Back to the grind

Well Steve and I are back to the grind. We need to do a couple of days of double (sculpt and cardio) to get back on track as we should be just about to finish week 2, but instead we just finished week 1, and I have to say it's taking a lot less time to recover after the workouts. The long break did not help as we were both struggling with some  of the cardio last night, but we managed to do more of the power yoga, but I still can't go from downward dog to runner's lunge. I think the  biggest problem I have is that my knee to floor length is about 4" longer than my arms. I did get some of the way tho....you know until I couldn't reach the floor anymore and almost fell over.

I am feeling really good and the quality of sleep as increased ten-fold. I just wish I could sleep as long as I want, but I have 2 small problems with that. :) Steve has been great tho in letting me sleep in. We've been taking turns as to who sleeps in.

I have noticed that my legs are getting more toned and that some of my 'tight' jeans....really aren't that tight any more. I didn't even have to suck it in the other day to button straight-out-of-dryer jeans. Yay!

The Completion of Week 1!

I haven't posted in a couple days - so here's a quick update on this week so far and completing my first week (7 days) doing P90:

Tues and Weds were days 6 and 7 for me. I'm still feeling really good about the workouts and have noticed that I'm sleeping much better at night. It's still hard getting out of bed when the alarm first goes off, but I'm noticing that the "wake up" process goes more quickly for me now. Instead of it taking an hour to feel like I'm really awake and functioning, it only takes about 10-15 mins. That is a huge difference!

I'm still really looking forward to the workouts everyday. I did notice that after doing BOTH cardio and sculpt on Monday, it was really hard to get through cardio on Tuesday - I felt a bit sluggish after the first 10 or 15 minutes. We'll see if I feel the same way tonight. I'm hoping it'll be a bit easier since I had that cardio "break" yesterday.

I noticed a really big difference doing sculpt last night - I felt like I was barely working at all. For a little while there I was getting a little paranoid that I wasn't burning the calories I normally would, pretty much the only thing that "proved" to me that my body was getting a work-out was the sweat pouring down my face. I really wasn't expecting it to seem so "easy", but it was really exciting to feel those kind of results in just one week!

On a different note - I have to say I'm a little disappointed because I had this entirely fantastical and unrealistic expectation that I would have lost at least some fraction of inches and/or at least a pound or two after this first week - which I have not. But, having been an off-and-on gym rat for quite some time, I know that just because the scale and the measuring tape aren't reflecting results yet doesn't mean results aren't happening! I also know that with all the resistance training and muscle conditioning I'll probably GAIN weight before I lose it -- muscle weighs more than fat, as we all know, and you build muscle a lot quicker than you burn fat. It's as simple as that.

Some results I have seen so far: My arms are much more tone, and I've lost a good deal of fat from them already - which is perfect for this hot weather we've been having and the tank-tops coming back out of the closet. My legs are toning up nicely too, though the evil cellulite hasn't started to disappear yet - especially getting some good definition in my calves, which I've never been able to accomplish before. And then, of course, the higher energy and the better sleep/wake-up time I mentioned above. I haven't noticed much a difference in my belly region - which is what I want to get rid of the most. But I know that is usually the last thing to go, so I'm trying not to focus on that so much right now.

I'm looking forward to these next couple weeks and really hoping I have some visible results by the 30 day mark seeing as swimming pool season is upon us!

Slackerfying It.....

Steve and I have been bad.....very, very bad. we have not worked out since last Friday. We were supposed to have our day of rest on Sunday, but with all the goings-on on Saturday we didn't get a chance to work out. Then Monday, I was exhausted. Tuesday....well Tuesday didn't happen either because we got a late start to bedtimes and it was 10 before we were both downstairs and it just  didn't happen. Today we will workout and it'll be a double-load. Fun, but its for a cause.

I just wanted to let you all know what's been up.

Days 4 and 5

So yesterday I did Days 4 AND 5 since I couldn't find the time to do my cardio Saturday morning. It was a little insane, I have to admit.

I did cardio/abs around 6pm - took 15 mins to drink some water and cool down and then went right into sculpt with Mike at 7pm. Man, I felt PUMPED afterward! The endorphines were high and so was the heart rate! I burned an estimated 950 calories during the workout - wiping out almost my entire caloric intake for the day. Insanity. I was starving after a few minutes, and may have not made the best food decision in ordering chinese... but damn was it good. And I got kung pao shrimp - which is full of celery, water chestnuts and peanuts plus the high protein shrimp - so certainly not the WORST thing I could have ordered.

