davisgirl’s journal
- Thread starter davisgirl
- Start date
alligatorob
Respected Member
Nah! It's too late, your Davis to me.
davisgirl
New member
Haha! I’ll answer to that...
Today the scale seems to be functioning perfectly, up one pound! Probably just a bit of normal voodoo fluctuation. I’d sure love to lose 8 pounds this month. That would be 211 on Sept 7th, maybe that’s doable?
The first month weight loss was weird. The first 10 days, lost 6. The next ten days, my body seemed to want to think on that 6 pounds a bit, some days my weight went up a pound or 2, and in the end I was able to “keep” the 6 pound loss. The last 10 days I was able to drop another 2 pounds.
Big plans for the day. Planning on a long walk this morning. Unfortunately Nate is not feeling well, he rarely gets sick, but he’s had a persistent sore throat the past couple days and has not been himself. He’ll probably sit this one out and stay at his Dads the rest of the day. So I’ll be hitting the gym!
Got some brand new Reebok cross trainers to kick off the month right. I was so psyched for them, because up until now I’ve been exercising in what was essentially “fashion sneakers”. Well, I turned my head for a moment and Tanner the bmd chewed on one of the ankles. It’s damaged but still wearable. It’s oK, I hope to put so many miles on them in the next month or two that they need to be replaced. I love my dogs! It was my fault, I generally put the shoes away around the house, but this time I left my nice new ones out.
They are awesome by the way, great support. These are them... oh I guess they are adidas.
I’d like to start the Michelle McDaniels weight training workout that I purchased, but I’m not ready for it. I’ve never been in the weight room. So I decided this month that each time I exercise, I’ll spend an extra 10 minutes in the weight room learning just one movement. Today’s the exercise I chose is Smith Machine squats. I don’t even know if they have a Smith machine, if not I’ll look up and practice some alternatives. If I can learn to do one exercise each time I go, then next month I should be able to start her workout for real.
I feel stiff and sore from not moving yesterday and I slept poorly again too. Tonight I’ll be throwing a bit of coconut oil in with my snack.
Wishing everyone a beautiful day!
Hey, Pam, snacks are my weakness, too. I like looking up healthier desserts and there is one website that is really awesome at great healthier recipes. Ever heard of Chocolate Covered Katie? She makes a lot of recipes with healthier ingredients. Keep up the good work!
alligatorob
Respected Member
Couldn't be many carbs in that shoe.
davisgirl
New member
Hi kimmyluna — Thanks for the tip! I’m gonna check that out.
davisgirl
New member
alligatorob
Respected Member
Yes it is, I think you hit the nail on the head!
Not sure about this part, you are eating well and exercising, I think you've achieved that goal. Just keep doing it and the weight will take care of itself. I know it can be hard to want to lose weight fast, but then face reality. But you have to be feeling better and better about yourself already, you should you've earned it. I'd say that's good enough.
davisgirl
New member
I feel so much better — in every way. I had no idea my diet and lack of exercise was making me feel so bad. Like night and day. But I have to learn patience in this process. Some days I feel pretty serene about it taking however long it takes, other days I just want to run and not stop til it all comes off.
Yesterday’s workout was awesome. I increased my time on the aerobics to 25 minutes, and upped the resistance too. It felt great. I did not follow through on my plan to glance at the workout room. I found out with some research that I can’t do a single squat with the proper form, so the smith machine squat is out. But in doing the research, the weight machines I’ve been using are a great start, and I can get stronger in the key areas needed to do the exercises properly. So a small setback, but not really.
We didn’t walk this morning. Nate is still not feeling well. So I took him to the MD this morning and sure enough bacterial pharyngitis. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow.
Today is another gym day.
Don't feel to bad about this, most people are unable to do a correct squat without training, and the mechanics change between a bodyweight squat and a squat under load. Please do not try to learn from videos, the quantity of videos claiming to teach good form but are really crap is huge. You do need a coach to get it right for your body proportions.
As an added note: a smith machine squat is in no way similar to the correct mechanics for a squat, if you try to squat with a smith machine the same way you would squat normally then you are at a big risk of injury.
davisgirl
New member
Thank you LaMaria!
Yes, as I do more research I am seeing it’s a bit more complicated than I’d thought. Of course! Had another great workout yesterday and I did peek into the weight room. It is huge. I sort of expected a half stocked room, and that I would need to find alternatives to a lot of the exercises on the list. Not so! It was very intimidating.
Before I read your comment, I had got to thinking I may be in over my head haha! So I have a new plan. I’m going to stay out of the free weights room for now. It is absolutely my goal to end up there, and I will. But for now, I’m going to focus on the cardio and more beginner friendly weight machines where I’m at now, and taking off some weight. That fall kind of shook me up — my current level of fitness puts me at risk for injury, and a serious injury could slow me down for months or more. Not worth the risk.
