The Fat Ugly Truth

Okay, people, let's start this blog off with the ugly truth, because hopefully, it can only get better, somewhere down the road the contrast of the "before" and after" will be that much more impressive, hopefully. And, besides, it gives me a starting place, despite the uncomfortable nature of discussing weight loss (pained expression on my face). "Battle for 200 & Beyond" - it's all about breaking the 200 pound barrier and to keep on going with the healthy habits so I can lose even more. I think I'd like to be around 150, and at least into a size 12. I'm an 18/20, and my pants are tight again. Time to lose that stiff, overstuffed feeling that comes from a sluggish body and tight clothes.

Let's start with the before picture:

Ughhhh

Weight at the Rec Center this morning: 227 (NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!) Yep, I was down to 202 right at my birthday in October, but then I went and blew it. Overindulged over the holidays, then went through the trama of having to close down my daycare, then just messed around for months after that. Let's see if I can get my act together again.

Right now, I think my problem is the eating. I have a weakness for ice cream, especially the whole carame-nut-chocolate category. And definitely I eat when I get stressed and bored, so I have that issue to overcome. And I've noticed in times past, that I lose weight, almost guaranteed, if I will STOP eating after 6pm. Those after-dinner snacks are a killer.

But the weird thing is I think I do pretty well at the exercising, at least for consistency. I've been exercising six days a week for months on my Gazelle 30 minutes a day, at the #2 resistance (it has four resistance levels, 0, 1, 2, 3.) However, I think getting it done everyday backfired on me, in a way, because it made me feel like I was still being useful, even though I was not getting a whole lot done, especially in the last two months. And, you know I ate more, just because I thought could because I was exercising, like it was an excuse to do whatever I wanted with my food. But I think I let myself plateau on the intensity of my workouts. I bet cardiovascularly, my heart is in pretty good shape. I'm pretty capable of long-term endurance, but I could be doing so much better. So, one of my goals is to push myself harder, try out different things, to keep my body challenged.

So, those are the starting points. Let's get down to the nitty gritty of the daily grind.

Exercise today - at Rec Center
1. 30 min on Elliptical - PRECOR EFX576i, crossramp 5 (of 10), resistance 6 (of 10), 2.23 miles, 3885 strides, 352.0 calories
2. 35 min of Body Bar Conditioning class - 8 lb. weight ball, 9 lb. weight bar, 8 lb. dumbells. As I was getting ready to leave after my elliptical workout, I poked my nose in at the upstairs classroom, and they were using weight bars. It looked so interesting, I decided to join them. At first it was pretty easy, but then it kicked my butt, which is a good thing. I really need to take advantage of this Rec Center, and do a variety of things, continually pushing myself to a higher level.

Food I ate today:
Morning - 32 oz. of water (definitely need to be drinking more throughout the day), 1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats w/dried strawberries & 1% milk, 1 banana
Afternoon - about 6 - 7 oz. cooked spinach w/1 Tablespoon Smart Balance Light butter (good stuff, it has the omega 3s in it, "healthy" fat), 1 to 1-1/2 Light mozzarella cheese sticks, 3 or so pieces Hershey Nuggets toffee almond, 4 to 5 pieces M&Ms Premiums raspberry almond, 1 piece of a mini loaf of banana bread (my VTs brought it), 4 pieces of grapefruit tic tac, 1 Squirt Soda Pop
Evening - 2 pieces of mini loaf of banana bread, 1 Propel fitness water, two pieces of homemade sausage bell pepper onion pizza, 8 to 10 oz. banana strawberry smoothie, a few fresh strawberries, 1 or 2 cups homemade kettle corn, about 14 oz. Crystal Light strawberry organge banana drink, 8 oz. water

Yeah, so I probably ate too much, and I should have quit eating around 6pm. I think that, plus portion size and drinking lots of water are going to be my starting focus for the food category.

First post, good starting point, keep on truckin'!