I was feeling pretty awesome and had some good energy going until about 9:30pm when I started to crash a bit. A wave of exhaustion hit me head on. I headed up to bed for some tv before sleep.. and did I ever sleep! I slept HARD. I don't think I've slept so deep in months. It was great.

Looking forward to another round of cardio tonight!

Pictures as promised!

Here are my "before" pictures -- it took forever to get Mike to actually take my "front-ways" one because he got all distracted the other night when I tried to get him to do it... we got the side and the back and then... the xbox was calling his name I guess. *eye roll* Hence the two different sports bras!

You can get a bit of a peak at my new haircut too... and some lovely cardio-induced sweat stains on my Hokie orange bra... yum! ;) Also, I feel like the "front-ways" pic shows off the bizarre phenomenon that I like to call my "flabs" -- I have wonderful abdominal definition, but unfortunately the muscle causing it is hidden under a bunch of FAT! But not for too much longer!!!

Begin Again

My plans for working out on Saturday completely fell through -- having to take care of a child can do that to your workout routine sometimes. And then, of course, we headed out to Steve and Heather's dinner party. I pigged out a little bit the whole weekend - but still didn't break my 2'000 calorie limit Saturday or Sunday even with all the snacking.

Tonight Mike will start P90 again with me - probably sans push-ups for a while, as his shoulder is still hurting him.

Looking forward to it! Just gotta make it through the work day... ugh...

Taking a Breather

So Steve and I were supposed to do Day 6 of our Power 90 last night, but instead we had a party. After the Rock Band/Guitar Hero session, however; we did show off some of the different moves that Mr. Tony Horton has. Everyone was over, and we had a friend over that is doing the P90X, so she was showing us some of the moves from there. Gotta say though, today I'm a little sore. Oh well back to the grind today :)

... And it actually feels good?

Going to keep this short because I have a lot to do today, but I feel very good today. I was full of energy yesterday after our workout and even during our workout I wasn't nearly as tired. I don't hurt at all and amazingly plowed through the pushups during the workout.

P90 is actually working and I like it :)

Jumpin' Jack Flash

...is NOT a blast, blast, blast. Did the Cardio/Ab workout last night. I have to say - I am not a fan on jumping jacks and I can't figure out those "run lunges" to save my life. Honestly I spent a lot of time running in place or "stepping it out", for those of you who remember Jane Fonda's aerobics video... but I really tried and did as much as I could until I felt like my heart was going to explode - and I did really well with the kick-boxing moves. I enjoyed that part a lot!

My glutes are still killing me today, but that just means I'm that much closer to having a hot ass, right? My abs are a bit sore too - mostly in the oblique area. I felt this way yesterday too. I like how Tony incorporates a lot of core into the sculpt and cardio workouts on top of having the separate ab workout.

So far I'm not too sore anywhere else but I sure do feel good! I have a lot more energy during the day, but I have not noticed much of a difference getting up in the morning. It's still really hard to get out of bed on time even though I'm getting at least 8 hours a night.

I'm keeping up with the Chocolate Milk Diet - and still counting calories. I did really well yesterday - 1700 calories consumed and then an estimated 650 BURNED during my workout!!! That's awesome. I've managed to do an amazing job of keeping my carbs, fats, and proteins balanced. Much better than I ever have in the past.

I'm really looking forward to my workout tonight and am hoping to have a chance to squeeze in another bout of cardio/abs tomorrow before getting ready to head out for pot-luck!

Sunday I'm going to get my hair cut as a little first-step in my "transformation". I'm really excited for it. I'm trying really hard to hold out for my regular stylist and to not just run out to Hair Cuttery - because I'm INCREDIBLY impatient and also I wanna look nice when I see all my friends on Saturday. :)

Tony Horton Sounds Like a Bad Skate Rink DJ

Yes, I'm a touch snarky today. I hurt. Not a lot, but enough to be in a bad mood about it. Nothing a cup of coffee won't fix though.

