Another day of rest already???

Achy knee and cold weather grrrrrrrrr. So today is going to be a very light day. I am not actually planning to do anything except perhaps my strength training today - and having a bit of a slow start at getting to it. So I will get off of here for now and go and get my butt moving the little bit that it is going to move today LOL.

**Edit** I also did a few pilates foundation moves, plus some pilates breathing. Also added in a few minutes of different stretches and this one stretch/exercise that I have made up. I combine a figure 4 stretch with bending and straightening the supporting leg. I actually find it is a pretty good little move. The figure 4 stretch really gets to that lower back and glutes right where I always really need to stretch them. And what I find is that the dynamic of the stretch changes depending on what position my supporting leg is in. So what I do is move it through the range of motion from 90 degree bend (kind of chair positioning from pilates) and then I straighten it out (pointing into the air). I repeat this several times and find the stretch of the glutes is awesome but I also feel that since I use my pilates breath while doing it that I am getting a bit of ab work in while I do it as well.

	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates
Minutes	10

Timing

Well the timing of my eating and meals is so much more important than I ever really realized. Yesterday when a minor emergency called me away just before I had had some lunch it threw my eating schedule completely off kilter and I felt hungry and like having snacks all the rest of the day. But when I looked at things carefully most of the time I wasn't really hungry later in the evening I was just in wanting a snack mode. I was actually hungry for more food at my supper time than I have been lately - probably because I didn't have a lot of vegetables to fill some of the void.

So today I am off to pilates class again and I guess I will see how I like it this Sunday. I am really stiff and sore though from the way I slept last night or something. So I am thinking that today is going to be Pilates and maybe a bit of time on the wii but definitely not 20 AP worth of activity. I have filled in the Pilates for now and will add in anything else later.

**Edit** Pilates class was really good today although it was also quite hard today lots of leg and abdominals work and a terribly cold drive home. Have to start getting the bus figured out for going over there - hate using the vehicle so much!

	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates
Minutes				50

Purple Star

Well I am very happy that I made my purple star today (which is an additional 5 pounds - so I got it for losing 10 pounds in total).  I took a look at my weigh in chart on the wii fit from when I started using the wii fit until now.  Before starting WW in January there was a very slight downward trend but the slope of the line was very shallow indeed.  Then at the start of WW the line of weigh in dots takes a decided turn downwards with a much steeper slope.  So I am glad of the good little kick start.

At the same time I do want to level out a bit here so I was happy to see a smaller loss today.  I would like to see the weight loss between the start and the time I hit my goal weight to average out to somewhere between 1.5 and 2 pounds a week.  That seems to me to be a really good pace for losing. I think any faster than that and I don't know how my skin will respond - whether it will bounce back well etc.  Plus I want my body to be losing fat not fat and muscle.  I want to be building those nice calorie burning muscles!

That is why I am going to try really hard to keep including my 8 minutes in the morning strength training exercises at least 4 times a week. Plus I think that the pilates is also good at building muscles.  So I am going to set out a new plan of action and we will see how it goes.

Week
Strength training (8 minutes in the morning) - 4 times per week
Wii Fit Plus My Routine (yoga and strength) - 4 times per week
Wii Fit Plus EA Sports Active (step aerobics) - 3 times per week
Pilates or Accessory classes - 3 times per week

To help monitor this I will add in a little table to each of my posts

	Strength	My Routine	Step	Pilates
Minutes	10	24	44

Workout variety

Today was quite a variety show of exercises.  This morning I did the normal yoga and strength stuff in My Routine on the Wii Fit.  In the middle I stopped to do my 8 minutes in the morning strength training moves - inner and outer thighs today and they were hard again so obviously I need the work on them!  Then I did a bit of cardio on the Wii Fit with the super hula hoop, the advanced step aerobics (which is kinda dull after having been doing the step aerobics in the ea sports active) and the rhythm boxing (which I prefer to the boxing stuff in ea sports active).  Then the walk to and from work and I ended the day with a Restore and Rejuvenate pilates class which definitely found many of my sore spots on my body and made them cry LOL.

