I forgot how much I love to swim.

I was able to swim for 30 mins, which was a half mile distance, without stopping.  I felt awesome afterwards.  I wasn’t even really that sore the next day.  Note to self: must swim faster and harder next time.  My focus was to just swim until the time was up.  How I know if I did a good workout is how sore I am the next day. I forgot how much I love to swim.  I love the water. When I was racing I was able to do an open water one mile swim in 18 mins.  That is my goal to bet!  I have decided to do a 5K race the day after finals in April.  I want to build up to a tri in the fall.  I will post the link to the race later. 

Mid Terms DONE

I have been going crazy for the last two weeks.  It has been midterms for me so I haven’t done anything towards my weight loss goal. I have decided that I really want to do another triathlon.  So hopefully by the end for this year I will do one.  So I went out and bought a bathing suit because I can’t fit into the one that I have.  Gross I know.  I am excited to hit the pool tomorrow.  It has been inspiring to watch the biggest loser show this session.  The theme is no excuses.  Wow that’s hard!  

Feb 23, 2012

I am happy to say that when I went and bought a new pair of jeans this week, I dropped a few sizes!  When I started watching what I eat back in Dec.  I was a size 22.  Then I started going to the gym and doing this blog in Jan.  I am excited to say that I am now a size 16.  Progress is good.  I will take the little loss weeks and the big loss weeks.  I am just glad to be moving in a “negative” (dropping pounds) direction.  This is one game I don’t want to be in the “positive” LOL.  I weighted in at 207.6.  I am excited to keep losing weight.

Feb 13th weight in

So I know that the last few weeks have been slow going.  I feel recharged to get moving again  now that I am feeling better.   I have high hopes for this week's diet and exercise.  I weighted in at 208.2.

Feb 6th weight in

I have been sick this past week, almost done with my meds.  So I didn't go to the gym at all.  I am happy to say I maintained and didn't gain.  I am excited for this week now that I am feeling better.

Monday Weight-in Jan 30th

Well, this last week was really stressful for me due to current events in my life.  I was horrible about my diet and I didn’t get all of my exercise in for the week.  My goal is to workout at home on Sundays, Wednesday, Fridays, and every other Saturdays.  I am able to go to the gym on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Saturdays.  I am trying to do something everyday.  So I didn’t loose that much this week, but a lose is a lose.  I weighted in at 208.8.  I kicked my butt extra hard today at the gym.  It has been nice to hear from so many people lately who read my blog.  I am happy that I have motivated some people onto a healthier path.  I challenge everyone to get their body fat percentage checked.  If you belong to a gym it is normally free.  Just ask any personal trainer and they will most likely give you a devise that you hold in both hands at a distance.  The wonderful thing about body fat percentages is that it doesn’t care how old you are (Note this is totally different then BMI) and to a degree it doesn’t matter how much you weight.  It measures how much fat is weighing your body and health down.  Here is a chart for you to see where you would like to be.   I love hearing from everyone.  Thank you!  I will strive to make this a better week. 

Part of the reason I am doing this blog is because I am not perfect.  I will make mistakes.  I will have bad weeks.  I will miss postings on Mondays.  I may be a day or even two days behind.  The point is that I am trying and will keep on trying until I achieve my goal.  I know there are pessimistic readers and those that don’t believe this can be done. I am not perfect and I will make mistakes.  That is why I have this blog.  They say that one of the first steps to achieving a goal is it write it down.  Well, here I am. . . and I will strive each day to make it better then the last. 

Weight-In for Mon Jan 23

Well, things have been going good.   I need to work on logging everything that I eat.  I plan my day pretty well and I pack my meals for the day.  My goal is to stay below 1400 calories, which are broken down into 50% Carbohydrates, 30% Protein, and 20% Fat.  Once I get home I haven’t been that good about logging my last meal(s).  When I am home for the evening I make a mental note of what I do, which can be dangerous.  I have provided a link to my food log on the side here.  I have a public profile for everyone to review what I eat each day.  Just follow the link to myfitnesspal.com.  I am ht74.

I am only able to go to the gym 3-4 times a week.   So I have talked with a trainer and he has told me how I can still workout at home with my resistance bands, stability ball, and my multi-positional pull-up bar.  This way I can workout every day.  I am going to start doing that this week.  I only weight myself on Mondays at the gym.  I weighted in at 210.8.  So I have lost about 2 pounds a week :)

Let the Journey Begin

The time is now!  I had a baby a year ago and gained a lot of weight from that.  Then the year before, I got a divorce (of 12yrs) which was an emotional event that I also gained a lot of weight from.  These last few years I have allowed myself to experience extreme unhealthy proportions. The time is now to gain control of my life.  Not just for my own needs to be healthy, even more important for my daughter and to be the best to example for her.  In addition to creating this blog I have entered into a contest which is being hosted by Gold’s Gym.  Part of their contest requirements are to blog once a week which I will be posting.  I will be logging everyday what I eat through myfitnesspal.com website.  My profile is open to the public which doesn’t require you to be a member.  So feel free to follow.  Through the wonderful help of Brain Jones, an old high school friend, I will be taking the “Body By Vi Challenge,” which will help me with my diet. 

I made this blog public so that I can have people out there help me with my big fat journey.  I want to lose about 100 pounds this year.  I will be posting my weight each week.  I will post pictures and my measurements once a month to mark my progress.

Here are my BEFORE/January pictures:  GROSS :P

As of January 1, 2012, I weighted 214.6 pounds with a 41.5% body fat.

Measurements:

Chest - 43"

Waist - 43"

Hips - 53"

Just for motivation I have included a picture of what I am working towards! I know I can do this.  This picture was taken in 2006, meaning I was 32 in this picture.  Only a few years ago.  I CAN DO IT! 

My goal is to weight around 120, but more importantly I want a body fat percentage of 18%.