Hello Gorgeous

Okay so it has been a month since the last time I blogged. I need to put my foot down and be committed to blogging. This is all so new to me. First of all the title is about my beautiful brand new bike. Yesterday was my 44th birthday and I have been wanting a new bike for a while. I was going to use my old bike (really old more than 20 years old) but the updates did not take. My sweet old man did the best that he could but in the end it did not work. I wanted a bike like msbitchcakes. So yesterday, I saw that a pink Schwinn was on sale and I went straight to Toys R Us after work and purchased it. I even rode it home just to make sure it works. It does but I sure am a little rusty. But I have been wanting a new shiny girly pink bike for a while and now I have one.
        As far as my weight loss is concerned, I am doing well but this week was a bad one. Here is my weight for the last four weeks;
June 8: 245.2 minus 2.8 lbs
June 15: 244.4 minus 0.8 lbs
June 22: 244.8 plus .04 lbs
June 29: 242.8 minus 2 lbs
July 6: 246.2 plus 3.4 lbs

      For anyone struggling with weight loss, this can be tough; especially if you are a big girl like me. But sometimes you have to look at it and go " it's not the end of the world". I have chosen to go a scientific route. Last week was the beginning of my vacation week. I stayed home with my family which is absolutely great because it gives me a chance to do and take the time to enjoy the things I want to try like a new workout or extended workouts or new recipes. But the first thing I screwed up was my water pill prescription. I skipped one day and on weigh in day I went to pick up my refill only to find out that I picked it up already. Yes, I am becomming forgetful. The next thing I did was I started to do the walk/jog combination for the first time. I did it on Friday and Saturday and I am still very sore. It is important to remember that you may retain some water when you teach old muscles new tricks. So I am probably retaining a litlle muscle repair water as well. Last but not least, I ate a couple of things that I had been avoinding for a while. Here is what I ate out of the norm;
*10 banana Laffy Taffys
* 3 pieces of fried chicken (I fried it myself)
*McDonalds Southwest salad w/ grilled chicken
*McDonalds small Wild Berry Smoothie
*a bialy
*cornbread
*Jack Daniels
*crabmeat salad
       Not all those things are bad for you but they were not my friends this week either.
       I did quite a bit of exercising this week because I had the time that I normally have on the weekend. I would walk around the track in my neighborhood at least five times. Each lap is almost a mile so in the end I was averaging almost five or more miles a day of activity. Here are the points I was able to earn.
Tues: all day 3pts
Wed.: laps around track = 4pts
Thurs.: 100 minutes walking around track = 8pts
Fri: 100 mins Walk/jog combination( 8 sets of 3minutes jogs) = 8pts
Sat: Walk/ jog combo @ 12085 steps = 7pts
Sun: rest day
Mon: 4 laps walking around track plus errands = 15,826 steps = 9pts
     Not bad for a big girl.
        This week's Weight Watchers topic was about getting in the right amount of produce every day. I really do not have a problem with that because I love fruits and veggies. I could even see myself being a vegetarian in the distant future. When I worked I eat fruit each day. I have two navel oranges with my breakfast most days( because it's like having orange juice and it's good for someone who takes blood pressure meds). When I make salad for lunch, I always pickup and apple or berries to add to my salad. It gives my salad a kick.

 Sometimes I eat the fruit separately as a lunch dessert.  There is always and extra piece of fruit in my desk drawer in case I get the munchies. No vending machines for me. I have two cups of salad mix (iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes) and sometimes I add extras like red onions, red or yellow peppers, olives. Also, there should be protein to keep up a satisfaction feel. At dinner we eat lots of broccoli because Jacob really only likes broccoli. That does not stop the rest of us from eating all of the vegetables I know how to cook like cabbage, collard greens, sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, corn &green beans. In addition to those side dishes,  I like to add sauteed onions, mushrooms and peppers to broiled meat dishes. My latest concoction is sauteed onions and granny smith apples. The first time I made it my hubby came over to me and said I need to see this every week. I have obliged his request for the last three weeks with pleasure. My meeting leader Melanie suggested a challenge this week to have half of your plate with veggie at your meals. This is hard for my male carnivores at home. They are happy to eat veggies as long as there is plenty of meat ( I tried to have vegetarian days but found my poor hubby in the kitchen one night looking for a leftover piece of meat).
       So tonight, our merry band of 5Kers are having our first of the month 5K's planned out by the amazing Tamra who has lost 75 pounds. My sons say they are going to attend as well. We end our 3.1 miles walk at the California Pizza Kitchen.  Here are some of the other things I hope to accomplish this week;

-jog/walk combination on Saturday
-riding my brand spanking new bike
-walking down Fifth Avenue from 71st to my job at least four times
-taking all of my water pills
-taking all my vitamins
-journaling-maybe even pre-journaling

The very active week

I had a very active week last week. On Thursday, June 3, we had a small Weight Watchers 5K group. My sons came to Manhattan to cheer me on and were recruited into walking with us. The weather was great and it turned out to be a wonderful walk. My meeting leader Melanie was there and well as our walk organizer Tamra. I was able to meet some members from other meetings. We all walked and talked the whole time. After walking we went to California Pizza Kitchen ( my first time there) where I had a caesar salad with grilled shrimp on top. I feel very accomplished having completed the walk. I have been walking 30 city blocks several days a week to build up to the walk so I felt like I could do it and it was a piece of cake (sorry that just fits).

