In need of inspiration

I have been feeling a little lost lately, not just with my weight loss but life in general. It is for this reason that my weight loss has not been progressing.
So far this month I have been working out on my elliptical and doing housework and chores on the weekends and walking a greater distance to and from class on Tuesday nights. Other than that I haven't been doing anything special and the results (or rather lack thereof) are proof.
If I have done anything right lately (other than the weekend exercise) it has been food during the sunlit hours of the day. I am able to eat my premade lunch (reasonable portions of chinese 'fried' rice I made about two weeks ago and froze) and drink my water, but then by the time the sun goes down and I am sitting at home I am not as good. I am not terrible, the extra things that are going in my mouth are being counteracted by the weekend workouts, but it means I maintain instead of lose.

Chris comes this weekend and I am hoping that she and her super awesome weight loss inspires me to kick my butt into gear...otherwise I don't know what will.

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Despite my efforts…

Despite my efforts, this past month was not a good one for me. I tried to get back to Curves, and though I did not completely fail at that, I did not achieve my very low goals. I was, however, able to burn at least 1000 calories each weekend on the elliptical and then do a great deal of walking or housework as well. I intend on keeping this last part up throughout this month as it was actually pretty easy (well in relation to how hard it was to do anything else this past month). I also felt really great after doing it and often rewarded myself with a nap while watching the boys play video games.

In terms of food, I was able to make healthy meals to eat during the day, but then the evening would come and I would end up eating one thing almost each night that I really shouldn’t have. I have realized this and am trying my best to entertain myself with something else so that I will not eat, though it is quite hard.

This month is going to be about getting back on track – or rather getting more on track than where I am now. I need to figure out what I need to do to reward myself that doesn’t cost money or have calories. I really don’t know what that will be just yet --- if you have any ideas, let me know.

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Semi-Break

I decided a little while ago, that I needed a semi-break. I didn't count calories, or points or eat according to any plan but didn't eat unhealthy either. I wasn't diligent about going to the gym x times a week but did go when it fit into my schedule nicely. I do however, walk like 50 miles from the parking lot to my class every Tuesday night (seriously, the free parking is really far from my class), but I don't think that really counts as regular exercise since it is only once a week.
Anyway, I don't quite remember what I weight last time I posted (about a month ago) but I think I have pretty much just maintained at 10lbs lost. Every now and then I step on the scale and it gives me a delightfully lower number, but it isn't consistent enough to count it as a loss just yet - almost though.
I am trying to figure out when to go back on the Curves plan (full-time) as it was working out better than other plans have for me, but I haven't landed on an actual date just yet. Winter is just about here, and for whatever reason I tend to do better that time of year rather than any other (as previously mentioned).

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Where did August go?

So August is coming to an end and seriously it feels like it just got here! In terms of my weight loss, it was starting to fluctuate a bit closer to the high end so I had to get a hold of that. I managed to catch it and am now even closer to 10 lbs lost than I was before. My Curves attendance has not been great (only about twice a week instead of three times) but it has been better than it was in the weeks prior to my last post and with baseball ending soon (the work team I have been playing on) I will be able to find the energy again to go three+ times a week. Dave and I have gone on a few weekend photo walks but we are still pretty sluggish on the weekends which is something I would like to change at least a little bit before winter sets in (yes it is August and I am thinking of the winter months).
On that note, I do tend to do better with my weight loss during the Fall and Winter. I think it is because I enjoy colder temperatures over warmer ones so I am more likely to go for photo walks during the Fall. In the winter, I tend to start planning for the summer months when I know I will be wearing tighter clothes. I get a jolt of inspiration and motivation and tend to kick it into high gear with my elliptical and workout shows. I foresee the same thing happening this winter (hopefully). I am going to be setting some Fall goals shortly once I get a chance to sit down with my spreadsheet.

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Eek

So this weekend was a particularly hard one for me and the diet. I did as well as I could but did partake in some off diet eating:

• On Friday we went to Toronto where I behaved all day long (and did a ton of walking) but then had two cookies for dessert.
• On Saturday we spent the day in Peterborough and I did a bit of walking around, not too much though, and had a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie. To make matters worse it wasn't even good.
• On Sunday I decided I needed an afternoon off. I had been struggling all weekend and I determined it was because I needed some kind of reward. We were at a family picnic in Guelph so I had some chips. I managed to get a fair bit of protein in though as we had turkey breast sandwiches for lunch (or at least I did) and tuna/egg salad sandwich (open-faced for me) for dinner.

Because of the above indulgences, the scale is not happy with me this week. I am back on track today and will be going to the gym tonight and playing baseball a couple times this week as well. I have hopes that the scale will be more pleasant with me later in the week.