So I got the thinking yesterday that maybe I should change my diet, but then I got the thinking that I like the way I eat. I don't snack a whole lot. We eat a lot of fresh veggies and we're smart about carbs and protein. For instance, last night's dinner was chicken and rice bake and roasted asparagus. The chicken was dark meat, but only because I like it better than breast meat. The Cream of Mushroom soup in the recipe was low sodium, as I can't handle a lot of salt anyways, and there is only a cup or 2 of rice in it, and once the white rice we have is used up we're switching to brown rice. The asparagus had a light coating of butter spray and then just seasoned with a little bit of salt and bit more pepper and then broiled for about 10 minutes. See, not that unhealthy. :) So I am not going to change my eating habits, because I like the way I eat, and even though I'm not really pleased with Mr. Horton right now, I can and will get over it. :)

So now, Day 2 involves jumping jacks, and as any larger-breasted woman knows.....those hurt! I know I should do them, but really I can only do a few, because it hurts and its hard to do them while placing your arms over your chest. I'll get there. One of the reasons I wanted to lose weight was to  have a smaller cup size, but I can't wait until that starts to happen. I've been DDD for too long. :)

Ok, I'm going to go find a cup of coffee now and begin the healing process. :)

Cheers,
Heather

Now I know why they call it the Ab "Ripper"...

Before I tell you how everything went, I need to pass along the funny little story from last night. Heather and I had finished our cardio routine and were doing the 10 of 10 (10 moves / 10 reps) for the Ab Ripper routine. About halfway through, I went to do a curl and let out a little squeaker (think the final part of the Jeff Daniels scene in Dumb and Dumber). This sent us into a laughing frenzy that made the next 5 reps nearly impossible to perform.

As yesterday wore on, I became more and more dead on my feet. I would tell you what part of me was sore, but it might be easier to list out what wasn't, so here we go; My right index finger and my left ear lobe. To make matters worse, "I've never been what you would call a smart man," I decided that when I got to the office, I really didn't want to take the elevator. So, like the ever so courageous person I am, I decided to use the stairs. Right now you are thinking, "Wow Steve, way to take the initiative and put your health in your own hands. That was really smart." Oh, did I tell you I work on the 11th floor? I didn't think so.

Last nights exercises were what we missed on Tuesday, we'll be doing it again tonight to catch up and be back on track. I had some early problems with the Yoga as I am, let's be honest, short and plump. My legs don't always do what my brain says and my brain never does what my body wants. I eventually got the hang of the poses and was able to keep up.

After Yoga, I believe we went into jumping jacks. I don't like those. Let's move on.

After the jumping jacks we did some kind of weird Dance Dance Revolution thing with fast steps and bouncing back and forth. Had it not been for the obvious lack of attendance of Bruno Tonioli, I may have thought I was on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

We then moved into Kicking and Punches. I really, really, really liked these. With ever kick or punch, I could feel the pain in my muscles relaxing. Every jab seemed to loosen my bicep and every kick released the pressure in my calves and quads. I was dead tired by the time we finished. However after a shower and my little 8oz glass of 1% chocolate milk, I felt, [shocked]better[/shocked].

Today I feel very little pain and discomfort. I've honestly never made it past day 3 of a work out routine (sorry Jillian) but I don't see any reason why I won't continue on this one.

P.S. Tony Horton.. sorry about comparing you to the devil..

Finally

Last night I made a trip to Target to pick up some resistance bands and one of those big giant fitness balls (just because I've always wanted one and they're great for ab workouts!) - also I wanted to get some chocolate milk to try out that whole Chocolate Milk Diet thing.

Well, getting these few little things seemed to act as a real motivation booster for me. I opened up those resistance bands and blew up that giant exercise ball the minute I got home! And let me tell you what... using the little foot pump to blow up that HUMONGOUS ball was a workout all in it's own, I broke quite a sweat and it took me a good 20 minutes to get it done. *whew*

As soon as Mike popped the kiddo in the tub I popped in the Power 90 DVD. Man-oh-man! What a great workout! I had never used resistance bands before - I picked up the "medium" strength since both Mike and I are no strangers to weight training, in fact it seems to be the only kind of exercise we were ever really able to regularly stick too... but wow! I LOVE those things! The brand I bought also came with a little attachment so you can use them with any household door for a bunch of different upper and lower body exercises. Definitely a plus!