I think I will be hitting the hay early tonight because I want to try and get in a super long workout tomorrow morning.  I am hoping to get one day where I earn 20 Activity Points on Weight Watchers - and tomorrow or maybe Sunday would be the best day to try and do it.

In my dreams

The title might make a person think that I am going to talk about some unattainable thing that is "in my dreams" but NO what was in my dreams last night was Weight Watchers LOL.  I had this strange dream that there was this odd drawer beside the chair I was sitting in (which was in my living room but not quite).  In the drawer was a bunch of M&Ms that I started to eat mindlessly.  When suddenly I caught myself with my hand headed to my mouth with an M&M and thought - darn I don't even really like these and now I have to track the points for them - now how many did I have?

I thought it was pretty funny that WW has invaded my dreams!

Today is my real day of rest from workouts - not like the other day where I worked out rather than having a rest day.  It will help that I am going in to work right away as that will take away some of the temptation to sit around until I can't stop myself from working out.

Another Awesome Pilates Class

Today was such a fantastic class.  Chrissy at Lead Pilates http://leadpilates.com/ is really a fantastic instructor.  We did some obliques work today (I think that is what it was) with some side bends with the arc and another one with a ball and they just felt so amazing.  I NEVER like side work because I always feel very out of touch with my sides compared to my back or abdomen but today's moves were simply awesome!

Not to mention the fact that I went to the studio with some naggy low back ache and I was completely exhausted and I left with no back pain and feeling quite a bit more peppy.  So all in all it was just awesome!

Choices

Wow sometimes there is a lightning bolt of realization that is really amazing.  As I have been on WW I have really not had any amount of refined sugar in any format until last night when I ate two chocolate coated cookies.  I had room for them in my day's points so that was okay - maybe not the best choice I have made in my life but it was okay.  Until maybe an hour or so later when I just felt really glum and it was a startling realization to me that I hadn't felt like that at all since beginning the healthy eating I have been doing on WW.  All I can say is that I blame it on the sugar.

I know all kinds of reasons why all the refined sugars are so bad for us and what they can do to us.  I knew all those things in my head on an academic kind of level. But last night I knew it in my gut - I really got it on a deeper level.  And I know that this new level of understanding will definitely be useful to me as I continue on this journey of improving my health by improving my eating habits.

On the physical side - yesterday I was tired and feeling kinda lethargic and so I ended up doing a workout for the pick me up that it provides.  Not a gigantic one but it was enough.  But I am firmly committed to giving myself a break on Thursday - just walking to and from work - no other workouts.  Today is Pilates class so I can't make today the day off ;-)

Day of Rest

Today I am taking a day off - let my body have one easy going day.  Will just include some walking for today but nothing more strenuous than that.  Am planning to make it a good half hour walk though since I want to hit a half hour of movement a day.  But it is certain that I am missing my morning workout this morning - since I feel kind of lethargic and tired.  So I  am going to need to figure out how to kickstart the old body in the morning on my days off of exercise.  Maybe I will just walk around the house a couple of times at a fast pace or something.

On a side/unrelated note it looks an awful lot like my workplace might be headed into strike territory.  The good thing about that would be all the extra walking I would get to do ;-).  Well I guess we will see soon enough.

Accentuate the Positive

Most of this blog is about transforming my physical, but today I also did an exercise in transforming my internal/mental side.  Today I made an effort to make sure I was conscious of my internal dialog.  I made a point of trying to write down the positive and the negative things that I was thinking.  Now it is later in the day and I have my negative and positive lists with me and I am going to ritually destroy the negative list.  Negative self talk doesn't really have a place in my life anymore.  I am ready to leave it behind me.

The amount of energy I have spent on negative internal dialog could be so much better spent on positive internal dialog - so that is my goal from here on out.  The past is behind me and I fully intend to embrace the present and look to the future while valuing the lessons I have learned in the past but letting go of the guilt or other things that tend to draw me into those negative self talk cycles.

And since the title of this post brings that song to mind I encourage everyone (if anyone ever has even read my blog ;-) to go and search out this song and listen to a couple different renditions - seems like there are a dozen or more that I found.

