Pam’s Blog

So this week I went back to the gym after for the first time after my ankle/foot/leg surgery. 

As per my doctor and physical therapists orders I am taking things nice and slow. I am only doing weight machines that involve my upper body – mostly arms and abs. I am walking – very slowly – on the treadmill and I am riding the exercise bike. 

It isn’t much – but I have to say it feels good to move again.

My goal is to get to the gym 4 times a week between now and when we leave for MD.  Then again when we get home.  If I can go to the gym when we get home. 

If we make one set of decisions the gym will be nothing but a memory.

I have to admit I am a little nervous about the future right now. I have no idea what is going to happen and if I think about it too much I get really, well,  I’m not sure what the right word is.   But I hope that Jason and I will have wisdom to make the right decision. 

God I’m scared.  Yeah that’s the word I’m looking for – scared…..

No Comments »

What can I say it’s Thursday.

Quinn was throwing up last night but decided that he could do it himself and never bothered to come up and get Jason or I.  I feel really terrible because he told me he didn’t come get me because he didn’t want me to yell at him.  I have NEVER yelled at him for throwing up… why would he think that?  It made me feel awful. He has already thrown up three times this morning and he has been up less then two hours.

I like my new job a lot.  Teaching online is fun and I can do it while Quinn plays on the floor right in front of me.  Yesterday he played with Lego Duplo blocks while I worked. It went really well.  He played very quietly and I was able to interact well with my student.

As far as Chocolate goes – well, one week down, 52 to go. The first week wasn’t that bad at all.  I think that my trip to MD this summer will be the hardest… they have Berger cookies in MD. 

I started WW on New Years day.  I had my first weigh in today. I lost 7 lbs my first week on WW.  I will post monthly updates and let you guys know how I am doing as far as weight loss/fitness goals go.

My ankle has been hurting quite a bit lately – I have been wearing the brace the doctor gave me – oddly though my ankle still seems to be getting worse.  Last night it was hurting while I was laying in bed.

Anyway – happy Thursday everyone.  I hope you all have a wonderful day.

No Comments »

So far so good – I have not eaten or drunk chocolate of any kind in 4 days.  I even had Jason modify a recipe he usually makes to omit the cocoa powder that was in it. The meal still tasted wonderful so I guess the recipe didn’t really need it.

At the moment my biggest fear in the whole thing is that I am going to eat some chocolate without thinking about it.  Just pop it in my mouth and swallow before I realize what I am doing. 

For example today we ate at the Olive Garden after Jason spoke and I had to remind myself that those little mints they give you with the check – yea, they have chocolate.

I guess that’s part of the point of all this.  I am trying hard to think about what I am putting in my mouth and why. I am trying to think before I eat instead of just randomly eating without thought.

Anyway – so far I have held up to the temptation of my favorite food.

No Comments »

Welcome to 2009.  I have to admit I am both excited and terrified by all the adventures this year hold for me. My kids will be a year older, I will be teaching online for the first time – actually USING my Masters Degree?!?!?! I am heading a PTA project and…. well… I have set a challenge up for myself for the entire year.

I have taken on a major challenge this year. I have decided to give up two of my favorite foods for one entire year.  Completely.  At first I thought I would just try to do it for most of the time and most of the year but – well that’s just not me.  I need to go cold turkey all the way 100%.

So for the next 365 days I am not eating any Chocolate.  At all…

No chocolate milk, no brownies, no chocolate chip cookies, no Hershey kisses, no candy bars, no ice cream sandwiches, no fudge bars, no chocolate at all. Period.

So why am I doing this crazy thing? 

Well first I’ll tell you why I’m NOT doing it.

This is not a fast – there is no spiritual rational behind this decision.  God didn’t tell me to give up Chocolate and I am not doing it to get closer to Him.

This is more because I am getting to know myself more and more over the years.  I have tried the whole moderation thing with dieting about a hundred times and failed.  Moderation does not seem to be my thing.

Also I need to challenge myself – something difficult but attainable. Exercise will be a real challenge this year with upcoming ankle surgery and at least 8 weeks of not exercising while I recover.

It will not be easy to not eat chocolate for a year – but I know I can do it – I can do anything for a year.

Jason gave up alcohol for four years, I can give up my favorite food for one.

So while I don’t really have a resolution this year I do have an adventure.  This will be my adventure of “The Year Without Chocolate”.  I’ll keep my blog updated and let you know how things are going.

No Comments »

So Friday a week ago I was back at the doctors about my feet – we see each other every three weeks now.  He put me on another two week course of anti inflammatory’s. He also gave me a downgrade. 

I am now in an ankle brace rather then a big old boot.  Oddly this is not because my ankle is all better.  Rather it is because the boot wasn’t doing all that he wanted it to do and so he wanted to give the ankle support without all the inconvenience. 