The only downside was the stretches - the yoga-inspired stretches are definitely not meant to be done with running shoes on, in my opinion. Maybe it's just that I need new gym shoes, but the ones I have are pretty nice New Balance kicks. I definitely was not comfortable doing a lot of the stretches with them on. My main "pain" today is the top of my right foot oddly enough.

Even though I couldn't seem to get my butt in gear for the workouts earlier this week, I've done amazingly well with my calorie-counting. Yesterday was a bit of a hiccup between Chipotle and Cold Stone Creamery, but I was not especially hungry for dinner and then the estimated 380 calories burned during the workout brought me back down under my "goal". I've been averaging about 1700, not including exercise. This is a BIG cutback from my normal 2000-2500 intake. I'm really looking forward to the results I can achieve maintaining this. As I mentioned in my introduction post, I plan on allowing myself one "cheat" day during the week - this will most likely be Saturday. Nothing like a weekly calorie binge to confuse that metabolism!

Anyhoo - I'm feeling pretty good today, not too sore all things considered, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next workout tonight!


edit: "before" photos will be coming soon! Just have to get them loaded to the home computer from the camera!

Do you hear that?

I do. That lovely sound would be ALL of my joints and muscles screaming in protest to moving and even, just maybe, thinking about moving.

Steve and I did the Cardio and Ab Ripper tonight and they should definitely be called "Let's bring on a heart attack or blown out joint" and "Time to kill you some more, but this time you can lie down while we do it." So the titles are a little long, but seriously, I was afraid that during some of the cardio I'd put down one of my legs and I would just keep going because my knee slipped out of joint again, and wouldn't that be craptacular? Trying to get healthy and lose weight, and oh! Wait! You're out for at least a week, probably three because your knees are so bad. Thankfully, that didn't happen. I took it slow and stopped for breaks more often than Stephen did, but my knees, while sometimes they felt loose, and they were cracking up a storm, are still connected. :)

Also, I enjoy doing pilates and yoga, but damn....that power yoga at the beginning kicked my rump. It was hard to bring my legs from a downward dog into a runners position. I have LONG legs. My waist to floor measurement is 48". Yep...I'm ALL leg. My grandfather used to tell me I had legs up to my shoulders, and he was mostly right. My torso is only about 16" long, but it used to be 14". I guess some fat will do that to ya. :)

I have to be honest here and say - I am not looking forward to the rest of this week.

Heather

I'm calling mulligan

Okay, so I swear I will be posting pictures soon so Heather is no longer alone in showing the world the "before"!

However, these pictures may not be going up until Monday. Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen. I have to call a mulligan.

This week has been the biggest snafu in history. It began as early as Saturday. I knew better than to drink that whole bottle of wine by myself and stay up until 4am, but damn if I didn't do it anyway. So then I had to spend all of Sunday sleeping. And when you spend all of a Sunday sleeping it makes it hard to go to bed when you should in order to get up at 6:30am on a Monday to go to the gym before work... and then you tell yourself you'll go after work but you have to go have family dinner and uncomfortable drinks with a dramatic friend instead. And then because of these uncomfortable drinks you stay up until midnight telling your husband about it and then that makes 6:30am on Tuesday morning impossible too... and then work goes insane and your mother needs you so Tuesday evening gets shot as well. I have no excuse for today... Wednesday... because, well, it's not over yet and I just flat couldn't get myself out of bed this morning for the gym once again.

So I say SCREW IT!!! I give up on you, week-of-May-17th!!! I give up, I say. I call a mulligan, a do-over, a restart.

I solemnly swear that beginning Monday May 24th I will begin the Power 90 workout. Mike's shoulder should be healed up by then, and he'll be happy to have the workout buddy. Now, there is a distinct possibility I will even start this tonight, but I want to maintain Sunday as a "rest" day so it may be I redo days 1-4 again next week just to fall back on the 6 days on/1 day off schedule.

....you know, it was back in February that I had told myself by this time I would ALREADY be back to 180lbs... but then I quit watching my diet and taking myself seriously. Shame on me. Seriously.

It's like Deja Vu all over again...

