been athletic or toned.  But I've always been me.  Fast forward several years to an unstable relationship full of stress and drama, and a diagnosis with PCOS, and the weight piled on.  For a girl with a 5'4" frame - pushing 200 lbs is unhealthy.  I went to see my primary doctor, and she told me at 27 years old, that if I didn't do something to get the weight OFF, I'd be a pre-diabetic by the time I was 28.  Ouch.  I did really well for a couple of years, and managed to lose 25 lbs.  That's not terrible, I guess, and in my heart, I know I have to be proud of *that* accomplishment.

However - today, I went shopping on my lunch break, and as I stood in the mirror of TJ Maxx with tears streaming down my face, I realized that I had another change to make.  I've allowed life to get in the way of ME, and my health.  

Last week in church, Pastor Robert Morris preached on "Taking Care of the Temple."  You can listen to his sermon here... Taking Care of the Temple.  However, something he said really hit home for me.  If I don't take care of the body that God created for me, and take care of God's temple, then this body may shut down before I've achieved the plan that God has set for me.  What would that leave me with then?  I have an amazing set of friends and family that I know will be supportive in this journey to lose the next 25 lbs.  I know that if I want to have children in the next few years, getting this weight off is imperative to allowing me to have a natural birth like I want.  More than that, I want to look in the mirror every day and be proud of the body standing before me.  I don't want to look in the mirror and see a woman with tears in her eyes looking back at me, but a woman who is proud of the work she's achieved.

So after stealing an idea from Mandy over at Music and Baseball, I've decided that each Friday, starting with NEXT week (hold me to this followers!) I will post a Fitness Friday post with a recap of where I'm at, what progress I made for the week, what my progress will be *hopefully* for the next week, etc.  I'm holding myself accountable, and I hope you'll help hold me accountable too.  Call me out if I don't post.  I can handle it.