So where does that leave me – who knows.  I go back to the doctor next Friday and we will see how things go from there. 

The good news – after six long weeks I am able to go back to the gym – Hooray.  I started back last week and went three days.  I was surprised by home much I had lost in the past six weeks and I am working slowly to regain some of my stamina.

Happy Monday everyone.

No Comments »

So I am a week late.  I should have weighed in and measured last week but I was distracted and just kind of missed it.

So I did this week instead

I am down 1 pound and my BMI is down .02.

I also lost 1.25 inches from my various measuring spots on my body.

MY biggest loss this month was on my hips and waist.  Good places to loose inches from. 

I had a tiny gain (.25 inches) on my thighs and chest (.25 inches).

I also started measuring my neck this month.  I read somewhere that the neck is a good indicator or overall weight.  So we’ll see.

This coming month should be interesting. I am away for 8 days out of the coming month.  I plan to switch to swimming at the gym for the next month as well, to try to limit the pressure on my ankle, and at some point I might even have to stop doing that for a while too.

I have no idea how all of this is going to effect my weight loss.  I guess I will just have to wait and see.

No Comments »

Ok, so it’s been a while since I gave an update – sorry – my bad – but here we go.  this week I lost 2 pounds.  You can’t see me but I am throwing myself a little party right now.  So since I joined WW six weeks ago I have lost a total of six pounds – or about a pound a week, which I have read is a good rate of weight loss – safe and sustainable.

On the 15th I took my measurements.

I lost inches everywhere but my calf’s.

Total I lost 4 inches – including an inch from my waist.  It you subtract the half inch I gained around my calf I lost 3.5 inches last month.

So I gained half an inch around my calf – but I think I might know the cause maybe I measured in the wrong place. So this month I measured how far below the knee I took the measurement and wrote it down so from now on I can make sure to get it right.

So since beginning this adventure I am down six pounds and 6.5 inches.  I guess it really is working even if I feel like the progress is CREEPING along.

I wish you all a happy week.

No Comments »

No loss to report this week – I did maintain.  Last week I lost 2 pound and the week before I lost 3.  So far doing WW I have lost 5 pounds.  I maintained this week which is pretty good considering the weekend I had – I overate both Saturday and Sunday. 

On a totally different note I achieved a goal Yesterday:

Yesterday I did not one – but five 11 minute miles.  Ok I know this is no huge deal to a lot of people but … well when I started the 60 minutes back in April I could only go three and a half miles in 60 minutes.  Now I am doing 5.5 miles in 60 minutes.

My ultimate goal is to get down to 8 minute miles but I am breaking it down into steps and the first step I set for myself was an 11 minute mile and I DID IT. (next is 10 minutes but I bet you could have guessed that J )   I am also excited because when I started I was working on level three for the majority of the work out now I am doing level 7 for the majority of the work out and getting as high as level 12 for my simulated hills.  Not to bad. 

I should mention I did this on the Elliptical not the tread mill.  I had to switch form the treadmill to the elliptical back in May because I was having a lot of foot and knee pain and the doctor said it might be from the “striking” motion of the exercise I was doing.  I switched and it helped a lot with clearing up the pain.

So overall I am not at all dissatisfied with the week I had.  I hope to loose this week.  I also hope to continue to do between 5 and 5.5 miles on the elliptical each day I go to the gym this week.  My final goal for the week is to do my work out DVD every day that I don’t make it to the gym.  It isn’t anywhere near as intense as my gym workout but at least it keeps me doing something. 

I wish you all a happy week.

2 Comments »

This has been a great week as far as dieting goes. I joined WW and I am enjoying getting to know eating on plan again.

I did Weight watchers after I had Willoweve and lost 40 pounds between Willoweve and my pregnancy with Quinn but I haven’t really attempted it since. It seems to have worked this week.

So onward I go and we’ll see how it goes.

Goal for the week: go five miles on the elliptical every every day I am at the gym. I managed five miles once last week and and my goal is to make that my new standard.

Sorry I haven’t been blogging more but now that the kids are out of school I think our schedule should settle a bit – these last two weeks of school have been crazy busy with events and activities. Things should settle into a pattern now at least for a while.

I wish you all a happy Wednesday.

No Comments »

I lost half a pound this week. Not bad.

I have set some exercise goals for myself. I am trying to add to how far I go on the elliptical each day at the gym. At the moment I can usually go 4.41 miles in 55 minutes.

My goal is to get up to 5 miles in 55 minutes. Yesterday was not a great day for the gym and I only managed to go 4.2 miles. I think I ate too little breakfast because I was really hungry during the workout.

So I’m still not happy with my chart for weight loss. There has to be a better way to track it. I am working on it now.

I’ve been to the gym 5 times this week. I hope to make it five times in the upcoming week as well.

No Comments »