12 week plan

So I got up this morning and weighed myself...It's not as bad as I thought it would be after the week I've had sitting around and doing nothing but stuffing my face. I had in my mind from the way I felt in my clothes that I had probably put on another 8-10 pounds but it was only 1 pound gain from a week ago. (I shouldn't say only because 1 pound can add up real fast if I don't put a stop to it)..It's not Good either but I can't take back the last week I can only move forward...
Weight: 201

I had a really good day yesterday ...I stuck to my plan and ate ONLY what I said I would eat...I did have a cup of tea with honey during the afternoon ... The hardest part of the day for me has always been in the evening after dinner. I know that alot of my problem with my heartburn/reflux (yes it's back with a vengeance) is because I've been eating before going to bed...also sugar is a big culprit....these are 2 of the hardest things for me to do without....but I did it last night by telling myself all the reasons WHY I didn't need more to eat and I can do it tonight...it's nice being able to sleep with out the reflux....this should be motivation to me but when I'm depressed all I can think about is treating myself and filling that hole. I remember how nice it was not to have heartburn/reflux ever....I still had to have a couple of tums after dinner because of the jello but it's definitely a step in the right direction...I remember before I lost all the weight last time that I was eating about a large bottle of tums every week...right now I'm at eating a couple of tums at night before going to bed....I know that I can get away from that totally once I get this sugar urge under control..I did it before and I can do it again.

Some of the things that helped get me through last night was doing my dishes right after I ate...I hate messing up my clean kitchen...drinking water when my mind told me I was hungry...allowing myself that one cup of hot tea for comfort...keeping in mind that I would be weighing myself this morning and I didn't want to undo all the hard work I had done all day long..

As I said One of the things that helped me yesterday was drinking water...I made myself drink a glass of water before and after I ate and every time I thought about going in the kitchen to get something else to eat..this gave me that full feeling and also helped me get more water in to wash away all the toxins in my body....Hey my pee was clear by bedtime...this is GOOD...it put me at 32 oz of water for the day...I need to be drinking at least 64 oz a day again...

I got in some exercise yesterday too...I didn't let the rainy day stop me just because I couldn't get out so I dug out a couple of tapes I had from before. The first one is Pilates for Dummies....I've never been crazy about Pilates (my core strength has always been a problems since I have vertigo from a cracked eardrum I got when I was a kid) but I didn't do as bad as I thought, I got through most of the exercises and will go back to it tomorrow and do it again.I might even take a class at the gym someday once I get the moves down....I learned from past experiences not to get discouraged when I start new moves because the more I do them the easier they get...I learned that from Kickboxing and Hip Hop...I may never be good at it like some people but the real reason I do them is to get more strength and agility in my body so who cares if I'm not an expert just as long as I do something...the other was Billy Banks Tae Bo Energy tape...I knew this one would be hard but I had lent my Billy Banks for over 40 to my neighbor Esther and she has never returned it. But I made it through most of the tape...the first part goes over all the moves for upper and lower body and also shows some good stretching exercises...the last part (which I didn't do) is the energy part that really moves something I will have to work myself up to again...to think that this was something I could do easily a couple of years ago shows how much I've let myself go...

Then after I worked out (I did work up a sweat and I can feel it my muscles today) I found some motivational tapes ...Bill Phillips Body for Life...although I never went for his challenge I have read his book and he has a lot of good suggestions on how to gain Mental and Physical Strength....I don't agree with everything he says but most of it makes sense...anyway there are 4 tapes and I listened to the first one yesterday..I will listen the second one today and take notes because I know I need to reinforce what I've learned in the past about losing weight and KEEPING it off.. It's a 12 Week Plan and so I've decided to make my own 12 week plan....It's still in the Planning Stages but here's what I've come up with so far....

MY main goal is to lose 2 pounds a week....that will put me at 177 pounds in 12 weeks..Starting today..March 8th is my target date...to do this I will have to:
1. eat healthy
2. exercise
3. drink water
4. Journal

Sounds easy right..but Some of my challenges will be:
Eating healthy while on a budget....I have been telling myself that the reason I eat so much pasta and sugar is because I can't afford to eat fresh veggies and all the health foods I was eating...I've decided to find out if this is really true or if there is a way to eat the way I know I should be eating and spend the same amount of monies...There has to be a way..I just have to find it...
One of my problems will be lunch while I'm working...I want to get back to taking a lunch but since I won't be coming home most days but going to the gym I need to figure out a way to take a hot lunch...I did buy a big mouth thermos and took some soup one day but it didn't keep it hot...back to the drawing board on that one...

