Monday.

As my back has been killing me we've decided that I should take the week off of weights and work on my cardio. So today I completed Spinnervals base builder II disk. I really like it, I burned 700 calories was soaked in sweat and thanks to my in-laws I was able to complete the 90 minute ride in peace. It was actually a really nice break from the kids.

9/10 for work-out I really felt like I burned some calories.

8/10 for diet, as I continue to go carb-less at dinner I am really hungry by bed time. I'm hoping this convinces my body that it needs to burn fat.

The Scale Doesn't Lie.

Today was the official weigh in for my Biggest Loser group. And boy it wasn't pretty! It is funny how your perception of your self is different than your actual self. One of the participants also just had a baby and I thought she must be bigger than me, but our measurements were very close. It definitely changed the way I see my self. I weighed in at 170.8 lbs. That is absolutely no change from my last weigh in. I am feeling a bit discouraged. The weight does not want to budge. So I must ask my self where am I going wrong. It must be diet, I have been partaking in the pizza and fast food that my husband has been eating. I must work on my resolve, THE FAST FOOD STOPS HERE! It is salad for dinner every night.

My workouts I feel have been going well, I might want to start stretching my cardio to 1 hour, which is hard to do with a busy 2 year old as well as a fussy 3 month old. But it has to be done, I have been thinking back to when I lost my weight the first time. I remember the weight started to come off when I started to lengthen my cardio. This is why we must keep records, as my husband would say. I'll look back and see what I was doing last time.

Today was a day off so I won't rate my work out.

7/10 for diet, Cesar Salad and Ribs aren't going to help the weight loss. Back to spinach and chicken tomorrow.

Saturday.

Today I took a break from the rigorous workouts and went for another bike ride with my friend who is training for her triathlon. I think my bike fitness has really come back as she struggled to keep up a good pace I really had no trouble at all.

5/10 work-out, no stairs just bike today.

5/10 diet, breakfast and morning snack started out ok, lunch was a grilled chicken burger from A&W with some nibbles of my son's fries. Famished after waiting all afternoon in a car dealership with out my afternoon snack, we had pizza and wings for dinner. So we will see how that affects my weigh-in tomorrow for my Biggest loser competition.

Another good day.

With the "biggest loser" weigh-in looming in the very near future, Sunday I am more concerned about making a great start than weighing-in heavy. I think if I can build up some momentum going in to the competition I may have better success then if I were to slack. I find it hard to get motivated but once you are there it is easier to stay motivated. My work-outs for instance continue to get better and better. There was a time when I didn't always feel like going to the gym but at the moment I really look forward to it. And I think it is showing in my work ethic once I am there.

10/10 for Work-out today. I just keep feeling stronger and stronger in the gym. I feel like my muscles are returning to peak form, just need to get the layer of fat off and then I'll be able to really see the hard work paying off.

8/10 for Diet, The cravings remain high, especially around 3 when I have my yogurt. But I have always been a real carb-aholic.

Life is a roller-coaster ride.

When one day is down, use that as motivation to make the next day up. Which is what I did. I had an excellent bike, even with my son bugging me every 5 minutes. I did "suffer-o-rama" of the Spinervals cycling DVDs. Which are a killer workout and you don't even have to leave the house.

Workout 9/10, I suffered to "Suffer-o-rama" the last time I did this disk I had to soft pedal a few times. This time I was able to complete the workout, not be able to walk up the stairs after but I completed it none the less.

Diet. 9/10, I ate my meal plan as specified. Still feeling the carb cravings in the late afternoon though, but I should expect that.

What is the opposite of "Great day"?

I'm not sure why but today I've been feeling so fatigued, lethargic, spacey. Could it be the lack of sleep catching up to me? Slashing carbs from my eating plan? Chasing after a busy 2 year old. But enough with the excuses. Tomorrow is a new day.

6/10 Workout, My running is still feeling horrible, and I imagine it will until I can get this 35 lb "weight vest" off. I did have to walk at the 15 min mark.

5/10 Diet, we ordered pizza, nuf said. I will count that as my cheat meal for the week.

Great day!

So after a great work out at the gym my cravings for junk were at an all time high. I was at Costco and the hot dog stand was calling my name louder than ever. It was like they knew I have a weakness for them. I even went as far as to check my wallet for the two bucks it would cost to get one with a pop, but I held strong. I remembered how hard I had worked in the gym today and didn't want that to go to waste. So I pushed the cart past the dogs and didn't look back.

8/10 for Diet. I made myself a tasty salad for dinner and actually enjoyed it. As back in my "bigger girl" days eating a salad for a meal was just unheard of.