Just so I don't leave today without some mention of the physical I did my wii fit routine with the 8 minutes in the morning strength training and a 20 minute step aerobics on the EA Sports Active with a 9 minute cool down.  Plus a walk to work and back.  Interestingly on my walk home I realized that I probably need to step up my aerobic portion of my working out as I can see I still have room to improve my cardiovascular endurance.  So I am going to try to include more of the aerobics into my workout each day.

Pilates today

Well class number 2 of pilates is done.  Had a different instructor today and didn't love the class quite as much.  I felt much less in synch with what I was doing.  Not sure if it was just me not being in tune with my body today or if it is that I am just not in tune with this instructor.  Will give it another shot next week and decide from there.  It is funny something about coming on here to write about this pushed me to examine my experience a little more deeply.  I was all ready earlier to simply blame my less impressive class on the instructor but as I started to write it I realized that was not fair and not accurate.  Certainly I can't put all of it on the instructor - I have to recognize that I am responsible for my workout as well.And I will definitely strive not to bring a negative mindset to the next class so I can get a good feel for how that class will work for me.

Would like to do another workout right now - the aerobics on the sports active is calling out to me but the tv and living room are occupado so no go.  But I am working on trying to get the wii turned on so we can play some games instead of watching junky garbage on tv.  Although as I write this my lack of sleep last night is starting to catch up with me and make me feel very tired.  Maybe I will just eat supper and go to bed!

Raves!!!!

Today is a day all about raves.  I already wrote most of this on a WW message board but I feel it is definitely worth repeating.

Greek yogurt - where has this treasure been hiding all my life????  Who needs cheesecake when you can have this?  I can't believe how delicious it is. Now I just tried it and I did try the full fat version but it is so incredible that I would think even a lower fat version would be great.  Definitely on my permanent shopping list!!!

And here is a rave you probably wouldn't expect after how I talked about the EA Sports Active 2 being too hard for my knees.  Well I finally did up a workout of my own that was a warm up and 30 minutes of step aerobics followed by a cool down.  And it was simply awesome!  I loved it.  And I definitely see myself going in there much more often to do step aerobics for my cardio part of my workouts.  Also I found the little "game" style exercises as well - I am not quite sure how I missed them before - oh well I see them now and am looking forward to making up a few workouts with them as well.

Third and maybe most important PILATES - it really is my new best friend.  My class yesterday was great but the real treasure is the breathing.  Today as I was doing the step aerobics my butt on the left side started to get really tight and on the edge of cramping up.  I stretched it out between the step sections and then integrated a bit of the pilates breathing into the rest of the workout.  I suspect the breathing just activated my core a bit and helped to keep me more balanced in my effort between the two sides - and that relieved the problems.

I feel so amazingly awesome right now after my workout and my time to appreciate some of the amazing things I am finding both to fuel my body (yogurt) and to gain more awareness and fitness in my body.

Thoughts about self sabotage

I think that everyone has their triggers for what makes them unconsciously try to sabotage their own efforts at something.  For a lot of people it seems like some small negative result can do that to them.  For me I find the first instance of positive praise I receive as I start doing something is the one that tries to trigger it for me.

Today I went to my private pilates session (so I would feel comfortable going to my first group class).  The instructor gave me a lot of praise about how I control my body and my awareness of my movement etc.  And it is the oddest thing that as I was driving home from the session I actually heard myself deep down inside start thinking about stopping what I am doing.  But thankfully the last time that I actually did the self sabotage following a compliment I finally recognized what I was doing.  So now that I am aware of it - I am saying NO - SUBCONSCIOUS FEARS YOU DON'T CONTROL ME - YOU CAN'T MAKE ME STOP WHAT I AM DOING.

I think that what it comes down to is that if I am successful at whatever it is that I am doing that maybe others expectations of me and my expectations of myself will change and I will have to leave the comfort zone of carrying on just as I have been.  The stupid thing is that carrying on the way I had been for the last several years is not comfortable - it is the exact opposite of that.  I was not happy most of the time, I didn't feel healthy, I definitely didn't feel fit or capable of doing very much physical effort.  So I ask myself how was that comfortable?  Why would I possibly want to stay in that place?  Well the answer is that it wasn't comfortable, and I am not going to stay in that place!!!!

