Not my first rodeo...

I have been thinking a bunch the last few days about this blog and about sharing more about my weight loss journey or rather my journey to better health...

See I am like many people - I have attempted weight loss before, and needed to try again and again... In fact nine years ago after my son was born I set out on a weight loss journey and was successful in losing 117 lbs by simply moving more and eating less...  There were a lot of walk away the pounds videos and walking outside pushing a double stroller and lots of trips to the gym...  I was successful in losing over 100 lbs. But there are a few things about that trek to losing weight. I wasn't happy, I didn't feel good about it all, I wasn't thankful for each pound that was lost & I was totally clueless that it would take as much work, if not MORE work to keep it off...  That's how I ended up re-gaining almost all my weight.  While I didn't look like I had regained it all, as I have more muscle tone and definition, the scale sure said that I did...

So this time I am concentrating more on making LIFESTYLE changes that I can live with for the rest of my life...  The TrekDesk is something that I can see myself doing EVERY work day for the rest of the time that I work. And having set a goal for myself for this year at least, to walk a minimum of 5 miles a day, I feel good that I am meeting or exceeding that daily goal for myself. Then when I am able to do additional workouts outside of work time I know I am boosting my calorie burn - but yet not feeling guilty if I don't get to it, as I have done my "basic" stuff at work.

What sorts of things do I do other than my TrekDesking?   I love playing dance and exercise games on the Wii - Just Dance, Exerdance, EAS Active and Zumba games are in my library of games that don't have dust on them. They are fun and take the monotony out of how boring other exercising can be. I use the elliptical we have in our exercise room & the recumbent bike as well (though that one drives me nuts because the computer on it only lets you set it for 1/2 hour workouts & I want it to track for longer than that)...  We just got a rowing machine & I did my first workout on that yesterday while watching a movie... I was surprised that my calorie burn on that was pretty low, but I still could feel the workout in my body afterwards - so I know I was at least recruiting some muscles that I hadn't recruited recently...  I have a bike on a trainer (where you can use a road bike on a stationary stand - but Mike doesn't want me to wear out my good road bike on the trainer, so I am using a mountain bike we have and it is geared lower that doesn't allow me to get as much resistance so it is annoying)...  So that takes me to my search for an upright exercise bike... I keep watching for one at goodwill or on Craigslist to get so I can have one more thing to rotate through... Most of the things that I use at home are in my exercise room (an addition we put onto the end of our house with a bunch of windows in it - could be called a sun room in the summer)... I love this room - and I love that my daughter comes out an watches TV with me and chatters to me while I am out there as well... We are currently working our way through the Joan of Arcadia series on DVD...  I watched it when it first aired & it is her first time watching them and we love them! (WOW THAT WAS  A LONG PARAGRAPH!)

Today, I reached the lowest weight I have been in over 3.5 years & I feel good. I am proud of my accomplishment and thankful to have gotten to this point. I am excited to see lower and lower numbers on the scale - ones that I don't ever recall seeing before...

I did some digging around in different places that I have tracked my weight over the last 10 years & found some interesting, and scary info... I found that I was at my highest weight when Matthew was conceived and I carried him all the way through at my highest weight!  That is amazing to me that I carried him 40 lbs heavier than I am now... Oh, my poor body with all that weight and trying to grow a baby!

I found some of the low points in my weight - I hit my 100 lb lost mark on 4/4/2004!  Ahh the past is the past & I just look back and try to learn from it...

• It can't be a temporary diet and exercise program, it has to be a way of life, changes in eating habits and exercise that I can live with forever
• I am eating differently this time - with the concepts that I learned during my last continuing education class for my Personal Training Certification - I did a Nutrition Certification class from Venice Nutrition - that focuses on balanced eating - balancing your carb/protein/fat intake each time you eat so that your blood sugars remain in balance that allows your body to release stored fats to be burnt. I feel so much better eating like this, and feel it is something that I can continue on for a lifetime.
• Part of the above mentioned eating plan is eating every 3-4 hours and having the same amount of calories at each time - so it is several mini-meals throughout the day... I have been eating like this for several months now & it works well...
• There is a "balance" between nutrition and sleep and exercise and supplements (is your body getting everything it needs?)
• I log my foods into BodyMedia - as I wear one of the BodyMedia armbands (similar to the bands that the contestants wear on the Biggest Loser) and keep an eye on my overall percentages of fat/carbs/proteins throughout the day that way.  And the armband tells me how well I did on calorie burn throughout the day as well. All valuable knowledge - especially as I lose weight - it should be interesting to see if my burn decreases as my body gets smaller.
• 3500 calories = 1 lb - but a 3500 calorie deficit does not necessarily mean that you will lose a pound, if that was the case, I would have been at goal weight a long time ago! Unless your body is in "balance" like I learned from my Nutrition class, your body will not have released fats to burn which will result in a pound lost...  It is all very interesting stuff... The person that came up with this theory - from Venice Nutrition also has a book called Body Confidence - I have been meaning to read it & I have it on hold at the library to pick up and read...  I will share more of my thoughts on what I read there on here as well... As this system seems to make soooo much sense... :)

Well this is a long enough post about my thoughts and some of what I have learned about weight loss in my previous rodeos... (LOL)