9.5/10 for work out as I gave it my all and had my husband's voice in my head saying "the only way your body is going to change is if you make it hurt" so I said that over and over. I also complete and extra 20km bike ride with my friend who is training for a triathlon and needed a riding partner tonight. It felt great. I really feel like my fitness is starting to come back.

How did I do today?

Well today was Sunday, my day off work-outs so I can just evaluate diet.

6/10- I slept till 11:30 so I had my breakfast when I woke up, my regular snack at 3pm, I also had a handful of chips while dinner was cooking. Dinner consisted of my set portion of chicken, 2 ribs and a vegetable. I should have had my spinach salad as well. As I am feeling pretty hungry as I am writing this.

Well off to bed to start the week. I'm glad that it is Monday tomorrow as my babysitters (the grandparents) come in the morning so I can hit the gym.

So I'm back today to let you know how today went. I'm really liking my Saturday routine of stairs in the river valley. In our river valley there is a set of stairs with 3 sections with an adjacent hill. so I run the hill then do the stairs with push ups and crunches at each section. I repeat this 4 times. So I'm giving my workout today a 9/10 as I was able to shorten my interval time and decrease the amount of rest I needed in between sets.

Diet was great until supper time which I afforded my self a "cheat meal" consisting of an "Angry Tendercrisp from Burger King, no fries though.

I'm feeling super tired today and thank goodness tomorrow is my rest day.

How did I do today-Friday

So I'm a day late writing in my blog. My husband would say that is already showing a waning motivation. I'm just exhausted, between getting up at night with my 2 month old, dealing with the other boy who has hit the "terrible twos" stage and trying to give it my all every day with the work outs. Also trying to maintain some sanity by having friends over for the afternoon during my would be "nap/shut the eyes for 5 minutes time".

So how did I do today?

Workout- 6/10 I hate running, I really do. And it is even more difficult with this extra 35 lbs. Last summer, I wouldn't say it felt great, but it was a whole lot easier with a lighter frame. So I did 30 mins on the tread mill. 1 minute HARD and 4 jog. I did have to stop in the middle as my legs and back have been ceasing up. Again the extra weight is probably the culprit.

Diet- 8/10 I'm glad to say I've been able to shake the chip and candy cravings and keep a bag of each around for my husband as he like to nibble when he gets home from work. My big challenge at the moment is to ensure I drink enough water. I can never seem to so I think that will be the focus of the next little bit here.

How did I do today?

Here is my nightly assessment of how I did with diet and workout.

Work-out: 8/10

I would be proud to say I killed it in the gym today. I completed my workout as given by my trainer Paul Plakas the first time I went to lose weight. In stead of the 2 minute bike in between sets I have been doing a 2 minute sprint on the treadmill. This really got my heart rate up and had a good sweat going. I also was able to increase the weight on a couple of exercises.

Diet: 7/10

I pretty much stuck to my meal plan and ate at the right intervals. I did however succumb to a 60 calorie popsicle in the afternoon. The salad I made for dinner tasted great.

All in all a good day!

Here I go again.

So here I go again. When I met my husband I tipped the scale at nearly 180 lbs. This is heavy for a little 5'2" frame. He introduced me to fitness and a healthy way of eating and slowly but surely I made it down to 130lbs. I had never felt better, I had trained for a triathlon and place a very respectable 15th overall, showing me that I actually can lead a fit life style.

My second pregnancy landed me on "light activity" at 21 weeks and then in the hospital on bed rest for the last 4 weeks with an early delivery via c-section at 35 weeks. But I'm not totally complaining as my little peanut arrived safely into the world. So I guess it is for a good cause, (which I'm sure I'll try to guilt him with that later). Now I am feeling the effects of this. My muscles wasted to nothing and just going up a flight of stairs winded me. I wanted to get moving again right away like I did with my first but the incisional pain made it difficult to even walk a great distance.

So here I am 9 weeks post delivery and 3 weeks into my work outs in my quest to return to my former self. My husband had suggested this blog as a way to stay accountable and motivated as he had seen one similar. It followed it's author through a 1 year journey through his transformation. I thought hey that's a good idea as I can stray off the path easily. I have even gone as far as to form a Biggest loser competition with friends to rally the troops. Look for that weigh in on Aug 30th. So first things first... I'm going to ask my husband to take some before pictures when he gets home tonight to complete my first post on the blog. This isn't for the faint of heart people. The one thing my husband (and fitness mentor) taught me is that first you have to get real with your self then you can get in the mindset to change your self.