Day 147 Skin Fold vs. Fat Rolls

Good evening fellow bloggers and bloggerettes! I am in an especially jolly mood tonight. I am one final away from being done for a month with school! that is 31 days of spending my nights at home with my family with no homework, no papers due, not test to study for! Yipppeeeee! Here is the sad thing about me, the other thing I think about....... how much more time I will have to walk. Little scary there. I am glad to have my lunches back to walk, I will keep on walking in the morning at Wal Mart obviously. And I think I may have opened a door to a new habit this morning. I got bored with looking at my puter this morning, so I got on the treadmill to try to get ahead in my mileage for the day. I wanted to get 7 miles in throughout the day, so I banged out a mile real quick, or that was my intention. I just got a little carried away and decided to do a little jogging too, only slower than I usually do. I think part of my ankles hurting may have been that I was trying to be the Flash when I jogged. I can't help that, it is just my attitude, go all out. So today I just took it to 4 miles an hour on the treadmill and jogged for the last 4 minutes to see. Sure enough, no stress on the ankles, of course i was only breathing a little hard though. I bet if I kept it up at that speed, I would still get a workout in. I am curious now. I wouldn't doubt for a second this early morning walk may take hold. Maybe even early morning jogging will take hold. anyway, I got up and around and got an extra mile in than usual at Wal Mart. Lauren was at her dad's last night so I didn't have to take her to school, I took the extra time to do extra laps. Then I made it out to the track at lunch and knocked out another 2 miles for a grand total of 6.5 miles baby! I was half mile short, but my thighs were dying from doing my squats during my weight workout this morning, so I decided good enough on the 6.5 miles.

I noticed something this morning. I had my elbows resting somewhere, and couldn't help but notice that I had skin folds forming right above my elbows from losing weight. Not incredibly obvious if you ain't looking for it, but still. Add that to my belly skin flap, and (pardon my honesty) the small flaps on my butt now. and this is a disturbing trend to me. Buuuut, I have to ask myself this. Anybody ever died because of too many skin folds? What about fat rolls? Anybody ever die from those? Yeah I think you may get where i am going with that. After getting that reasoning into my head, I kinda just added it to my list. I haven't written it down anywhere, I just know it in my head. My list of things that still amaze me sometimes. Like the fact I don't have to scan booths to see which one I can most likely fit in, or the fact I can change shoes in my truck while sitting behind the steering wheel, or that my ribs are not touchable immediately below my skin. Like the fact that I know pass people when walking in Wal Mart, not for my walks, but just while there. My speed has increased a great deal! Tonight at one of my attorney friends Christmas party, I had a whole other round of oohs and aaahs from people who hadn't seen me in some time and they all raved yet again. I guess I kinda like it because they all ask what I am doing and I spread the gospel of eat less move more. Oh! I almost left this out. People, don't ever underestimate your influence on others in terms of your actions. Jill in my office just told me the other day she is thinking it is time for her to get on the weight loss bandwagon. I know her husband has lost a great deal of weight and kept it off, and she has seen me losing weight since I got there. We had even once had a conversation about she knew she could stand to lose some weight, but she just didn't have the want to. I am guessing that between Greg and myself, she just started seeing that it was a good thing to be motivated about losing weight. I am so happy for her and I told her whatever I could do to help, I am right there!

Well I best get off here and debate about how much longer I can put off studying for tomorrows final. I am betting 4 a.m. tomorrow morning is the winner!

Day 146 Repent and Rejoice

Good Wednesday night by bloggy peeps. I have been off the blog map for the last couple of days. I had two finals I was trying to make sure I passed, so I was concentrating real hard on getting that taken care of. The one thing I learned is that sleep deprivation can lead to some bad decisions. Monday was not too awful bad, I was good the majority of the day, but when I got home from my final, I had my supper plus I ate some Doritos and some meatloaf. all in all, I wound up around 1800 calories, but that was not to the level that I was worried about. However, I went on a caffeine bender yesterday as I was up late Monday night too studying then got up early too. I was ok for most of the day once again, but once the caffeine wore off, and I found myself at the Girl Scout meeting last night, I was tempted by all the cookies and candies that were there for the party. I came in with having eaten around 800 calories and left with an estimated 1600! I still had my supper but I at least did eat light portions and had about 200 calories worth of meatloaf and green beans. I guess I should feel like a loser, but I don't. I just learned a whole other lesson to add to my new experiences. Be extra on guard if I am sleep deprived too!!