You can say that again. It's like Deja Vu all.. ahh forget it. Tonight we had a miscommunication and ended up doing Sculpt 1-2 again, instead of Sweat 1-2 & Ab Ripper. We're going to do day 2 for day 3 and then continue on from there so that Sunday is still our Rest day and we will have done all the steps we were supposed to.

Yesterday when we did day 1, I did not have any type of weights/bands and Heather only had some very small 2lb weights that she used during her pilates. Needless to say, those resistance bands not only work, but make a BIG difference. I was slightly sore this morning, but it was a good sore. I have a feeling tomorrow morning is going to be a completely different story. I am very sore tonight, again a good sore. I don't hurt to the point where I can't move, but wow, I wasn't expecting that.

I am not comfortable posting the pictures of myself yet.. perhaps when I see a difference I will post a side by side. You'll also notice that on the side of the site I have my waist as the "measure" for how well I am doing. I haven't decided if I want to keep waist or move to weight.. perhaps I can do both.

The Fashonistas of the World would Cry

First, I'm dying......literally, I think I may be dying. Stephen and I 'started over' on our Power 90, because I accidentally read the calendar wrong and told him to do Sculpt again today we had the resistance bands, so we did the Sculpt 1-2 workout again, and it's HARD with resistance bands. I don't think I've broken a sweat like this in ages. I also already am sore....just from sitting for about 3 minutes. I can feel everything between my shoulders, upper back and arms. Especially the arms. The legs aren't too bad right now, but I typically do a lot of exercise type things with them as it is. You know lifting laundry, squatting to pick up H, repeatedly going up and down the stairs for bink replacements and the like. I'm sure I'll feel the leg soreness in a few days though.

But on a good note, here are some before pictures, and I know its supposed to be a sports bra and shorts or the like, but you know what....I'm not that confident in posting that much skin so I am posting pictures of me with my tank on. It doesn't show as much but it'll get the idea across. Maybe when I'm my new fit and toned self I'll have enough gumption to post those tankless before pictures. Also, it's obvious that no one in the fashion world designed work out clothes, because they don't look good on anyone except the people in those work-out videos and the chicks from Baywatch. Vogue would never put anything so ugly on anyone. 

 I'm scared of tomorrow's workout....it's Sweat 1-2 and Ab Ripper 1-2. Maybe they name things like that just to scare us. Maybe they want to instill the fear of God into us so that when we finally master them b*tches we feel like we're on top of the world. {I'm the king of the world}

I will now go back to nursing my large glass of ice cold flavored water. Then after I watch a show or two..I will drag my sorry behind upstairs and shower before bed. Good night, all. I'm sure I will sleep like I'm dead.  

Heather

body by death

day one was yesterday. it was great. today i feel more energy and just the right amount of soreness to know i am getting those muscles worked without it hurting to walk. that being said, i also did some sort of origami swan fold to my shoulderblade while doing the wide push-ups. i would have been upset about falling on my face had i not been so preoccupied with thoughts of how the compound fracture potentially protruding from my back would make the black mock turtle neck i pilfered from steve mcqueen's grave appear only more ridiculous than it does now...considering Mcqueen is still in it. nonetheless i finished the work out and felt positive...today i feel good...i can barely lift my arm to steer my car...but good. it just figures that i would hurt myself in a way that seems completely unheard of to me while doing the mundane beginner exercises. i had almost forgotten that my body hates me and wants me dead. I've had the upperhand for so long; trying to slowly kill it with the various decadent vices; cigarettes, alcohol and dorito baths that i was lulled into a false sense of security...well played body...well played.

Not gonna lie..

I thought I would be in a lot of pain today. Heather and I completed our first day of Power 90 last night and outside of my arms being a bit tired from the sheer number of push-ups I did (more than I have done combined in the last 5 years) I felt good last night and feel good this morning.

Granted, I was not aware that we would need weights or a tension band, so we're going to pick those up, but I still did the excerises without them. The addition of exercise equipment will surely make it more difficult, but I am excited about it and look forward to seeing the difference it will make.

