mmmmm... Yogurt!

I miss exercising… no, really, I miss exercising. Mary suggested resting on Saturday and Sunday. I actually took off Friday because I think I over-did-it a little on Thursday and my back was hurting. So Saturday AM I got up and went to the park to make up for my skipped day on Friday. Yesterday was yucky and rainy all day and unfortunately I never made it to the park to walk. Well I was going crazy ALL DAY not being active. Isn’t that nuts?!?!? Me… sitting around, being lazy on the couch was making me nuts.

I came to the realization that I need to buy a Yoga (aka Yogurt) DVD or something for days when it’s raining and I can’t get my cardio in – hopefully that would be a good substitution. Then I came to the conclusion that once I hit a specific goal (short term, like 20lbs) I should either buck up and join the YMCA (even though it’s a million dollars a month) or possibly join one of those kick boxing classes or something fun and energetic – not Yogurt, I know Yogurt works, take a look at my sissy-pooh Karen, she looks phenomenal from doing it and I think yogurt is fine for icky rainy days, but I need something that gets me moving and makes me all gross and sweaty and want to go home and shower immediately. I know it’s all psychological but I don’t feel like I get a good work-out without that sweat.

What was I doing to occupy my time on the couch all day yesterday you ask? Well, I was actually watching TLC and they had the “National Body Challenge – Twins” on last night and it was pretty nuts to watch these siblings get their health in line and actually see the results. I came to a lot of conclusions while watching it…

1. You really have to want the results to be successful. Two sisters really weren’t into making a change. They were working out, but eating the same quantities and qualities of food as before, and surprise surprise… they didn’t lose any weight for the first 2 weeks – SHOCKER! They were very resistant to portion sizes and an overall change in diet and finally they figured it out and in the end the each lost about 25lbs over 15 weeks. I think that’s great.

2. Bodies come in all different shapes and sizes. There was one girl that was 1” shorter than me and weighed 22lbs less than me (at the start of my journey), but her measurements were much bigger than mine, which possibly backs up my first post about having a skewed perspective of my size. Her waist was 4 more inches around than mine AND she weighed 20lbs less… how’s that possible? I did notice that she had skinny little legs and that clearly she carried most of her extra weight in her core while I think mine is pretty evenly distributed.

3. There is NO EXCUSE for failure. There were two brothers on the show that each lost over 60lbs. That’s nuts. They co-own an Italian restaurant and had every possible reason for being obese due to the food that they were surrounded by. These guys were able to not only lose a ton of weight but they were able to do it with ALL the temptations of everyday life – I can stop buying frozen pizzas and stock my fridge with veggies… they go to work where there is fat, fat, and more fat and were still able to take off an entire person between the two of them.

and…

4. There are healthy alternatives to common, every day recipes if you are willing to make substitutions like all egg whites instead of the entire egg, applesauce for oil when baking, whole wheat flour, whole grains instead of processed grains, etc. There was a great recipe for a whole wheat crust pizza with low fat mozz cheese and chicken sausage instead of pork… cut the calories in half and the total fat from something like 23g to 4. Yummmm…

So far this journey has been fairly easy because I've stayed pretty much within the confines of my own house when it comes to food, I haven't exposed myself to any external temptations. I'm getting a little anxious for this coming weekend. Shelley is graduating!!! YAY Shelley! Well, a ton of family is coming into town and there's dinner on Friday night at a Japanese Steak House type place and then we are all BBQing on Saturday after Graduation. I'm sure temptation will be lurking around every corner... I'm planning on keeping my Klean Kanteen close at hand so I'm drinking water to keep my tummy full. I'm also thinking that I'll be chewing gum most of the time because if I already have something in my mouth I won't be tempted to put something else in there - makes sense to me! Karen arrives on Friday and she's bringing her walking shoes so if I am a little bad at least I'll have a walking partner on Saturday and Sunday to walk off those extra calories - Can't wait!