Now, money is tight and I’m pretty cheap, but 6 sessions of personal training are only a little less than $100. So, I will make myself a short term goal and reward:
- lose 19 more pounds and get down to 200 pounds, then enjoy 6 sessions of personal training to start off the next phase of my weight loss.
I know it’s a pretty vague goal. Assuming I can lose 8 pounds a month, it’ll take 3 months to get there. <rolling eyes>. I saw this quote somewhere ... “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they built it every day. “
The difference in how you feel when you really start taking care of your body is amazing. I'm glad you are feeling that. It's the best incentive. Poor Nat- hope he gets better soon
It is so true. I’ve always hated/loved exercise. I’ve hated thinking about doing it and getting ready to do it, but during and after, wow!
That's truly lovely to read - about how much better you feel now, compared with then.
Not so good about Nathan - good wishes for better health to him soon.
Thanks Amy!
Nathan is feeling a lot better. He is such a trooper. I think he is going to walk today, though we’ll probably do a short one.
It has been a while since he went to the MD, he’s rarely sick. Well, my little boy is officially as tall as me — 5’5”. And he is down 4 lbs since the beginning of the summer. Not sure how much of that happened since we started walking, but I think he looks slimmer, and he thinks that he looks and feels slimmer and stronger. So that’s a total win.
His father just got engaged, and him and the bride to be have started to get serious about slimming down for the upcoming wedding. They are looking to get a treadmill which will be a lifesaver, because in a couple months we won’t be able to walk on that road what with the winds. So Nate will be able to use the treadmill over the winter.
The scale took back a pound and refuses to give it up despite me staying on task with eating and exercise. Currently down 7 at 220 and waiting for it to budge.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Cate
Long term member
I think this is an excellent goal!
davisgirl
New member
Yes, we are in Iowa. It gets quite cold in the winter, and the winds are intense! The road we walk on now won’t even be plowed over the winter. We have funny weather here in tornado alley, it can be sunny one minute and a bad thunderstorm just a little while later. Luckily, I love a good thunderstorm!about the excellence of the goals, and the clever forward planning.
Great about Nathan feeling good about himself - and also about his having access to the treadmill over winter. (Do you live in a snow-having area?)
The scale has been kind today, down 2 from yesterday, but really just 1 overall down to 218. So that’s down 9 lbs. 9%!!!!
Pretty relieved because I had about concluded that my 1,500 calories/day diet wasn’t low enough. Snacking continues to be a problem. I haven’t exceeded the 1,500 cal/day but twice in the past week I skipped dinner so I could have an extra snack. Yesterday included.
So, my willpower is low. I had hoped by including that one sweet rich snack, I would feel satisfied and able to hold out on other cravings. Instead, having those ingredients on hand seems to just tempt me more.
While I was thinking about cutting daily calories, I came across another macro calculator that pegged my protein at 80g rather than 115g. I’ve been aiming for the 115 number. So I’m going to split the difference and aim for 90g, still adequate and enough to build a bit of muscle, and I can cut meat portion sizes a bit. That will bring calories closer to 1,400 and score an extra pound of weight loss in the next month.
I am just about ready to begin a no-snacking goal, but I hesitate. That snack is a nice way to ingest my fancy coconut oil when I need it. So I’m going to cut the size of the snack by half. It’s my final warning to myself: have just one sweet snack a day, or don’t have any snacks at all.
I’ve been warned.
Headed out for our walk shortly, then today is a gym day. Nathan and I walked 2 miles yesterday. He is feeling great, that antibiotic worked quickly. We are enjoying a bit of a cool spell here, it’ll be 70 degrees on our walk.
Haha! Side note. I was excited for the walking because it really helped to tire out my puppies. Well, yesterday showed me that their endurance has really increased since we’ve been walking, my big boy especially is building muscle mass across his chest and shoulders that wasn’t there before. Won’t be long before we start adding some running into our walk.
Wishing everyone a lovely day.
alligatorob
Respected Member
Hey, that is great! But its not the scale that deserves the credit.
I take the opposite approach on snacks, I eat a lot of them, but they are planned and pretty low calorie. I just had 20 calories of jerky, a good mid morning snack, but more of mine are fruits. Eliminating snacks for me would leave me hungry a lot, and make evenings harder.
Iowa huh, I've driven through on a couple of cross country trips, but never really been. Once was in the winter, January, and I can attest to the cold and snow, it was both. The place I best remember was the Amana Colonies, it was an interesting stop.
Thanks for the exercise advice, I don't think I have ever felt that endorphin rush.
Sounds like you, Nathan, and your dogs are all getting fit together!