I'm A Shape Shifter!

It has been 2 months at the gym and guess what?!  There is no miracle happening here, I didn't drastically lose a bunch of weight and change my looks over night.  And this is fine with me, now...I may not have lost as much weight as I wanted to at this point,  but I have changed my shape!  And little by little the weight is starting to budge.  Thank God!  I will admit that I had my moments of "WTF" and pity party times, and I am sure I will have more! But for now, this is working.  Key reminder here is to NOT give up!

                                                                

I started this journey with a goal and a half ass plan of changing the way I live.  That included the food I ate.   Like I said before, I will not be a slave to a (dreaded word) diet.  I will not give up everything I deem good and yummy.  I just have to really make sure I am not indulging too much.   If you think you don't eat too much or that you don't indulge too much, keep track for a week, it will shock you!  I don't think I pig out, but I did realize I was eating more than I needed to.  Its been tough, I am changing things slowly...and slowly changing it with my family, too.  Some things they have gone along with, others...well, I tried! :)  

                                                        

                                                     

This will be my struggle for life, I am aware of this.  But at some point in time, I expect this to become easier.  By that I mean it won't be as hard to resist certain foods and it will be second nature to eat out of necessity and not for pleasure.  Cravings will be a faint memory and so will the size of my body now.   According to my husband, I am not a "large" kind of gal, but I sure do feel it and see it when I look into the mirror.  Maybe it is an image misconception, but when people tell me I am not big I honestly think they are lying.  I KNOW I am not a small lady by any means.  And I really have no desire to me tiny.  I just want to look good, in my own vision and not what the media says is good.

                                                                 

So that is my rant on getting in shape for now.  I am still working at it, and ready to kick it all up a notch.  I am still learning what exercise works best for what and so on.  I am slowly getting the diet healthier and wishing for a body to be proud of soon.  So, if you are doing the same as I, KEEP AT IT!  Do not give up.  This can be done and it is going to one of the hardest things ever, but sooooooooooooooooo worth it!  Until next time...stay active!

To Zumba or Not to Zumba...

...that is the question!  Zumba seems to be a huge hit right now and I have to say I am interested.  But I want to know the pros and cons of Zumba vs. a regular workout.  And not to mention, I cannot dance...so how big of an idiot will I look like during one of these classes.  Everyone boasts the benefits of Zumba, but taking this hour long class will burn about 200 calories less than running on a treadmill for an hour.  I know what you are thinking, most of us wouldn't "run" for an hour anyway...me included.  It's just a comparison. Someday I will be up to that one hour, I hope.  

If they could promise I would look like the women in the above picture, hell yeah I would be at Zumba...twice a day, 7 days a week.  But back to reality, I doubt any of those people were ever over weight.  And I doubt they have to put as much effort in to look the way they do.  I would like to think they huge and obese and this picture was ran through a great photo shop program!  There, now I feel better about myself. :)  

Gyms can be intimidating.  They are filled with buff, lean, fit and toned pretty people.  For me it is a HUGE ego downer at this time.  I am still new (5 weeks strong!), and I feel a bit inadequate at times when I see the others working out.  I know I cannot compare myself to them, but I can't help but to be jealous at times.  The Zumba classes are held in a room just down from the cardio machines in my gym.  I have walked passed there and have seen the classes in action.  There are people from every make and model!  The pro now seems to be that I would fit right in!  

So, pros again: Zumba is a form of interval training and is a good core workout.  It might seem redundant to "dance" every time, but it looks like fun! If you love to dance, (I didn't say can, I said love! lol), this seems like a good choice.  Be warned however, it does not provide fast weight loss and it does not give you strength training.  I think it would be a good option to change up your normal workout.  Add a little spice to you workout life!  I will keep it open as an option for a later date, but for now I will stick with the cardio and weight training.  Let's get this exercise figured out and the body under control and then...

:o)

                                                 

                                  

                                                      

Losing Is FUN!

Well, it finally happened!  I lost about 5lbs...it's a start and I hope it continues at a steady pace.  This is the start of our 3rd week at the gym and to be honest I was getting slightly discouraged until this late last week.  I have been working so hard, trying to make a change in my body...but it seemed it didn't like what I was doing, lol.  

I found a machine that I really like, it's an elliptical.  I tried several of them along with other machines, and this one is great.  I was able to go 5-10 minutes at a time on other machines, then I would have to stop and rest for a minute.  I am up to 25 minutes nonstop and doing well!  The below picture is the elliptical I am using.

After working out on this, we do as many sets of crunches, wall push-ups, stretches, wall sit and so forth as we can take.  I did 4 sets of crunches, (80!) I am really feeling it!  But I was further inspired this morning when getting dressed for work.  I grabbed a pair of scrub pant from the closet and while pulling them up realized I grabbed a pair that didn't fit well.  Then I realized they are actually going up easier and not fitting nearly as tight as before!  It was a small step, but it made a HUGE difference!  It was the start of proof that this is working!

We started to play around in the pool last Friday.  That lasted the whole weekend.  It was a great way to get a workout and play with our kids at the same time.  Our youngest really enjoyed it a lot.  He gets to play in what he calls the "Kids Zone", lol.  In reality it is just a gym daycare (on steroids! lol).  He loves it, but swimming is his favorite as of now.  

I like the pool for multiple reasons.  First, it just feels good to be in the water.  Second, the resistance is awesome!  It makes me feel like I am doing something for my body while having fun.  I could go on and on, but I let's just say I love it!  

That is about all for now.  I will be brave in the following weeks and post pics of myself so you can see my progress.  I hope at least a few people actually follow this and can see a true story in progress.  I was once told I could never do this...I almost proved that person correct by gaining some of that weight back.  Well no longer will that be the story.  I dare that person to tell me I cannot succeed again...I dare you to.  I can, I will, I AM doing this!