89 Days to go.. Let's do this.. Leeeeeeeeroy Jennnnnnnkins!

Day of Fail

Well, turns out my Day 1 was more a Day of Fail. I had every intention of doing a quick home work-out yesterday evening, but unfortunately real-life got in the way. I completely forgot about dinner plans with my folks and my aunt who was in town from Louisiana - that was the first block. Then ended up going to meet up with a friend who "required" immediate resolution for an on-going disagreement. So, even though I didn't get to bed until just after midnight, I told myself "I AM going to get up and get to the gym in the morning." Well, I did wake up at 6:30am. However I didn't get much further than opening my eyes and sitting up before it was obvious that my work-day was going to be near impossible running on little sleep and lots of stress. To be honest, as I write this I'm struggling to keep my eyes open... a cup of caffeinated tea may be required.

I would be lying if I didn't say I'm beating myself up a little bit over my lack of motivation yesterday and this morning. I used to always think I had to start these kinds of changes on a Monday - beginning of the week, beginning of a new lifestyle - but I've read several fitness articles that say not to focus so much on what day you start, but just that you're starting at all. I'm trying to have a positive outlook on today and may, for this week, need to just hit the gym in the evenings until I can get myself on an earlier bedtime routine.

Something positive about yesterday - I managed to stick to my "diet" pretty well. I'm shooting for 2000 calories a day with regular exercise. Yesterday I came in at about 1700. Not bad. I'm using The Daily Plate to track my meals and caloric intake. It's a pretty neat little tool.

Here's to today improving and hopping on the motivation train for my work-out later!

A Sad Realization....

I have no balance. I always thought I had some balance, but tonight was our first night of doing the Power 90 and during the leg stretches, you know the ones where you grab your ankle and pull your heel up against your butt, I almost fell every time. The wall became my friend. :) I also discovered that our couch is not good for the chair exercises. I am impressed with both Stephen and I, we both broke a little sweat during our little 1/2 hour jaunt, but overall I think we felt pretty good. I can say that my legs are a little sore, so I'm a little afraid of how I'm going to feel in the morning. We forgot to take pictures tonight. The camera was upstairs and we were in the basement, and why would we do some stair-stepping while trying to get into shape? :) I'm sure that day 2 pictures will look the same, if not worse, from day 1.

Well, I'm off to shower then bed, and I'm hoping and praying that Harrison sleeps in tomorrow.

Heather

I'm a Muffin top?!

I guess it's true, it says so on the internet. I can honestly say out of all of the things that have made me unhappy in my life, my current weight is #1. I was always a little "husky" growing up, I was really into sports (mostly baseball) and spent a lot of time playing it on teams and with friends. When none of my friends were available to play, I would play wall-ball, throwing a tennis ball against an outside wall and fielding grounders. I could and would do this for hours. My build even in my pre-teen years earned me the nickname from my brother as The Future Kirby Puckett.

I stopped playing sports for the most part when I got into high school. I was moving at the end of my Freshman year and knew I could not finish the baseball season, so I did not try out. The coach asked me personally, as he had already spoken to the coach from my Jr. High team, but I declined. I still regret this decision. After I moved I never thought about playing again. I maintained a weight throughout high school of about 165 (I was at full height at that point of 5' 8"). I could have stood to lose a few lbs, but I was by no means out of shape.

Trouble came in the form of a wife who is a fantastic cook! Portion control was always my biggest enemy and now with so much amazing food on my plate, it was hard to resist. It started off relatively slow, however within a few years I crept past 200. A couple years after that 220 and now a whopping 238. I am not comfortable in my own skin most of the time, I'm not a big fan of the pool or beach and long walks scare the hell out of me.

I have a wonderful wife and 2 beautiful sons. If there was no other reason to get healthy and lose weight, this would be enough. I like to share things with people (whether it be my time, my cigars, my beer, my house). I've never been good at sticking to something by myself. I've quit on Jillian Michaels and on the elliptical that has more dust on it than sweat. Hopefully my friends who are choosing to endure the Power 90 at the same time can keep me in check.

The Stats:

Starting Weight: 238lbs

Waist: 42 (eff)

Height: 5' 8" (My back is screwed up, I post this as i've heard getting in better shape can align you and possibly make you taller.. let's see).

Goal after 90 days: 36" waist and 190 (I know.. it's ambitious)

About Me: I am 29 years old (30 in 2 short months). I am married and have two wonderful boys. I am a web developer and graphic designer, however I have some pretty major business goals slated for the next 2 years which will take me out of the computer industry and into the Cigar Industry. I own The Cigar Network, a media group and parent of CigarFriendly.us, CigarClubhouse.org and YourCigarRatings.com which is a site I am working on in partnership with a great friend.