Broken Pattern

Because I have my private pilates session today I didn't do my morning workout routine.  And I actually really missed it.  Should have done a little part of it at least - just to get moving first thing in the morning.  But in fairness yesterday my legs were a smidge achy so maybe it is good to let them rest so I can get a really solid idea of what the pilates is going to feel like for my body.

Guess I should get my stuff together and head out for the pilates place.  Will try to post after the workout to say how it went.  Not that I suppose anyone is reading this lol.  But I read it as I write it ;-)

Predictable Patterns

Seems I am becoming a little bit predictable in some of my patterns.  But I am liking the fact that they are healthy patterns.  My workout first thing in the morning today went well - and was remarkably similar to my workout pretty much every morning ;-).  My post workout breakfast is also remarkably similar each day - who would ever have thought I would come to like plain yogurt????  Not me I can assure you.

Well I guess I better get my rear in gear and get ready for work.

Pilates

Today I got a little taste of Pilates.  Went and met with the owner of a new Pilates studio in the city http://www.leadpilates.com/ and she was great.  We just chatted for a while about Pilates and then she went through some of the "warm up" stuff they do in their beginner pilates mat classes.  It was really nice to get an intro like that and I signed up for classes right away.  The studio was lovely and I felt very comfortable there.  I am really looking forward to getting started with the classes.

It is interesting I think I am pretty comfortable with controlling my breathing (at least to some extent) because I have taken yoga in the past and have maintained some consciousness of those breathing techniques.  The breathing in Pilates is different - the exhalation is through the mouth rather than the nose and that will take me a little bit of getting used to.

I don't know if I can get across just how pumped I am about starting this.  Wish it was closer to home but am certainly fine with going there for it because I know how amazing it is going to be for me!  I opted to have a private session on Thursday then my first class is on Friday.  YAY me!!!!!

Positivity Reigns Supreme

I honestly can't think of anytime in my life where I felt as positive as I do right now.  It feels like I have flipped a switch inside and turned on the positive energy pulse.  It is surprising how easy it is to find the positive in so many different things.  This isn't to say that I don't still have moments of negative or other feelings but overwhelmingly I have made the decision to be positive.  The key I think is that I feel like I have taken control of my life.  And I am finally bringing together all of the things that I have been reading and learning about being healthy together and acting on them.

Tomorrow I am going out to try out pilates.  I have wanted to try it for such a long time and now I finally am going to give it a shot.  And I am positive I will learn something from the experience.

Yesterday I walked to my sister's place in the cold (minus 29 with the wind) and the walk really wasn't too bad at all.  The wind was at my back for 95% of the walk and what I thought about was that these winter walks with heavy clothes, a scarf across my face, and heavy boots on my feet will just make the spring and summer walks without those things just a breeze.  Yesterday I also really recognized the energy benefits of making great food choices not just being within my points on the WW plan. I didn't make the best choices - in particular was short on the veggies.  And I was amazed at how that negatively impacted my energy levels last night.

Today the wii workout and the 8 minutes in the morning exercises went quite well and did a great job of loosening up my back which was a bit tight this morning.  Am continuing to be quite pleased with this combination of the two workouts.

Soup and a cold cold walk

Morning workout spoiled!!! Headlines in major newspapers are certain to pick up this important story ;-)

Sleepers in my living room mean I don't get to turn on my wii and do my workout.  But I am determined to get in my 30 plus minutes of exercise so my plan is to have a nice bowl of soup and then to brave the stupidly cold weather and walk to my sister's place.  Don't really want to walk the whole way but can't quite figure out a good way to walk part of the way without waking up the spousal unit.  Well after I have my soup I will make my final decision.

Another Week

Well another week has gone by and I am down again and that is a great thing.  Very happy with how it has been going.  Yesterday was a bit of a challenge with the tracking because I made a soup and it was pretty hard to estimate just how many points I should allocate for it.  I estimated what I felt was fairly high.  And silly me I also chose last night to have a late night popcorn snack.  Really should consider whether I want to do that the day before a weigh in again.  But no matter I kept track of the popcorn and was still well within my allowable points for the week.

