Took a great walk today!~Day #66

I had a bad day yesterday in regards to exercise but I am back in gear today. This morning I walked for 4 1/2 miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes. 3.6 mph....a new record on this walking course for me! Yeah! I can really feel a difference in the way my body feels since I started walking to lose weight. My muscles are toned, my endurance is increasing, and I have tons of energy!

A frustrating Day!~Day #65

I am in the world's biggest funk today. It seems that life just wants to frustrate me! I didn't get any exercise in today...none! This is the first day in 65 days that I didn't get some kind of exercise! The good news is that I am(used to be, I guess!) an emotional eater. The reason I say that is I didn't go crazy and eat today just because I was having a rough day....and for me that is big news! I ate well today and stuck to the Weight Watchers flex points program. I will take a really good walk tomorrow!

Day #64

Wow, I really have nothing to report today...it was a quiet day and I didn't get much exercise in. It was rainy this morning and today after school I had an appointment to get my hair cut. It is getting pretty exciting because most of my clothing is getting extremely baggy on me! It is definitely going to be time to buy some new clothes soon! This morning I pulled out a shirt from the back of my closet that I haven't been able to fit in for awhile and it fit me very well....how's that for motivation~

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a nice Easter! If you start to hear the chocolate bunny calling your name try to distract yourself by going out and talking a walk. If you really can't resist, have your chocolate fix in a controlled manner. Decide how much you are going to eat before you have it and keep track of your points/calories (depending on which program you are following) You can do it!

Remember:
"A moment on the lips, forever on the hips!"

Exercise:
Walked to and from school
Walked 25 minutes during morning duty...I told you I had a wimpy exercise day!

Reward for Weight Loss~Day #63

This afternoon I went and had a pedicure done for my 20 pound weight loss reward. It felt so fabulous and it really gave me the opportunity to relax!

People say the funniest things....One of the women at work took one look at me today and exclaimed, "Candee you are just melting away to nothing!" I know she meant it as a compliment but it really made me laugh.....I think I can stand to lose a few more pounds until I qualify as being skin and bones!

Exercise:
Walked to and from school(it was raining today!)
Walked for 25 minutes during morning duty
Walked for 40 minutes after school

Weight Watchers Weigh In~Day #62

Tonight was such a great night, not only did I lose 1 pound this week but I reached my 10% goal. This means I lost 10% of my original body weight. WOW! I have now lost a total of 21 pounds and I have 19 more pounds to lose before I reach my first long term goal!

I feel fantastic!

In honor of Easter and any temptations that might occur from chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, and marshmallow chicks our Weight Watchers leader gave us each a plastic Easter egg with the following message inside:

"You can do it, No EGGS-CUSES!"

I thought this was great!

Exercise:
I had a really good exercise day today:
Walked to and from school
Walked for 20 minutes during morning duty
Walked for 15 minutes into town to pick up my car from the garage
Walked to my Weight Watchers meeting....30 minutes(2.1 miles)

Making Time for Exercise~Day #60 & #61

A woman I know recently complimented me on my weight loss and my motivation to walk every day. She then went on to say how she was way too busy to exercise and that she just couldn't lose the weight she needed to. I listened patiently until she finished and then said, "You have to make exercise a part of your day, like brushing your teeth." She countered with, "I am just so busy and I have a young daughter I have to take care of every day." She went on and on kind of reminding me of the teacher's voice in Charlie Brown (Wah, wah, wah, wah!) Well I am certainly not going to give anyone a lecture because not too long ago I was the one making the excuses so I just smiled and said, "Yes, it is hard to do it sometimes." What I really wanted to say is that if you want something you have to work for it, not just wish for it. I meant it too when I said exercising is like brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth is a good habit you have developed for yourself and you wouldn't dream of not doing it for a day...right? Exercising is the same way....it is a healthy habit that you should include in your daily routine.

For me.....exercise is the key to my weight loss! It makes me feel so good inside and it is beginning to make my "outside" look wonderful too!