      On Saturday my youngest son and I went on a field trip with his afterschool program to Sesame Place where I was forced to walk around in my bathing suit- something I would never have done in the past. I think that being in Weight Watchers, losing weight and working out has given me some bravado that I did not have before. So there I was in my tankini walking around a water amusement park for six hours. I was prepared to have a hectic eating day but with a little preparation, I think I handled it really well. For starters, I had a good breakfast before 6:30am so that I wouldn't just grab anything to eat. Then I packed snacks for my son and I to eat on the bus(there can be a small boredom factor that makes you want to eat on the bus). At the park, we were so busy having a good time being active that we did not eat lunch until 2:30pm. Before we knew it was time to board the bus for thr ride home. Here's what I ate;
Breakfast: 2 egg whites, fat free cheese slice on a light whole wheat english muffin with coffee(non-dairy & splenda)
Snack: 1 orange, 1 honey roasted peanut butter and sugar free grape jam on whole wheat bread
Lunch: Kids meal of french fries, hot dog on bun and I ate a small side salad first. I also gave half my fries to my son.
Snack: A couple of bites of a very smushed pb&j sandwhich and a half cup of strawberries
Dinner: one and a half cups whole wheat spaghetti with ground turkey sauce and a 12 ounce light beer
Snack: okay so I went for the swedish fish
EXERCISE: I did not wear my pedometer because I didn't want to lose it so I have no idea what walking around and amusement park for six hours can do but it has to be good.

                 Last night I had my weigh in. I was thinking about the swedish fish and the pb&j sandwiches but it turned out well for me. I lost 2.8 pounds. The best thing I think was all of the extra activity so I recommend that to everyone. Every chance that you get to be a little active , do it. Do I ache afterwards? Yes I do. I told my old man one night that every time I lay down at night, I feel every ache and pain that I have accumulated all along. But then I just laugh and say, apparently I earned it. Aches and pains are a part of life people. And yes, you do get more of them the older you get. But take it from a 43 year old who is trying her best to get in better shape, it is all worth it.

Finding my way to the 5K

Well I have been naughty. I haven't posted in a few weeks. I became very internal or crazy, whichever works for you. I have also been on a weight loss/gain roller coaster and I need to get off. I'll start with some good news. I lost 31 pounds. The next week I gained 2.2 pounds . Then the following week I losts the 2.2 pounds. But this week I gained 1.4 pounds. I have got to get a grip. Life happens. You get busy at work. You're trying to handle all of these other things and other people and before you know it, you've lost yourself. That is my battle cry "LOSE YOURSELF".  As soon as something else happens, I allow it to take preference. As a better analogy, it's like losing your page when you're reading a book. So mama needs to focus.
    The Weight Watchers 5K Challenge is the one thing I have kept up. Probably to the point of exhaustion. My bones ache so much right now but I am pretty sure that beneath all this pain is a wonderfully healthy body trying to pop out. I have always loved walking so it was not asking much to vamp it up. Originally I would get off my express bus about 20 blocks away from my office and walk to work at least two to three times a week. In preparation for the challenge I decided to expand this walk. First I started by getting off on the stop before which is 31 blocks away. The beautiful weather even cooperated with me. The first time I caught my regular bus at 6:15am. Unfortunately, the amount of time it took for me took walk was much longer and exhausted me. I wound up barely making it to work on time. I was drenched with sweat. We won't even talk about how old my body felt the first time I stood up after that.
        I had to plan a little better.
-wake up at 5am(AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)
-catch the 5:58am express bus
-jump off this bus 31 blocks away and walk briskly
         This plan worked out just fine for me. I wore comfortable workout clothes and carried my office wear. I arrived at the office with more than 30 minutes left to pickup breakfast, wash up and change and eat breakfast before my day comes crashing down.  I wear my handy dandy pedometer everyday lkie my bra and panties. I clock about 5,000 plus steps on my morning walk. I also walk around as often as possible during the day. Use the stairs for errands, walk to my son's afterschool program and then walk home from there. This easily adds on a couple of thousand foot steps. My aim is to do at least 10,000 steps a day. Some days I feel so burnt out that I will give up at 7 or 8,000 . But if I get home on a good day and have not reached 10,000 steps, I will pop in an exercise dvd while the dinner is cooking. 
      On the weekends, I walk around the track where I live. One lap equals.82 miles. I aim for three to five laps. last weekend I did it two days in a row. I still feel the pain.  Tomorrow is my 5K walk that was arranged by one of the ladies in my Tuesday night meeting. I am so excited. I am also a little nervous. Not because I think I cannot do it. A 5K is 3.1 miles. I can walk that blind folded. I am nervous about what happens when I stop training for the 5K.
      So my friends tune in tomorrow and I will tell you what I did.