This morning me and the wii just had a fun time.  I didn't do my routine I just picked a bunch of different things to do.  Did my rhythm boxing which is just my favourite.  I am am getting better and better at it all the time.  Did a couple of the strength training moves that I usually have in my routine but with more reps than I get in the my routine and that was a good little workout.  It is too bad that you can't set which level you would like the exercises in my routine to be at.  I would definitely like more reps for some of them.  Oh well maybe they will have another version someday that will allow for that.

Now I suppose I really should get my behind in gear and get cleaning the kitchen and doing my laundry.  Will come back on here later to put in my average daily workout time.

Celebrate Good Times Come On

I love, love, love the song Celebration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M&ob=av2el there is nothing in the world that this song can't make feel better.  And when you are already in a great mood well.....

So today I am am celebrating a few of the things that are making this fitness and health journey just a little bit better.
1. I love my wii fit plus workout!!  And then I love it a little bit more!
2. I adore plain grapefruit with nothing added to it.
3. My favourite cereal is Shredded Wheat which is nice and healthy and I love it with nothing but the milk added to it.
4. I live close to where I work but not too close so the walk to and from work is pleasant - long enough to be a bit of exercise, short enough to make me feel ridiculous when I opt to get a ride lol.
5. My job - while right now it is a bit more sedentary is one where at least at times I get to be a bit more active and it actually works a few of my muscles

So that is my short list for today.  I will try to come back to this theme again another time.
 

Never say diet

Years ago I saw two women on tv who had written a book called "Never Say Diet". First off I thought the title was so exceedingly clever that I have never forgotten it.  Second I remember one thing they said on the show.  That was the advice to eat something as soon as you wake up in the morning.  Breakfast is called that because you are breaking your fast of the night you just slept through.  They said that eating first thing lets your body know that it will have food today and it doesn't need to conserve.  I have been trying to do that since I started WW usually a bit of a banana or apple or pear or something like that before I do my workout.  Then during and after my workout I finish off the banana or apple or pear.  And I am following the workout with my yogurt most days.

Today I was on the Wii fit and I did my 8 minutes inner and outer thigh strength training 3 sets of 12 reps each.  And I can tell you that I have selected the correct weights for those ones because the last ones of each of the sets were HAAAARRRRDDD.  Today I did all the sets after the first little bit of my routine - it is more convenient than having to stop and start so I think I will start using that method from now on.  Although I might add in a short basic run before starting as a bit of a warm up.  I am sure I will keep tweaking my way of doing this as I go.  Which is also good because it will help it from getting stale and boring.

On that note after the sore knee episode yesterday I have decided to do an ea sports workout only once a week for right now.  I feel like I can do it once a week without too much strain on the knee.  So I will be altering my schedule I set out for myself already.  But I see that as being flexible and able to adjust to things on the fly rather than as anything negative.  Here is to hoping my muscles will be in much better shape soon so I can do more than one of those workouts a week.

One day of rest

The other day I was thinking that I really needed a day of rest from the workouts and would just settle for walking on that day.  Well I think today is that day.  Started out doing the workout on the EA Sports but all the squats and lunges were just murder on my knee today so I didn't get very far through it before I had to abandon the effort for the day.  I hate that I had to stop but my knee simply can't take that much of that type of exercise.

From what I have seen the workouts seem to all have a pretty high proportion of that type of thing in them.  So I am pretty sure I won't be able to do that 4 times a week.  But I think what I will do is make up a few workouts on it that don't involve so much strain on my knee because I really do like the warm up and cool down stuff that is on that game.  And today am am still going to be walking to and from work so I will have that amount of a workout.  But it is still a pretty small workout type of day.

Before picture motivation

Wow that before picture sure does work as a motivator.  I know it isn't perfectly before since I am one week into the new year and new way of doing things but it is close enough.

I have watched enough episodes of What Not to Wear to know how to buy some clothes that are good at helping to disguise my imperfections.  Not that I am any kind of fashion plate or anything like that but at least sometimes when I am dressed up I can look in a mirror and convince myself that I don't look that bad.  But that before photo does not lie.  I definitely do not look good.  But that is okay since I am in the process of changing that.  It really is truly sad and something I am not ready to share with anyone - not until I have another picture that clearly shows some difference so I can use it as a way to demonstrate my progress.  Until then it will just serve me as a motivator.