Exercise for Sunday:
Walked for 30 minutes

Exercise for Monday:
Walked to and from school
Walked for 20 minutes during morning duty
Walked for 45 minutes this afternoon

Walked 10 1/2 Miles Today!~Day #58 & #59

Due to some unknown technical reason I wasn't able to post on my blog yesterday. What I really wanted to report was what happened on Thursday night after I had finished blogging. I was putting together Easter baskets to mail off to my nieces and nephews and I found that I just couldn't resist the chocolate. I am not overly upset with myself as I never use anywhere close to all of my extra flex points for the week, so I know I didn't "ruin" my week. What I am not too happy about it that I allowed a temptation get the best of me. What I should have done is gone down and got my points slider and figured out how many points I was going to eat. To me this is all about staying in control, planning things out, and eating healthy. Oh, just in case you were wondering, I ate 5 mini chocolate eggs. So it really wasn't a huge deal....Especially since I knew I was going take another big walk on Saturday(today).

Exercise for Friday:
Walked to and from school
Walked 25 minutes during morning duty
Walked for 30 minutes in the afternoon

Exercise for Saturday:
Walked 10 1 /2 miles!......in 3 hours and 5 minutes (3.4 mph)
It was a great walk and I felt really good about it!

Water and Exercise for Weight Loss~Day #57

Today was an uneventful day but a good one.... After school my friend Adam did my "hill walk" with me. It took us 50 minutes to complete it and I felt really good when I was done. I am really hoping he won't be sore but I think he will be ok since he has been going to the gym and working out lately.

I drank lots and lots of water today. I buy a case of water bottles and keep them in my classroom because I don't like the taste of the water in the water fountain at school. I was finding it hard to keep track of how many bottles I drank each day until I came up with a reminder system. When I finish a bottle I take off the cap and put it on my desk. Now at the end of the day I know immediately how much water I drank by looking at the caps piled on my desk...no more miscounts!

Exercise:
Walked to and from school
Walked for 25 minutes during morning duty
Walked for 50 minutes(hill walk) with Adam this afternoon

Stop Wishing for Weight Loss~Take Action! #56

My friend Pierre sent me a wonderful quote yesterday which really sums up my weight loss experience.

"As long as you are wishing for things to change, they never will"
- Buddhist Teaching

In the past I spent a lot of time wishing I was thin and only taking minimum action to reach that goal. Of course I was always disappointed that I was never able to find success and I really started believing that I would probably never be thin again. But something inside me changed a few months ago. It took almost 2 years to get to this point but it took that long for me to finally understand what Pierre had been talking to me about, which was that I had to formulate a plan for what I wanted and stop making excuses for my behavior. Once I stopped making excuses, things started to fall into place. I still have a long way until I reach my final weight loss goal but I am confident in my ability to get there. I am not wishing anymore, I am working hard!

I encourage you to take action towards reaching your weight loss goals.
~join a weight loss group like Weight Watchers
~increase your daily exercise
~drink plenty of water
~Keep making changes and if you "mess up" one day, don't worry about it and keep working on it!
~Don't make excuses for why you are heavy....just take action to fix the "problem".


I had a good day today.....I drank so much water! I have read that recent studies have shown that drinking plenty of water will speed up your metabolism. I will let you know the exact details tomorrow.(I left the article at work)

Exercise:
Walked to and from school
Walked for 25 minutes during morning duty

Weight Watchers:Weigh In~Day #55

Wow...I lost 3 1/2 pounds this week for a total of 20 pounds lost so far! This also means I am 1/2 way to my first long-term goal of losing 40 pounds!

Exercise:
I walked to and from school
I walked for 25 minutes during morning duty
Took a walking field trip to the library(25 minutes each way)
Walked to my Weight Watchers meeting-2.1 miles(35 minutes)

Walking Marathon Info~Day #54

www.prevention.com is offering a 26 week walking program on their site. The goal of the program is to walk in the Marine Corps Marathon(26.2 miles) on October 30, 2005. If you are interested in participating, check out their site. The walking program will kick off on April 4th.

This is what the program will offer:
An easy-to-follow, 26-week training calendar
Tips from Prevention Fitness Director Michele Stanten to improve your stride
Online discussions with experts who'll answer your questions and keep you motivated
A community of women who'll be training along with you
Regularly updated info on what to eat, how to cross-train, when to stretch and more!

