Stagnant or Holding Steady

I"m holding steady at 166.8- so things aren't all bad. I haven't gained any weight back- I can maintain my new "low". The bad news is obviously that the scale hasn't inched downward at all.

The influencers:
- working a full-time job 9:30am-6pm
- my bus route- a pro and a con- walking to the bus stop and then work- fabulous- sitting on the bus for 20-40 minutes depending upon the bus (express vs. high frequency) not so fabulous
- a different type of exhaustion from working 40+ hours a week in the corporate world vs. working at home doing the mom thing- yes, it is still work
- still no gym membership

I'm still positive I can get back down to where I was pre-baby and even at my physical peak in college/ pageants- it's just a matter of work, diet, dedication, and focus.

My current sub/mini-goal is still 160.

Bit by bit....

I dropped below 168! I have to admit- it wasn't without a bit of a battle. I'm also not that far below 168- I'm at 167.8- but I feel like I broke through another barrier by beating 168. The battle in this case would be finding the time to exercise since I have been working for the past three weeks.

Guilty admission: my weight had crept up past 170 again.

One morning, my son woke up extremely early- the 5 a.m. hour. Once I gave him some milk to soothe his teething- I opted to stay up and put in my Jillian Michael's workout dvd. I had been meaning to wake up early and get a workout in for about a week before this happened. I guess my son knew I wanted to improve my health too. It was exactly the kick in the bud I needed. I struggled through about 20 minutes of the video but kept pushing myself to do more. 20 minutes is the warm up and two circuits. I was exhausted afterwards- but it's worth it. Knowing I'm getting healthier and will look and feel better about myself and have the physical ability to run after my son soon- it makes it all worth it.

I'm also stubborn and don't want to buy a whole new wardrobe in size 14- especially since I have a lot of things I like that are a size 8.

Pre-Baby Weight

I've done it- I've reached my first goal. You might be wondering what the first goal is in this weight loss journey. Well, it was to get to the pre-baby peak weight I was at which is 168.8. AND I'VE done it! YAY! Most of the time it seemed impossible and improbable.

My next goal is to get to the weight I was at right before I became pregnant and was trying to get healthier (Not to mention fit into the dress I had purchased for my friends wedding in late December)- 160.

Eight pounds at a time seems like a good number to shoot for- more than the "standard" five pounds but not so out of reach as ten. Eight pounds lost- when done correctly- can be achieved in one month without the risk of gaining it back immediately. This translates into 2 pounds per week- which fitness and health experts say is a reasonable and healthy goal.

Since getting under the 170 mark- I've been running again. Let me tell you- running while pushing a stroller is no easy task.

Baby- 20 lbs +/-
stroller- 30 lbs

So currently, when I run with our standard stroller I am pushing an extra 50 lbs. No wonder those running moms are in such great shape! I need to keep doing this I'll have that 8 pounds off in no time!

I have to admit- my runs are not full out running and do not last for very long while pushing a stroller- the extra weight makes it very difficult to keep going to too long. When I decided to start running again- I felt really overwhelmed and wondered how I would do. So, my first time out- I ran benches. What this means is- the lake I was running around has a large number of benches and I would run from one bench to the next, walk to the next bench, run to the next bench and so on. It was a really great workout. Now that we're in our new apartment- we have a really great trail nearby. I was able to go run by myself and ran 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back without stopping. I was thrilled to have accomplished this.

160 here I come.

Yesterdays Wrap Up

Just wanted to write a quick something about what happened with the rest of my day and give everyone my morning weigh in.

After walking nearly 7 miles yesterday- I exceeded my goal of 10,000 steps! Instead, I walked 12,474 steps. Having walked and pushed a stroller for both Lake of the Isles and Calhoun yesterday- my Fit Day health trackers say I burned 471 calories.

I kept my water intake high too- using my 16 oz (thats 2 cups) water bottle- I had over 8 glasses of water (4 water bottles +).

I was excited to weigh in this a.m. and found I had lost more of the baby weight and reached a new post- baby low of 171.0 lbs. Just over one pound to go and I have gotten out of the 170s! Fit Day is great with helping me asses and record where I have been and where I'm going. It updates my BMI (currently 30.29 and still classified as Obese- which most people are shocked that I'm considered Obese). I'm almost into the "overweight" category- just .3 lower and I'll be in that category! So what does that mean? It means I have 29.87 pounds to go before I'm considered "Healthy" and no longer overweight or obese. I'm so excited for that day.

Since this is all about being completely honest with the numbers and the workouts- I can truly celebrate once I have achieved my goal. If I had halved my goal and said I needed to lose 25 lbs originally instead of my true goal of 50-or if I were utilizing weight loss supplements, I don't think I would be as proud when I achieve my goal.

I find that the more active I am, the better person I can be. I have more energy, more focus, and I stay positive more easily. It's fabulous!

I haven't decided what I will do for my workout today- but I haven't checked the weather either.

Today's walk

As I mentioned earlier- I am so excited to have dropped another 2 lbs. So today, I was anxious to continue working out even without the use of the gym complements of my previous temp employer. With all the lakes to choose from in Minneapolis, I went to Lake of the Isles and it was a good choice- it's not as flat as other lakes in the area, and it was just north of the storm. Walking almost 4 miles brought my step count up to nearly 5k- the goal being 10k per day. PLanning on going on another walk this evening to try to get there.

Update....

Things were a little crazy there for a while- I was working a temp job for a few months but now I'm at home again. One of the big bonuses of the temp assignment I had was the free workout facility they had on-site. So, I could go before or after (usually after) work and get sweaty. It was great- I lost another few pounds and my new post baby low weight is 171.8lbs. This, of course, gets me really excited to keep the momentum going. So, I'm going to find my pedometer, my fitness watch and get walking again. Today is beautiful in Minneapolis and now I just have to get the sunblock on myself and the baby and pick where to walk. I'll report back later.

On a side note, I started using the Glamour and Self online diet logs- they are basically identical and both utilize Jillian Michaels. They're pretty user friendly.

Be back soon!

Remember, stay hydrated and stay focused.

New Favorite Food....

I love Trader Joe's Gazpacho. Eat it with Trader Joe's unsalted Organic Tortilla chips for a low fat, and fairly low sodium snack or meal.