Ode to Exercise in the key of E minor

Every time I start to write my “Ode to Exercise,” which I promised last week (or was it two weeks ago?), it starts out as a history of my exercising patterns. Blech. Who wants to read that?

Instead I decided to do a quick in-a-nutshell recap of exercising then, in between and now…

As a kid: Hated it.

As a teen: Obsessed about it.

As a college student: What is exercise again?

And now…

I don’t know what it is. Some way, some how, I’ve been exercising for nearly a month. I joined a fabulous gym that has group exercise classes, exercise equipment, programs for kids, a water slide, a lazy pool and a lap pool. The best part is membership is only $25 per month. I KNOW, RIGHT?

Miraculously, I’ve been working out 4-5 times a week. A month ago I only averaged 1-2 times per week, if that. Now, almost every morning, I roll myself out of bed, throw on some clothes and partake in the amazingness that is yoga and Pilates. And for variety and cardio I throw in a little walking with the hubby, elliptical and cycling machines.

Wow! I impress myself.

So I am trying to figure out what’s changed? I think my success in all of this is…

1.) Knowing I am paying for it.

2.) The fear of having my coworkers ask if I worked out this morning.

3.) Grace.

Grace should really be #1 on that list. Probably twice a week I wake up and just don’t go or I sleep in. Only once have I felt like a huge failure. Otherwise, I give myself a pep talk which goes something like, “Okay Shawnee, you’re doing awesome. So you’re tired. You’ve already worked out 2 times this week and there are still 4 days left after this. You are doing this for you and you alone.”

I know soon I will have to kick it up a notch, adding in more strength training and cardio, but for now...wow. Did I say that already?

Questions: How many times a week do you work out? How many times would you like to work out?

Tomorrow I hope to post my thoughts on portion sizes and nutrition.

Blessings,

Shawnee

P.S. The picture is from www.prevention.com.

P.P.S If you didn't see my new recipe from Wednesday, check it out.

P.P.P.S Check out Dancia Daily's amazing giveaway!

Two things

Two things have been polluting my mind since last night. Both causing me sleep deprivation and ADD at work:

Drapes and the differentiating factors between now and then.

Let me explain...

The husband and I are getting ready for the big move this weekend. We still need curtains. I originally wanted some wooden roman shades, but seeing as my windows are not standard sizes, that won't be happening any time soon. Custom is just too pricey.

I have one large window behind my "bay window" and another that looks out to the front of the house. I also have a small window on my entry-way door and two small square windows that are located on either side of the fireplace.

So far I think I have narrowed it down to navy blue drapes on the two large windows and some sort of valance on the door and the small square windows. I want to do a different color on the small windows and I would like to incorporate red. I thought plaid, but I am not ready to commit to plaid.

Deciding on window treatments is almost as stressful as picking out wall colors.

On to differentiating factors...

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what is different about the last times I lost weight and now trying to lose weight.

The first time I lost a substantial amount of weight was the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. I lost 35 pounds in a month and a half. Of course I began gaining weight my freshman year of college.

More recently, when I was up in pounds, I lost 10 pounds. Again, I lost the weight during the summer between my junior and senior year of college.

Now, I am back up. Way up. I can't figure out what is so different. I want to lose weight. I know what needs to be done to lose weight, but I just can't seem to muster up enough will power to do it.

Here are the Circumstances for high school:

• Dating, for pretty much the first time
• A little more popular (as I was dating a football player and quit band)
• Guys began noticing me
• Determined to look good for senior pictures
• Rededicated my life to Christ
• Excited to be graduating
• Planned on a senior trip

My diet regimen for high school:

• Ate only fruits and veggies for nearly 2 months
• Walked every day for 40 minutes

Circumstances for college:

• Excited to be graduating
• Proud of myself for finishing
• Really in to fashion and "What not to Wear"
• Attending a Christian college
• Took up leading worship at youth group
• Was not working

Diet regimen for college:

• Took up running (up to 3 miles a day)
• Ate small controlled portions

I don't really remember much about that summer. College was so stressful and I have a really large mental block on most of the experience.

Circumstances now:

• Working 40+ hours a week
• Remodeling a home
• Recovering emotionally from a stressful life events
• Spiritually and (nearly) physically disconnected from church

Diet now:

• Eat what I want and how much I want
• Pretty much sedentary now

Yuck! I feel so disgusting. I think I see a small pattern. Both times I was able to lose weight, I had some sort of pride in myself and in my appearance. I had a goal that I was excited about and could almost feel the end results. I was also connected with God.

Writing this blog has actually been really eye opening. Wow, the pattern isn't small at all. It's huge! Now what the heck do I do with the info?

God Bless,

--Shawnee

Slowly making progress

Calories In/Out

For yesterday…

Calories in: Well I charted 1550 exactly. I did really well too until after dinner. I had a slice of bread with some jam on it.