I had another really good day. So many people commented on my weight at work today. Many of them said how good I was looking and that I was going to need to buy new clothes soon! It really is too bad that I didn't measure myself when I started my walking & weight loss program because I think that would be another excellent way to gauge my success other than the weight on the scale. (If you are starting a weight loss program, measure yourself..I wish I did!) It was motivational to hear what people were saying because I feel their comments were sincere.

Exercise:
I walked to and from school
Walked 25 minutes during morning duty
Walked for 30 minutes after school.

Tomorrow is weigh in!

Signing up for the marathon tomorrow!~Day #53

I had a good day today. I spent most of the morning cleaning the house. Prior to that I took a 35 walk. I didn't want to do much more than that since I wanted to rest my body from my big walk yesterday. I was really amazed to find out that I wasn't at all sore today which I assumed I would be.

Tomorrow I am signing up for the marathon...I will let you know more about it as I find out more information. I am very excited about it. My 9 mile walk yesterday was a "test" to see if I could handle it... I feel pretty confident about it now!

Walked 9 miles!~Day #52

I am very excited because this morning I walked 9 miles. I walk 3.3 miles per hour and completed the walk in 2 hours and 45 minutes.(I stopped once for a bathroom break) You might be wondering why I took such a long walk but I have decided to walk a marathon. I am going to sign up for the Marine Corps Marathon that is held on October 30th in Washington D.C. I am going to start officially training for it on April 4th.

After I got home from my walk, I spent the next 4 hours painting, doing laundry, and cleaning the house.....I think I will have a good weight loss this week!

Someone Left Cookies On My Desk!~Day #51

I walked to school today and once I was there I realized that I had forgotten something at home that I needed for the kids. After I finished my morning duty, I walked back home again! When I finally got back and walked into my classroom I noticed that someone had left a plate of cookies on my desk. My first thought was, "Wow, they look good!" I didn't want to be tempted by them as the day wore on so picked them up and carried it across the school to my friend Adam's room. I offered the cookies to him and he was happy to get them! I probably could have figured out the point value so I could eat one but I just thought it would be better if I stayed away from them.

Hint for the day:
Know you limitations-If you are able to eat one cookie by all means do it and enjoy it! On the other hand if one cookie leads to handfuls, get them out of your way! Don't let a cookie or any other tempting treat get in the way of your weight loss goals! Remember: "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels!"

Exercise:
Walked to and from school (2x's)
Walked for 25 minutes during morning duty

Tried a New Recipe~Day 50

50 days on the program...wow!
I drank all of my water, ate well, and wrote down my points today.

Exercise:
Walked to and from school
Walked 25 minutes during morning duty
Walked for 40 minutes after school~returned movies to Blockbuster

I tried a new recipe today.....vegetable pancakes. They tasted really good and it is a great way to get my vegetables in for the day! I will post the recipe soon.

The Weight is coming off slowly!~Day #49

I am trying to be upbeat but I am still in a bit of a funk about only losing 1 pound last week. I know I am losing weight at the recommended rate but it still feels like it is coming off slowly. I can't say that I had a bad day today but my mind kept wandering back to my weight loss. The way I am trying to get myself past this point is reminding myself that I am not on a diet but rather a weight loss journey. I am proud of what I have accomplished so far but I still have a long way to go.

I wrote down everything I ate and I did well with my overall point total but today I didn't eat enough fruits and vegetables.

Exercise:
Walked to and from school
Walked for 35 minutes during morning duty
Walked for 30 minutes after school...walked into town and went to the bank, paid my water bill, and stopped in at my lawyer's office. I was happy about getting my errands done!

Weigh In~Day #48

Well today was my weigh in and I lost another pound. That brings my total up to 16 1/2 pounds lost. I now have only 23 1/2 more pounds to lose until I achieve my first long term goal!

I must admit that initially I was a bit disappointed as I "walked my tail off" this week. But the more I think about it, I am ok with it. I am doing everything I am supposed to do and I am losing my weight at a healthy pace.

