Week 9????

Wow, time sure does fly. Can it be true that I am nine weeks into the program with only 3 full weeks left? I jumped on the scale yesterday and I'm a total of 14 pounds lighter since the start of this journey. Staying on track is really easy at this point and it just take a routine of making my snacks and lunch the night before or in the mornings each day. I avoid eating out and when I do, I try to make the best choices on the menu as I can and just not eat everything served as they are way beyond what is reasonable for a person to eat and stay healthy. I must confess that I had dessert the other night as it was my 30th wedding anniversary and while my husband enjoyed drinking his beer, I enjoyed sharing a dessert with my daughter. I had a salad for supper so what's the harm in a little endulgence on a special occasion. Obviously nothing if the scale reflected an additional 2 pounds lost from the week before. So there you have it, you can have your cake and eat it too! Just in extreme moderation.



I'm still having trouble reaching my "high point" with my lower body and am now doing all my lower body work on the Smith machine at the gym where I can really load up the weights for deadlifts, squats, etc. I'm usually packing on around 80 pounds but I think I can do more so I'll just have to keep experimenting until I get it at my max without injuring myself. I've incorporated jumping squats that I think are awesome. I think the most effective exercises for me are: Jumping squats, squats, deadlifts, swiss ball extenstions, step up's with weights, and I always like the leg press machine. Upper body, I really like bench dips, hammer curls, pec deck, bench press, and lat pulldowns. Really anything with my upper body, I can achieve my high point. I usually do a variety of ab routines and super set them so I can get the most out my ab workouts. I still run at least 3-4 times a week and incorporate a few group fitness classes as well.

While the workouts are wonderful and I can see wonderful muscle tone in my body, the key to success is a healthy diet. I really adhere to the 5-6 meals a day with a carb and a protein at each meal and then incorporate a veggie at two of the meals. I believe that drinking 8 glasses of water a day is a key element as well as I think it is a great cleansing mechanism and is crutial to losing weight. I've tried losing weight before while being a diet pepsi addict and I can tell you, it never worked. Even though the calories were absent it had so many bad attributes that it sabotages your good eating efforts. I eat really poorly on Sunday's as that is my free day but I've learned to eat "less poorly" so I don't feel so bad on Monday morning but Monday roles right back around and I'm back to my routine. It takes will power and alot of diversion around the house when I think I just want to munch I just go do something else.

1.5 pounds a week is what I'm averaging and I plan on continuing down this path until I lose all the weight I had set out to lose. I have 28 more pounds to lose and that is a managable number from where I started several years ago. While this may not seem like a lot a week, I know it is the only way to lose weight and therefore I take each loss as a huge win and never get discouraged when the scale stays the same. Afterall, it isn't about the scale, it's about how you feel, and I FEEL GREAT!