60-Day Challenge

My gym started a 60-day challenge, and I debated joining, talked myself out of it more than once, then finally bit the bullet and paid the $20 fee (hey, at the very least I will get a t-shirt out of the ordeal).  The person who loses the highest percentage of body weight gets a cash prize, and runners-up get prizes like a free membership for a year or sessions with a personal trainer.

Last night I went to the gym to do my starting weigh-in and picture, which I’m sure won’t be gracing the cover of Vogue or Sports Illustrated anytime soon!  I felt like I should slouch and make that pouty, miserable frown like in “before” pictures in those magazine advertisements, but I had just made a joke about mug shots, since I had to hold the paper with my name and starting weight on it, so I was laughing in my pictures.

So now I have 60 days to lose as much weight as humanly possible.  I actually kind of like to eat, so starving myself is out (that’s a joke, as starving myself was never a viable option), so I suppose I need to fall back on increasing the intensity of my workouts.  Once upon a time, when I was younger and had more energy, I used to work out twice a day, in the morning and again after work.  I don’t see that happening, but it’s not a bad idea to double up maybe one or two days a week.  It won’t kill me.

I like the idea of pushing myself over the next 60 days and using this challenge to stay motivated and on fire to keep dumping this weight.  I don’t know if I have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning anything, but I will try my hardest!

Motivated

The weekend went by so fast!  My stepkids were home, and those weekends always fly by.  My boyfriend took them to a burger joint for dinner Friday night, so I stayed home and worked out instead.  I used to go with them, and I wanted to go with them, to be honest, but with weigh-in the next day, I didn’t want to pig out.

I went running Saturday morning while the kids were still sleeping.  I am trying to ease from treadmill running to outdoor running, since I have been battling shin splints when I run outside.  My first step has been running on a nice, smooth, level, flat high school track.  I ran 4 miles, then headed home for weigh in.

Another loss: down 1.8 pounds to 191.2.  I was really hoping to be out of the 190’s, but with an annivesary dinner plus a lunch out this past week, I am happy to have had a loss at all.  I’ll take it!

I worked out Sunday morning while the kids were eating breakfast.  I try to time my workouts so I am missing out on as little as possible.

I could tell my younger stepson was not happy when it was time to drive them back to Hickville and our weekend was over.  He is typically loud, energetic, and bursting with jokes, but he got very quiet and withdrawn.  It’s almost like the better the weekend we have, the harder it is at the end for them. Nine years into this, and I still rage about how unfair this is to them.

My boyfriend told me later that my stepson asked him, “Is she trying to lose weight?”  My boyfriend told him yes, that is why they see me working out and working out so hard.  My stepson said, “Well, it shows”.  My heart nearly burst with pride that he noticed and said something about it.  That was, without a doubt, the biggest motivation I’ve had in a long time.  I am determined to make them proud of me when they see what I can accomplish when I really put my all into it.

Coke Addict

Yesterday I made it all day without a drop of soda!  Unless you know what a raging soda addict I am, you may not be terribly impressed by the enormity of that, so let’s just say that I am so hooked, I typically have Coke with my breakfast and just keep chugging from there.

I filled a small bottle with fruit juice yesterday and started my day with that instead.  I switched to unsweet tea the rest of the day.  I can’t say I was enthused about the change, and I definitely won’t say it was easy, but it saves a lot of calories during the day and cuts way back on sugar too.

After work, I did an hour-long Jari Love Get Ripped workout, one of the older ones, Slim & Lean, but there is nothing like a classic.  This morning I got up at holy-crap o’clock and hit an early Spinning class.  Today I’m doubling up my workout and will work out again after work, to make up for skipping a workout on Tuesday and eating out twice this week.

So, tomorrow morning is the big moment, weekly weigh-in!  I’m not so sure what this one will hold, but I am hoping for at least a small loss to end the month.

One Day at a Time

After skipping a workout on Tuesday, I wanted to fit in a good, sweaty gym session last night. Running on a treadmill is quite possibly the most boring activity known to humanity, but I flipped through channels and watched other people to amuse myself, and I made it 70 minutes.  Seventy slow minutes, but hey, I still did it!  I added on 20 minutes on the elliptical and felt pretty good when I left.

So far no one seems to have noticed my weight loss.  I’ve lost 18 pounds.  Some of my pants are getting baggy, but I don’t think it’s terribly noticable yet.  Well, it will be!  I just need to keep working at it, day after day.

Whoops!

Apparently, counting is not one of my strong suits.  I would have bet my life that this year is our 10-year anniversary, and I even wrote “happy 10th anniversary” in my boyfriend’s card.  He kindly informed me last night that this is, in fact, nine years!  I calmly and graciously corrected him, and he calmly and graciously laughed and told me again it’s been 9 years, not 10.  Turns out he is right, and I felt a bit foolish for not getting the years right!

Since we are going out this evening and won’t be home until late, especially with an hour drive back from the town where the kids live now, I set the alarm for an early morning gym date this morning.  It didn’t happen, but before you roll your eyes at me, know this: my boyfriend woke me up at 3 AM with his tossing and turning like a fish in the bottom of a boat, and when the alarm went off at 5:30, I could barely lift my eyelids.  I reset the alarm for another precious hour or so of much-needed sleep.

So it’s indisputably his fault, ha ha.  I am a little nervous that skipping a workout today will mean bad news on weigh day, but I will work hard this week and track all my food and still aim for a loss to finish off the month.

Last night I did an hour-long Les Mills Combat class, and I must be getting stronger, because the last time I did that workout, I hit a wall with 20 minutes to go.  I gasped, huffed, stumbled, groaned, and cursed my way through those last 20 minutes.  Last night it was still definitely a challenge, but I didn’t feel like I needed to have 911 on speed dial or ask my boyfriend to call a priest for my last rites.  Every improvement is a step in the right direction!

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