Tonight I weighed in at 201 pounds...for me a very crucial place. For some reason 200 pounds is that magical marker, the place between being overweight and obese, and the bridge to better health. But it is also the place that in the past has sucked the motivation right out of me. It is the strangest thing but it has happened to me so many times. I have lost 15 or so pounds and I am approaching the 200 mark....and for some reason I have quit the weight loss process. I don't know if I have gotten cocky at this point, tired of dieting, scared...I have no clue. So this is a very scary place for me to be right now as I have been here so many times in the past. I verbalized my fears to my friend Pierre this morning. He very wisely asked, what did you do in the past at this point? I answered, "Well it was for different reasons every time." He asked again, "No, what did you do?" I knew exactly what he was getting at and I stalled as long as I could before I finally answered, "I quit." He said, "That's right, you quit." He went on to say, "If you do the same thing every time, you will have the same results so what are you going to do differently this time?" My reply...."I'm not going to quit!" I went on to tell him that I was still afraid of failing and he made the most wonderful analogy that I think I will always remember. He said, "Candee you are on a journey, right? I agreed and he went on, "Anytime you have problems or feel discouraged on your weight loss journey, imagine that you are at an airport and your plane has been delayed." I liked where he was going with this! "Your flight has been delayed but they haven't cancelled it! It is annoying for you, it is time consuming, but eventually they will announce that your flight is ready to leave. You will get on the plane, you might even hit some turbulence but you will arrive at your destination. You might feel you have wasted your time but once you get to your destination you will realize it was worth it! After awhile you won't even remember the time you spent at the airport, it ceases to be important. What will be important to you is that you reached your destination and all you will think about is how wonderful it is to be there!


Exercise:
I walked to and from school(It was so COLD this morning!)
I walked for 20 minutes during morning duty
I walked to my Weight Watchers meeting....2.1 miles(35 minutes) It was unbelievable cold tonight...the wind was howling but I made it!

The "old me" made lots of excuses!~Day #47

I think I have hit a point where I don't even have to think about dieting & exercise...I just do it! This thought occurred to me when I was walking. I can remember some of the excuses I would make for not eating well or getting the exercise I needed. It just started to rain when I left on my walk today and I KNOW the old me would have turned around and gone back inside. Instead I continued to walk and surprisingly, it stopped raining! I guess what I am trying to say is that the new way I am eating and my daily exercise are becoming healthy habits for me...something I do everyday, no mater what! It is such a good feeling to be in control!

Exercise:
I walk to and from school
I walked for 20 minutes during morning duty
I walked 4 1/2 miles(didn't keep track of my time today because I stopped at Wal-Mart shortly to buy a new paintbrush(that's right, I'm still not done painting!)

Tomorrow is weigh-in!

Bingo~Day #46

This afternoon I went to basket bingo with a friend of mine.....unfortunately I didn't win! I had a good time but I couldn't help thinking about how I would much rather be outside taking a walk than sitting on my bottom in a hard chair for two hours!

This morning I walked 4 1/2 miles in 1 hour and 25 minutes. While walking I took a slight detour and returned a movie to Blockbuster. When I got home, I went into the house, switched clothes from the washer to the dryer and headed back out the door again. I needed to get money for Bingo so I took a walk into town to go to the cash machine at the bank. I walked for another 25 minutes.

Overall I had a great day!

Another Good Day #45

Another good day....this morning I walked 4 1/2 miles in 1 1/2 hours....that means I walked it at 3mph. I always try to spend some of my walking time on visualizing. When I first started losing weight I had a very hard time visualizing myself at my goal weight. It is becoming easier and easier to "see it" now. I can imagine what I will be wearing when I reach my goal weight....jeans, a wide leather belt, sandals, and a white shirt tucked in. This image is so clear in my mind...can you picture yourself at your goal weight??

I cleaned the house today and worked more on my bedroom painting project(it is almost finished).

When to buy new walking shoes

I have been wondering lately if I need to purchase a new pair of walking shoes. They actually feel really good but I know they need to be replaced prior to having problems, I just didn't know when. Interestingly enough, I found out that most walking shoes should be replaced every 500-700 miles. If you have been tracking your mileage this should be easy enough to figure out.

Another way to remember:
If you are an avid walker and walk 5 or more times a week, the general rule of thumb is to buy new walking shoes every 3 months. You can go a little longer between purchases if you walk a little less each week.


Helpful Hint:
When you buy your new shoes use a permanent marker to write the purchase date on the inside of your shoe. This will remind you when it is time to go shopping!