Calories out: 0 Grrrrr. I was telling my husband that I feel like a bad person. I realized that is the exact thinking that makes me self sabotage. I had planned to exercise that evening after work, but we had to go in to our real estate agent’s office to sign some papers. Then we had to go to Wal-Mart. We didn’t get home until 9:30 p.m. by then I was just too exhausted. I feel like these are lame excuses, but that’s what happened.

Click here to see what I ate.

Wednesday Weigh In

Last weigh: 170.8

Current: 169.6

I’m slowly making progress. Even if I don’t make it to 10 pounds, I’d be really happy with 5.

Calories in/out

I was some what on track yesterday. Well, except I didn’t burn as many calories as I had thought. I’ll do Tae Bo tonight and make up for it.

Calories in: 1555

Calories out: 177

Click here to see what I ate.

--Shawnee

P.S. I have Wii Fit on the calories burned, I actually didn't get around to doing that.

P.P.S. Thank you to everyone for all of the inspiration and encouragement!

It went a little something like this...

So day one of my new goal for losing 10 pounds by Oct. 31 went like this:

Calories in: About 1550

Calories out: 456

Click here to see what I ate, and how much I exercised.

Every time I wanted to be lazy or eat more than I should have, I thought, "Real Simple magazine, Shawnee! Think of all the glorious pages of organization, home decor, fashion, and cooking." :) Hopefully it is enough to motivate me to lose the weight.

BTW, in order for my to lose weight at a healthy rate, SparkPeople said I can't lose it any sooner than Nov. 1. :P

Oh and according to SP, my calorie consumption should be between 1250 and 1540. I should burn at least 288 calories a day.

Wednesday Weigh-in

Last week: 170.8

This week: 171.2

Not too worried about this, I tend to fluctuate between these numbers.

I have a new goal set in place. My hope is to lose 10 pounds by October 31. Fall has always felt like a new beginning to me. Plus, I made a deal with my husband. If I can lose the 10 pounds, he’ll buy me a subscription to Real Simple Magazine. YAY!

I have about five weeks to do it. That’s 2 pounds a week.

Here’s how I plan to do it. Cut down to 1430 calories a day (Mapped out by SparkPeople). Exercise 6 days a week for at least a ½ hour. I am also going to attempt to plan out my meals everyday. I’ll also count my calories each day. My hope is to provide a link on this blog everyday to show what I’ve been eating.

I’m not sure if I can do it, but I need to try. I’ve been so stagnant with my healthy lifestyle lately. I need my 21 blog readers to cheer me on. If I lose 10 pounds I’ll give something away on my blog. I’m not sure what, but it will be good.
Wish me luck!

Almost forgot to name this post!

Good morning! I'm awake. :D It's 6:34 a.m. and I've been out of bed for 34 minutes. Yay. I feel like I accomplished something huge.

So what prompted this early rise? Well, yesterday I made a list of all the things I would like to do in a week. Maybe one of these days I'll share it. On that list there were about 10 "extra-circular" activities, or things that don't necessarily need to happen, but that are hobbies. And there are about five things that are necessities (cooking, cleaning, exercise, etc.)

After making this list, I jotted down a basic schedule of my every day. I realized, I am either going to have to give some things up or add a couple hours to my day. So here I am, blogging (not a necessity) at the wee hours of the morning. If I want to do it. I'll make time to do it. Right?

Recap of yesterday...

Interesting meal idea: Grilled Blue Cheese and Baby Sandwich:



On this sammy:

• Homemade whole wheat bread
• 2 tbsp left over pizza sauce
• 1 oz blue cheese
• handful of baby Bella mushrooms
• handful of spinach
• 3 slices tomatoes

In a small to medium frying pan, using non-cook spray, saute the mushrooms until desired tenderness. Rinse the spinach and throw it in with mushrooms. Cook spinach until warm, but not mushy. Add other toppings to the bread, then add spinach and mushrooms. Grill the sandwich on medium-low heat until golden brown and cheese is melted. YUM!

I had this for lunch yesterday.

Calories in/Calories out
(for July 20)


Click the pic for a larger view.

Calories in: 1918

At least its less than yesterday! I'm pretty sure my problem is the stupid chips. I am not sure why I am so addicted. I didn't even buy them, but they're in my house so I eat them. Grrr how they vex me so.

I subtracted the chips from my total calories, and yes I would have been under my goal of 1700 calories had I not eaten them. :(

Calories out: 185

I should have burned about 100 more calories. I did do a 30 minute walk yesterday.

Dishes, check. Exercise, check. Get out of bed early, not check. But as you can see, I did get out of bed early this morning. :)

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Well, I'm off to make a new recipe for breakfast. I'll share it with you tomorrow morning.

--Shawnee