Today was a pretty light workout at 38 minutes of just the wii.  I know I broke from my declared pattern already but my muscles are sore and tight from yesterday's workout and walk in the cold so I felt it was better to just have the lighter workout today so my body has time to recover and get ready for tomorrow.

Butt muscles rejoice - or continue to cry

Oh goodness gracious that ea sports active workout just kills me.  Definitely could feel the burn in those glutes.  It is certainly a much harder workout than the wii fit plus and pushes me decidedly harder.  I am a little concerned about my form on a number of the exercises though - because I am really pretty out of shape I feel like maybe I am not doing them very correctly.

Just got up to get a glass of water and the quads are feeling the burn as well.  But back to what I was saying.  I know my form on a couple of the exercises is less than stellar - so that is something I will definitely need to work on.  The only other thing is that I do find the tracking on a couple of the exercises to be very bad and that is part of what is stimulating some of the bad form from me as I try to get my rep to register as a rep.  But enough blaming the game - I will carry on trying to improve my form.

I am working on doing the Cardio Kickstart program in the active and it requires 4 days a week to complete it fully and those days are set as Sat, Sun, Tues, Thurs.  So these are the elements of the plan:
EAS2: Cardio Kickstart program workout
Wii: My routine (a combo of yoga and strength moves 28 - 30 mins), plus aerobics (hula hoop, step aerobics, rhythm boxing, basic run) - enough to hit my 190 cal goal for the day
8 mins: 2 different strength training exercises at 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps each

Calendar:
Sunday: EAS2, Wii
Monday: Wii, 8 mins
Tuesday: EAS2, Wii
Wednesday: Wii, 8 mins
Thursday: EAS2, Wii
Friday: Wii, 8 mins
Saturday: EAS2, Wii

It is a great start for me.  I feel like it will push me pretty hard and help to get me to my goals.

Woo hoo

Well a good first week back.  I lost 3.5 pounds and definitely hit my activity marker.  So all is good in my world right now.

Went out for lunch for the first time since being on the plan and the dim sum was delicious and I am still set for having a reasonably good sized supper.  Yay me for doing so well is what I say!

My morning workout was more challenging this morning.  I think perhaps it is because I had my full breakfast before my workout which is not my normal pattern.  I usually just eat half a banana or something like that before I start working out (then sometimes eat the rest of it half way through the workout).  But whatever the reason it was a good workout and I think it will be followed by a workout on the sports active tonight in order to help keep myself busy - so I don't turn to snacks or anything like that tonight.

Theme song for the month

It is so good it is worth posting twice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPBwbdRuKPc

But I have just decided that this is my theme song for the month and it is my extra pounds singing to me.

"Baby I'm 

tired of toeing the line

if you want to get rid of me

baby baby baby

you're doing fine"

And yet another quote but from a completely different source "I am sorry to be breaking so many hearts but I haven't the least intention of yielding" (although I might have that quote a little off and of course individual pounds of extra fat on my body don't actually have hearts but......).

I really can't get over how great I felt all day today. Just really felt like I was on a natural high.  Am going to hit the hay soon, but not until I listen to my theme song at least one more time!

My measuring cup is feeling the love

I have never used my measuring cup so much as I have the last few days since I have joined weight watchers.  I wonder if it feels loved and useful?  And I wonder if it came to life like in Beauty and the Beast what song it would sing?  I suspect it would sing Tired of Toeing the Line http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPBwbdRuKPc - and this video is an awesome trip back to the early 80s.

On the workout front I tried out the EA Sports Active 2 yesterday and I can't say that I fell immediately in love with it - maybe I am not quite ready for it yet.  Although the biggest problem for me was my inability to effectively tie the resistance band to the straps - it kept coming apart in the middle of the exercises.  Finally used my brain and tied it on using a different method so that it won't come off.  Will give it a shot again on Saturday.

And my strength training today had me doing this exercise where you put your heels up on a chair and then lift your butt up into the air (works the hamstrings).  And boy those little hammies felt the burn today.  Had no idea they were so out of condition.  They were always the one muscle area I felt had retained some measure of strength and flexibility during the pound and sediment creep.