Motivational Weight Loss and Exercise Quote

"It is solved by walking."
~A Latin proverb

All of my problems seem to fade away when I am walking. Walking soothes my mind, body, and soul.

Walked 4 1/2 miles~Day #44

I had a fantastic day today! I got lots of exercise and I ate well. However, I did catch myself putting myself down. After discussing my walking routine with a teacher at school, she commented that I seemed to be a very motivated person. I looked down at my body and said, "Does this body look motivated to you?" Which meant.....I am fat, how can you possibly say I am motivated. I instantly realized my mistake and was annoyed at myself for putting myself down. She was giving me a very sincere compliment and I ruined it. Once again I say....practice positive self-talk. We are so good at saying negative things about ourselves and it takes lots of practice to learn how to boost ourselves up and give ourselves a pat on the back when we need it. It takes practice but without it, we are doomed to fail. Work on it...I am!


I walked for 1 hour and 20 minutes today and later in the evening I got in the car to measure the distance...it turned out to be exactly 4 1/2 miles. I also walked to and from school and I walked for 25 minutes during morning duty.

I wanted to eat all day long!~Day#43

I have no clue what was wrong with my stomach last night but thankfully I felt much better today. However, with that said....I had such a wimpy workout and eating day today. I guess this was my worst exercise day since I started my walking program.

I walked to and from school and I walked for 20 minutes during morning duty......yup, that's it! I tutored after school and then when I got home I had to drive the kids all over the place and I needed to go to the grocery store. That left little time for exercise.....grrrrr!

I have no clue what was wrong with me as far as eating was concerned. I felt like I wanted to eat ALL DAY long! I wrote down everything I ate, counted my points and didn't go over but I still don't feel like I was totally in control. ( I was craving starches!)

Not feeling well~Day #42

Today was the first day back to school after all of the snow days. Overall the day was really good until this evening. I have a really bad stomach ache so I am heading off to bed now. I sure hope I feel better in the morning!

Exercise:
Walked to and from school
Walked for 25 minutes during morning duty
Walked for 30 minutes after school....it was COLD!

Weigh In~Day #41

I lost another 1 1/2 pounds this week for a total of 15 1/2 pounds lost!! I am slightly disappointed because I thought it would be more...I exercised a lot this week! But I do have a lot to be happy about as I only have 24 1/2 more pounds to go until I reach my first long term goal and I also have to celebrate the fact that I hit another 5 pound goal!

My Weight Watcher's leader discussed body mass index tonight. When I started the program my BMI was 34.1 and since losing 15 1/2 pounds it has dropped to 31.6 A BMI 20-25 is recommended for good health. Click here for figuring body mass index/body mass index chart

A Great Week!~Day #40

School was cancelled today because of the snow and I just found out that we don't have school tomorrow either. This morning I headed out the door at 7:15 in the hopes of getting a good walk in before it started to snow. As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about because I walked for an hour and a half and there was still no sign of snow by the time I had arrived back home. It was a great walk and I believe it gave me a really good workout.

I had a great week and I am hoping that my Weight Watcher's meeting isn't cancelled tomorrow...I am looking forward to weighing in! I wrote down everything I ate this week and I do have to say this is my least favorite part of following the plan. However, I know I need to do it because it keeps me in control!

Motivational Weight Loss Quote

"Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can!"
~Author Unknown

The Benefits of Walking are Tremendous!~Day#39

Walking has become my "drug" of choice. Walking enables me to clear my mind, it energizes me, it gives me the opportunity to be outdoors, and it makes me feel so good! I had a wonderful exercise day today. This morning I headed out the door at 7:20 and I walked for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Later in the afternoon, I wanted to go to Wal-Mart but found out that the battery in my car had died...no problem..... I just walked there!(50 minutes round trip)


I found the following information about the health benefits of walking:

Studies show that walking can:
Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke
Lower blood pressure
Reduce high cholesterol and improve blood lipid profile
Reduce body fat
Enhance mental well being
Increase bone density, hence helping to prevent osteoporosis
Reduce the risk of cancer of the colon
Reduce the risk of non insulin dependent diabetes
Help to control body weight
Help osteoarthritis
Help flexibility and co-ordination hence reducing the risk of falls
(Davison & Grant 1993, US Dept of Health 1996, British Heart Foundation 2000)


Sounds good doesn't it?