Day 1 and Introductions

I'm Jess and I'm no stranger to the blog-o-sphere... however I tend to have issues with regular updating, but hopefully this little experiment will break me of that!! If you wanna check out my "personal" blog, you can do that here. :)

I work for a small financial firm with my husband and in-laws - and as scary as that sounds it's actually pretty flippin' awesome. I have one child - a four year old son. Unlike Heather I definitely GAINED lots of weight with my pregnancy and the months after. I was the heaviest I had ever been in my adult life when I found out I was pregnant - 175lbs at 5'10 (which these days sounds pretty slim and sexy, not gonna lie) - and I gained 30lbs during my pregnancy putting me up to 205lbs. Not too bad considering my height and frame. After my son was born I managed to drop almost all that weight - but unfortunately a bit of postpartum depression kicked in and I found myself comforting with food and high calorie beverages - packing back on ALL of the 30 pounds I had gained while pregnant.

I joined a gym in January of 07 and was back down to 175lbs by Spring of 08. However, that Fall I completely fell out of my gym routine and started gaining again - slowly, but steadily. I found myself back up to 190lbs by the Fall of 09 and here, coming up on the summer of 2010, I am heavier than I was 9 months pregnant - at 210lbs. My ideal is to be at 160lbs, to bring my BMI back into the "normal" range -- but for all intensive purposes my current goal is 180 and I'll work from there. :)

My plan for shedding the weight is to get back into a good gym routine and to start watching my caloric intake. I'm looking at this as an opportunity to get healthier all around. I "quit" smoking back in February, but lately have been giving in to temptation and smoking quite regularly when hanging around other smokers. This must stop! Starting today I'm not only going to focus on losing weight and getting stronger, but also on being a real ex-smoker.

The hardest part about this experiment for me is probably going to be the diet change. I'm a huge foodie. I love all things food. I may love food more than anything else in the whole wide world. And I love all kinds of "bad" food -- I tell my husband I want a show on Food Network called "The Best Bar Food In America" where I travel the country eating all that is cheesy, fried and delicious. Bar food is my weakness. Mozzarella sticks, potato skins, fried pickles, buffalo wings - I love it the most. Bar food and chinese food. BRING ON THE SODIUM OVERLOAD FOLKS! So, yes, the "diet" portion of this is definitely going to be the most difficult. I intend to allow myself one "cheat" day a week - where I can choose one meal to be a "bad" food meal. My other struggle will be cutting back on calories from alcohol - I love beer and wine and usually drink one glass of one or the other on almost a daily basis. Plus the 3 or 4 I'll have with friends on any given weekend.

I plan to post weekly "stats" - weight and measurements. I'm a big fan of Dr. Oz and he suggests not focusing so much on your scale number for the first couple months, but more your waist size. Just putting that out there. :)

Hopefully with the support of a group of awesome friends this change-for-the-better will not only be possible, but fun and enjoyable in the process!

Day 1 Stats:
210lbs
Bust: 40"
Waist: 36"
Hips: 46"
Thighs: 27.5"
Arms: 14"

Welcome to Day 1

Howdy, everyone! I want to welcome you to our new blog. My friends and I have started this blog as a way to pressure us and keep us motivated with our weight loss goals. I'm hoping it works, because so far the only weight loss I seem to be able to manage is pregnancy, and really 9 months of morning sickness is NOT my cup of  tea. So let me introduce myself. :)

My name is Heather and I author StraightStitches and I am a SAHM. I have two wonderful boys, and their pregnancies were the most effective diet ever for me. I lost 17 lbs with Devlin, but then most of it came back. I ended up losing one pound with Harrison (I only gained 6 lbs total, and  he was a 7lb baby). I have managed to keep that one pound off, but I am 256 lbs or thereabouts. The scale has mysteriously disappeared. I would be a lot happier I think if I were 200, but my goal for right now is 225. I don't really have a time schedule for it. My husband, Stephen, and I are starting the Power 90 routine tonight. I'm hoping that I'm not too tired tomorrow to watch the boys!

I'll  let everyone else introduce themselves. :)

Thanks for reading!
Heather