Cravings Plan

Well I was posting on a message board the other day and was recalling something I read somewhere about dealing with cravings.  And in the process I broke down what I had read and put it together like this:

1. Be specific about what you are craving (i.e. a piece of dark chocolate)
2. Take a minute to decide if you really and truly want it (maybe use a rating scale that works for you i.e. I want it as a 8/10)
3. Take a minute to consider if this is something that you really like (i.e. do you really like bad cheap chocolate - I know I don't)
4. Final step, if you really love it, and you really want it - then have it. But if you don't really like it or you don't really and truly want it then skip it. 


So I think I am going to make myself a little cheat card that says 
1. What do you want?
2. Rate how badly you want it right now (from 1 to 10 with 10 being "I want it so bad I could cry").
3. Rate how much you like it (from 1 to 10 with 10 being "I love it more than anything else in the world")
4. If 2 and 3 were both ratings of 8 or more go ahead otherwise pause to think again!




Anyhow on to the workout - did my 8 minutes in the morning weights again today (arms triceps and biceps).  Did them both with 10 pound weights.  The triceps were a massive struggle so it is probably a good weight that will take a while for me to get past.  But the biceps probably need a couple pounds more.


The wii workout was pretty good today - on the long distance run the first time I followed the yellow dog since that is a much better path than following the regular leader.  But then I did it a second time and waited to follow the black dog, but I was a bit on the tired side so I admit I didn't pay as much attention to the path - although I love the end of it with the finish line up at the top of some big hill.  Am planning to do the island lap next time I do the run - hopefully it will go well.


Just bought the EA Sports Active 2 Personal Trainer game yesterday - I think I am going to try it out tomorrow morning - or maybe even tonight.  Will post what I think of it after I give it a tryout.

Scales

The scales have fallen from my eyes, weighing in on the issue, scales of justice, libra scales

Just a few of the scales things I could think of off the top of my head.  On that note it is kind of funny to me that I never had a scale obsession seeing as I am a libra - but perhaps it is because I was always occupied with the imaginary scale in my mind balancing different options and paths to take - until I would get sick of trying to find the side that looked best and simply jumped in the direction of whichever thing felt "rightest" at the time.

Anyhow back to actual scales for weighing the Kgs or Lbs of ones own self.  There was a post on the WW discussion board about how often to weigh yourself and it got me back to thinking about that topic again.  And I had a bit of an insight - the scale doesn't really matter at all if you can actually tell what is going on with your body.  When I was young, skinny and active I didn't need a scale to tell me that I was young, skinny and active.  Likewise as my weight started to increase I didn't need a scale to tell me what was happening.

But, I do think that the weekly weigh in now will help to serve the purpose of giving me some idea of the impact of my efforts.  I am not sure that I will always do a weekly weigh in - actually let me rephrase that, I KNOW I will not always do a weekly weigh in.  When (and it was really hard not to write IF there) I reach my target I will very definitely decrease the number of weigh ins I will do - hopefully by that time I am not so shamefully addicted to the scale that I can't get aweigh from it (lol look at me writing bad puns).

Back to Work

Well I am back to work today and am wondering about lunches.  This always seems to be the bad meal for me. I will do really well on it for a couple of days - planning and making it healthy and enjoyable but then I get lazy and forget it completely or get myself something really bad for me.  Well I guess I just need to start trying a little harder.

Did my Wii workout this morning.  Have a good routine that I am enjoying so far.  Today I also added in the weights portion of the 8 minutes in the morning workout that I used to do.  So I do part of the My Routine I have set up, then pause it to do one set of each of the weight training exercises then carry on with the My Routine.  I think this worked pretty well and I felt like it was a good way to do it.  Will try it again tomorrow to see if it continues to feel like a good way to blend the two.

New year - new plans

As I said before my little hiatus I need something more to help me get to my goals.  So today I joined weight watchers online and am hoping that it will help to make the difference between what I was doing before and what I hope to do.

I am going to make a few changes to what I track on the side of this blog as well - since I am able to do a lot of my tracking in the weight watchers system I don't need to do it here.  So I will decide on a few different goals to put along the sides and keep track of them along there.

Well wish me luck!