Drinking Water..the excuse I've used lately is that I can't drink as much water as I need to be drinking while driving the bus..one reason is that there isn't a handy bathroom..(ok here's where I go back to one of my main goals to be honest with myself) this isn't exactly true because I can use the bathrooms in the schools but it's tricky in the morning because I'm on a very tight schedule...to be honest that's only for 2 hrs...I have a lay over at 7 that I always go to the bathroom and the afternoon I always have time between routes except for my last pickup at the middle school...so we're really only talking about a couple of hours at the most...NO EXCUSE...I always take a cooler with water with me on the bus...so There is no EXCUSE not to drink the amount of water I need to be drinking....besides I know that after my body adjusts to drinking lots of water that I don't need to go pee as much as I do at first....

Exercise.....No more excuses here either....I have 3 hours between my morning route and afternoon route that I can go to the gym...it's closer than coming home and will save me gas monies....I've done it a couple of times and know that it works good for me....the days that I have to take my bus in to the shop or have staff meeting I can either go the gym at night or I can come home and work out to the tapes I have here....I know from the past experience if I am to have the body I want that I need to work out and gain muscle and strength...after 2 years with a personal trainer and one year of working out by myself I know how to do it..I just have to force myself to get started again....If I find that I can't afford the gym anymore there are still things I can do on my own....I do have tapes and some weights that I can work out with here at home...besides my niece has all the equipment that I need..also I can always get back into running....which I'm planning on doing anyway...and hiking and backpacking is a good way to relax and also work out...the only reason I can see that i don't want to give up the gym is because of the racquetball...this is something I can't figure out how to replace...I love racquetball...lately I haven't been playing as much because I hate how I look in my gym clothes...I know this is stupid but I just know everyone is looking at me thinking how I've failed by getting fat again...so

Motivation ....is a big challenge for me....to keep motivated I will need to dig out all my motivational tapes...books...and articles that I've kept....Before I belonged to eDiets but I think I outgrew them...got tired of all the same problems (which I'm having now) i thought I had it all figured out..told myself that I didn't need to spend the monies because after I quit my job I wasn't on the computer that much....Now I know that I need a support group...and I think I have found one at work....there are a couple of women who really need to lose weight but in my opinion are going about it the wrong way...I'm going to see if I can't come up with a plan and get them involved too. Especially my friend Angie...she's a beautiful womer over 300 pounds who really wants to lose the weight...we have another friend Veronica who loves to sabatoge Angie and I feel I really need to give Angie the support she needs...this will give me motivation also...so it's definately a win win situation...I just have to work out the details because Angie belongs to a differant gym than I do also here eating habits are really terrible, she also wants to lose the weight fast...boy do I have my work cut out for me here.....

Journal...I seem to find so many excuses not to come here during the week...like I don't want to face my failures...so simple cut the failures out....not so simple ..we all know that life will throw things at you out of the blue...no one has perfect days everyday...there are days that are just plain the shits...but journalling can help me keep on track...I know this from the past ...so i tell myself that no matter how tired I am when I get home from work and the gym I will come here and journal even if it's just a sentence or two...who says it always has to be a big long blog...

TODAY'S PLAN

Food...an egg/spinach omelet, a clemetime and a cup of hot tea for breakfast..and for lunch... the rest of the lentil soup from yesterday and a salmon wrap..then for dinner ..left over veggie lasagna from Christmas Eve...(I froze the left overs)..and a salad...I think I've covered all the bases except maybe a snack if I feel I need it ..another clemetine or an apple if I feel the need for something sweet and crunchy....I also have some carrots in the fridge but I think I'll save them for another time....

Motivation...I will listen to the 2nd tape of Body for Life and take notes and come back here tomorrow to write down what I've learned...

Exercise...it's cloudy and cold outside but if my truck will start I think I'll still go to the park and walk...I need to get some cardio in today since I worked on all over body strength yesterday. If my truck doesn't start then I will do the Tae Bo Engery tape...

Water...my goal is to drink 40 oz today...this is only 8 oz (1 glass/bottle) more than yesterday...

Journal...I'm up one already today....Yay...And I'll be back tomorrow for more...