The good news is I am done with the two hardest finals I have, the next one I got some studying in for tonight and I don't foresee it being as stressful as those two were! And I had a great diet and exercise day! I got my weight workout in this morning, got my Wal Mart 2 1/1 miles in before work and then another 2 1/2 at lunch, I am now sitting at 1480 calories for the day and I am done! I got a lot of fruit in today too. Kathy bought me some green apples while at the store and I had an orange and a banana as well. Oh and for supper we had 15 bean soup and it was delish!!! So I am pretty excited about my rededication. I am now focusing on getting out of the 220's for my next weigh in. I don't know that I can after the two days of poor choices, but I will try like hell I promise you that! I am thinking a little extra exercise and a little determination on the diet will get me far this time!

Sure is good to blog again, it sure is something you miss when you ain't doing it!

Day 143 A Physics Lesson Today

Well as I posted last night, today was I agreed to do a 10 mile walk challenge. Christine asked me about a month ago to join her in pushing our outside limits on this day. She was inspired by one of her friends that was doing a marathon, so Christine decided to do a half marathon today. She, I and a few other of her friends all got on board and agreed to go for it today. I knew I did not have 13.1 miles in me, but I did decide to try for 10 miles on the treadmill.

I don't know how many of us remember what from science classes from high school, but one thing that I have always remembered from them is the statement "a body at rest, tends to stay at rest, a body in motion, tends to stay in motion". So today, I got to apply that to my walking. I got thru the first 5 miles fairly easily, with the majority of it being done at 3.3 miles an hour at a 3 percent grade. I took a quick break at 5 miles and came back to get the second half in. At 6.3 miles, I hit the wall. I had gotten 6.5 last week on Saturday, so I was not about to stop till I got 7 at least. At 7, I wondered if I had 8 miles in me. So I kept going. At 8 I debated about going ahead and stepping of the treadmill and calling a good effort. I spent so long debating about it that I was almost at 8.5 miles and at about that time, I started feeling better. My legs didn't hurt as much, my abs were a little loser and quite frankly, I just couldn't get myself to give up. I was a body in motion, and I was going to stay in motion as per my physics lessons! As I began to let my mind wander, I started thinking how that physics rule has applied to me in both respects over my life time. I got fat by applying the first condition, and I ahve thinned down some by applying the second. It is honestly that simple. I am doing nothing extreme, I mean I want to run, I just can't because of my ankles. I seriously just walk, hence the body in motion. That is all. And the more I have walked, the more I want to and can walk. A body in motion baby!

Day 142 HaHa! It Has Been A Great Day!

Man has it been a great day! I was dead on with eating and I got more walking in today than I have at once before! My Hogs are likely heading to the Sugar Bowl! I am in heaven today!

I decided that since it is getting cold out lately and I am not a fan, I should start trying to get myself used to the habit of walking on the treadmill. So today, I decided at first I was just going to go for 6 miles on it. Well then I got the urge to start using the preprogrammed workouts on it just to see what they were about. It has 4 programmed workouts. I started out using number 1. It was a 30 minute workout that was not too difficult. I moved on to number two, 30 minute workout, a little more challenging than 1, but still not hard. Now number 3 was significantly more difficult! The speeds and inclines stepped up a couple of notches and wow did it show! I finished it and by that time, I had a little over 4.5 miles in and an hour and a half. I decided to heck with it and hit program number 1 one more time to get 6 miles in! So I wound up satisfying both my goals for today with one effort!

Tomorrow is the day that Christine has challenged me to push myself walking. She has committed to a half marathon jogging, so I initially agreed to do a 10k, but since i did that today, I modified it to I am going to try for 10 miles tomorrow on the treadmill, walking of course. I am really getting pumped about pushing myself! I even let my calorie bank go on up to 1800 for this!

Okay I am gonna get off here. I need rest if I am gonna do that much walking at once, so ya'll be good and next time you see me post, it will be about my 10 mile excursion!

Day 141 Reality Check! And Hot 100 Update

Yeah I missed posting last night, so I decided to just get one in early today. I sure got a reality check today. Anybody that follows me knows that I have had a string of absolutely phenomenal losses, usually around 8 pounds for a two week period. Well that streak came to a halt today! I showed 224 on my scale, a mere two pounds lost in two weeks. The good thing is, I was ready for this to happen at any moment. I knew those large losses would not keep coming at that pace. At first I was a little confused how it could ONLY be two pounds. I did have a bit of an off weekend foodwise, but not enough for that much of a difference in weight loss. I exercised like a man possessed for the whole two weeks. But upon some thinking, I have decided not to shout the sky is falling just yet, not until my next weigh in. I also am wondering if the fact I have let sodas sneak back in to my routine on a regular basis may not be the issue. I have had about one 20 ounce a day for the last couple of weeks. Now I have been drinking water like crazy too, just I have had a soda just about every day for the last two weeks. I am going to go back to my soda every three days rule and see if that don't get something shaken up between now and the 17th.