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A Day Short

This marks the end of my second week attending Curves – it also marks the first week in which I didn’t go three times. I know what you are thinking – that I am already starting to slack off, etc. But really, it only makes logistical sense for me to go to Curves when I am heading home from work, as it is along the way. And I did go for a two hours walk around the tulip festival in lieu of Curves on Friday so it isn’t as if I sat on my butt all day.
Like I said before, I am really enjoying Curves, as much as I can enjoy exercise, and to be honest I haven’t noticed the loss in time (I arrive home nearly an hour later than I normally would). I have however, noticed the scale. Since starting at Curves I have already lost 3 pounds. It is likely all water weight, etc but it is still a loss on the scale and that makes me happy – it is also the reward I need to keep myself motivated.
That being said, this past week hasn’t been the best for food as Dave and I essentially had no food in the house. We worked a ridiculous amount of hours last weekEND and as a result never went to get groceries. I have rectified that and we are now eating properly again.

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Chicago

I have been eating heavier while here in Chicago as most of my meals are provided for me and aren't the healthiest of choices. BUT I have also been walking around a great deal more than I usually do. I have walked about 2-3 hours most nights taking photos and generally taking in the sites of the city. I am really enjoying it so far and hope that my weight loss goal for this month doesn't get blown out of the water because of it - but if it does, I will just have to work even harder next month.

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One Week Later

It has been one week since I registered for the online Weight Watchers program, which I will now be calling WW. I did alright in terms of my plan last week though it was a difficult and unusual one in that I was on vacation for the better part of it. I spent 3 days away from home and 4.5 completely out of my house. I ate 6 meals at restaurants and 5 at another person's home (and therefore had little to no control over what was made). All in all I did quite well when it came to food. If I could not choose a completely low calorie meal I attempted to select one that had good fats and oils in it (such as salmon or chicken). I didn't snack much if at all last week and ate a great deal of fruits and vegetables. I also did a huge amount of walking both leisurely (at a normal rate) and more briskly (at an increased rate and/or intensity than normal). I ended up with a surplus of points through my activity points even though I had to use most of my weekly points (at WW you are assigned a daily point value and also given a weekly point value for extras throughout the week. You can also increase your points through activity points gained through exercise). Normally I would not use my weekly points let alone my activity points, but last week was a special case. I am happy with how last week went and think it was a good idea to start WW again and an even better idea to start the online WW program.
As an added bonus to feeling good about my success with the program in terms of points, etc I have lost 3.2lbs since last week's weigh in. I am very happy with that.

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Photo Walk Continued

Dave and I went for an incredibly long walk yesterday around downtown Ottawa. We started out walking from our parking spot along the side roads past the Mint down towards Majors Hill Park and then up to the Parliament buildings. There were of course stops along the way as I set up different shots and took tons of pictures. By the time we were done at Parliament Hill I was exhausted and starving. We went and ate lunch at the Rideau Centre and I chose to have a Thai food which is traditionally quite healthy for you, but I have a feeling that food court variety is filled with unnecessary chemicals and tons of calories. We then slowly walked back to the car enjoying the weather and really just loving the fact that he is back home now.
I enjoy my Photography Walks and have taken quite a few of them since the Tulip Festival started. As I mentioned before, I enjoy the photo walks as I really don't even notice the walking part of it. They aren't as intense as just long walks, but they tend to be longer since I don't want to stop taking photos. I even tend to forget about time completely until the light starts to fade. Soon enough, the little animals (goslings, etc) will be out and I will have even more reasons to take photo walks And now since we live further from Hogs Back park, it will be even more of a walk just to get there!

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10 days

10 days have passed since I last posted here and I really have no news to speak of. I have lost a couple pounds, but nothing significant and with the stress being created by everything around me I haven't had time to exercise (I have been doing a fair bit of walking since it is tulip time in Ottawa and I love them so much). The big stresses are gone now so hopefully I will be able to get back on track with my exercise program. My jog/run program has yet to get off the ground and if I don't get it started soon there will be no treadmill for me come fall (as that was the reward to a successful summer program). I am working out tonight with Chris and hopefully we can figure out a schedule that will work for the two of us so we can get back into that routine as well.
I bought a bunch of sweets the other day because I could but by the time I got home, I no longer wanted them. I had a reasonable portion of some of the sweets yesterday and believe I will be able to keep doing so until they are gone.

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Photo Walk

I took my first photo walk for the Spring season this weekend (though technically it is not Spring yet). Dave and I went to the Agricultural Museum and walked around viewing all the adorable animals. I find photo walks to be a nice way to get some easy exercise in as I barely notice the workout at all. It isn't very intense and therefore the 2 or 3 hours I may spend walking around taking photos doesn't burn that many calories but it is better than sitting around the house doing little or nothing at all.

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