As for my Hot 100 update, chugging along just fine I do believe. I am not sure the 210 by the 31st is quite as realistic given this weigh in, but I will continue to shoot for the moon and see how close I can get!! No white bread this week, and that is not even being a challenge anymore, I just don't want it! My veggie and fruits intake was good, not great, as I had cut calories for the last few days in an attempt to atone for last weekend (another reason my low loss was shocking) but they have been on par I would say. I did get a ton o' walking in this past weekend and all this week. 25 miles since the last update! So all in all, not a bad check in despite the limited weight loss. I am sure all my efforts will show up on the 17th and I will be happy as a lark to see them!

Day 139 You Have Got To Be Kidding Me!!!

It is Wednesday of weigh in week and the anxiety begins. I love it. I love the anticipation, I love the anxiety, I love the extreme extreme focus I get on the last two days before weigh in. This weigh in holds a special place in my life though. Again, without any way to prove this, I am going to say that this will be the first time ever that I weigh LESS after Thanksgiving than I did before it! Now the real question is going to be, how much less I weigh this time as compared to two weeks ago. I seriously am hoping for something in the two hundred teens. I always start trying to envision the number I will see on Friday on Wednesday before, and for some reason I kept seeing 217 during my walk yesterday. I know it sounds crazy, but I am not wishing for that number, that is not why I see it, I just open my heart and the numbers come to me. I have been right waaaaaaaaaaay more times than not. I doubt this number, since that would be 9 pounds gone and 8 has been my trend. But I just couldn't shake that number off. It kept coming to me. I sincerely hope that I am right in my vision, but if I am not and a 220 something comes up, I am ok with that. And I will tell you why. I had a huge experience tonight. Not life changing huge I don't guess but in a way it was. I am getting giddy just fixing to type it. So about 6 months or so ago, my friend Vicki bought me a t-shirt at a yard sale. It was a University of Arkansas School of Law t-shirt, but it was a large. I told her thank you, but I would probably never be able to wear it, so don't get offended if she never sees me in it. She said she understood completely she just thought I would like it. Weeeeeeeell, I just got curious tonight after looking at the pictures from this past weekend, so I went in my closet, drug out the t-shirt with no X's in the size and holy cow would you believe that it fit on me!!!! Not quite perfectly, it was kinda tight on the chest, but not uncomfortably tight!! And it fit my belly just fine!!! I have never been more excited in my life!!!! I put on t-shirt with now X's!!! So regardless of my number on Friday, I am on cloud 9 for the time being. I wore that shirt all night tonight and just marveled at it the whole time. God is good, no God is GREAT!! Thank you so much for blessing me Lord. And thanks to each of you who follow and encourage me on my journey. It is my accountability to ya'll that keeps me focused on the hard days, that makes me be better than I am. It ya'lls stories that encourage me, that I draw strength and knowledge from. All this is just so amazing and seemed so impossible on July 16, 2010. But July 17, 2010 started a whole new chapter in my life, one that I am writing a new story line to everyday. And I am loving the plot so far!!!

Day 138 Feeling It, Just Feeling It

Great Tuesday! It couldn't have gotten much better I don't believe! Had just an awesome day diet wise, exercise wise, and otherwise!!

Diet wise, I have been holding back on my calories for the last few days, just in an attempt to show myself I could and to damage control the extras I got this last weekend. I did great once again today on that. Exercise wise, I had a great weight workout and I got my 4 miles of walking in today with no problem, even with sore muscles. Otherwise, Lauren had a whale of a basketball game tonight!! I could not stop smiling the whole night!! She scored 6 points, one of which was her first basket, caused two turn overs, and stole the ball!! I was the proudest poppa ever! I love that little girl!

I don't know if I have discussed my leather jacket on here or not, but if I have, sorry for the repeat. I have "re-acquired" my leather jacket from my teens and early 20's! It was cool at first to have it back, but last night, it was even more cool as this jacket is sooooo warm and it was sooooo cold last night! That makes it even more than an NSV, it was good economically for me! I even noticed last night that when I zip it up, there is some space between me and it! Which brings me to another issue I am having. I can't keep myself in clothes lately. My 36 pants I just bought, look horiffic on me now. Check it out:

so now I guess I am going to see about spending a little money at the thrift shop I love so much and getting some 34's and see if they fit better. wow, really. 34's. In my adult life, I have never glimpsed anything smaller than a 36 pant. I may even buy me a large shirt, so that if it doesn't fit, I at least have a goal to work towards! Life is so different for me now a days. God is blessing me so much. I don't even know how to let him know how thankful I am. I love the full heart feeling I get when I think of it. It is like a hug from Him!!

Well I better get off here and get to bed. I hope to read that everyone had as great of a day as I did tomorrow morning!! Night!!