Even just a few good choices...

Hello again!

It's been awhile. I spent 5 days over last weekend with my parents and decided to not put up a big fuss about healthy eating - we went out to restaurants, had junk food, drank soda... it was a bit of a disaster. But even when I felt like giving up, I decided to make at least a few good decisions. Even when adopting a healthy lifestyle seems like a lost cause, remember that even just one healthy choice is better than none.

Don't get me wrong, I did drink soda and eat out with my family. But I tried to pay very close attention to my body. Stopping when I got full, and making sure I drank a lot of water so I would drink less soda. I even played frisbee with some of my brother's friends and went for walks with my parents.

Even so, I was a little scared to get on the scale this week! I just didn't want to know how bad the damage was. But I had a pleasant surprise when I checked today!!

173.1  -  that is 3.9lbs lost this week! 

(4.8 total since I started 2 weeks ago, I'm ahead of schedule for my goals) 

and my bmi is down to 30.66!! (a bmi over 30 is considered obese). Just 3.1 more pounds until I downgrade from obese to overweight. That comes with a dramatic decrease in health risks! And a self esteem boost! It's been almost 3 years since I was under that line! Can't wait to cross it!!!


Final Thought:

I came across this ecard from someecards.com the other day, and it really cracked me up! If only being healthy were this easy!! My thought for today is that there is no reason to have to give up the things you love (even tv and girl scout cookies!) to be healthy. If your favorite foods are really bad for you, find ways to modify the recipes, and take care to not overeat. There are a million small ways to be healthier! Pick a few that work for you. Good luck!

Fireworks and Flowers

I've been sick the last several days, and haven't been working out. And when I get sick, I crave sugary foods. This was reflected each time I hopped on the Wii Fit, until I hit 181lbs! That was 3lbs in the wrong direction, and half of what I had lost so far.

However, I just got off the Wii balance board.... and was treated to fireworks and flowers for hitting my goal already! I lost 4lbs (net loss of 1.9) and am now at 177!

Only 7 pounds to go before I am out of the obese category!

Final thought:

source

When you hit setbacks (like my getting sick this week), try not to get too hung up on the past, and just move forward! 

Real People, Real Bodies

Usually I talk about fitness, but today I want to talk about body image and acceptance. These may sound like conflicting topics, but I promise you that they are not.

As I've said in previous posts, I want to adopt a healthy lifestyle and drop the weight for health reasons mostly. I love my body and accept it for what it is. The message I want to send today is to LOVE your body. Love your body so much that you want it to be healthy. Look at your body: it's size, shape and weight. Accept it. Embrace it. Love it. Love it so much, that you are willing to do whatever it takes to make it healthy and do what is best for it.

That being said...

I've heard that a lot of people have warped images of both their own bodies and what an average person's body is. In fact, I've heard this so often, I figure I would be immune to it.

I'm shocked to report that:

I HAVE A WARPED BODY IMAGE.


I came across an amazing project that collects photos of women of all shapes and sizes. You enter your height and weight, and body shape if you choose. Then you are shown photos of women that are about the same size and shape that you are.

I was AMAZED at the beautiful women that appeared when I entered my stats! I could hardly believe that I was the same size!

Too see just how warped my body image was, I added weight to the photo searches until I found photos that I thought looked like me. Turns out my body image was off by 10-20lbs. For a woman as short as me, that is a HUGE amount! I encourage you to check it out and see if your own body image is distorted.


This topic reminded me of something I saw a few months ago, the xoJane Real Girl Belly Project. One of the editors sent out a request to the website's followers: submit photos of their bellies as they are. No sucking in! The response was amazing! Taking photos of myself (and my belly) for my first weigh-in was kind of tough. The courage and pride exhibited by these woman is so inspiring! Visit the site yourself and let me know what you think. Would you be willing to share a photo of your belly for all to see?


Final Thought:

source: Nike

Embrace your body. Even if you have a long road to being fit, remember that it is YOUR BODY that will take you down that road.

Put on my running shoes

I am not a member of a gym, and David and I are on a small budget. So I am quickly becoming the queen of at-home and frugal fitness! 


For cardio, running is by far the easiest for me to complete these days (no gym membership, exercise machines or bicycle). Before last week, it had been about 6 months since I had run last. I had no idea where to even start.

Luckily, I discovered the Couch to 5k in 9 weeks running program. This appealed to me, because you only need to commit to running 3 times a week, and 20-30 minutes each session. There is a schedule that outlines every running session - and although the first workout has you running for 8 minutes total, it is completely manageable!

During week 1, each workout consists of: "Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes."

I'm happy to report that I've completed the first week - all three days! I know next week will be tough, especially the first day, but I just have to remember to:

Suck it up, so someday you won't have to suck it in!

In addition, I've been following the workouts on Daily Burn, which also produces a daily total of burned calories. For example, yesterday I burned just over 450 calories! The site also tells you about how many calories per exercise you burn. For example, I burned 290 calories by completing 500 jumping jacks. And although I only burned 17 calories with 4.5 minutes of plank holds.... I was shaking by the end of my 1.5 minutes sets. Even if I didn't burn a ton of calories, those planks are strengthening my core!

My plan thus far has been to follow the philosophy that any exercise is good exercise. No matter what I do, it's better than sitting on the couch! I follow the C25k plan 3 days/week, and the other days I either follow the workouts on Daily Burn, or do a workout from Pinterest and log the exercise on Daily Burn. For now, as long as I'm moving, I'm losing! 

Another motivational tool I've implemented came from Pinterest.  

Every time the scale shows a pound lost, I move a bead from the "pounds to go" jar to the "pounds lost" jar. It feels great to be able to do that! And having the jars in a visible place reminds me of my goals. I've caught myself more than once with food in my hands, glanced at my jars, and realized I was eating just to eat - not because I was hungry.


Way to go Pinterest for providing an idea that is really working to keep me on track!

Final thought:

Source for this image

I can absolutely vouch for this. Despite being off to a great start last year, I let one setback stop me. And I didn't resume my weight loss journey until a year later. I encourage you to start today. Because it's true. In a year from now, you will wish you had started right now.

Free Fitness Tools

I discovered two amazing free fitness tools since my weight loss attempt last year: Pinterest and DailyBurn Tracker.

Pinterest is an online "bulletin board" where you can "pin" content from webpages and other users. There are a lot of great ideas for getting fit. I've pinned inspirational quotes, at-home workouts and even workouts to do during commercial breaks. One of my favorite finds has been the "Harry Potter Workout", listing exercises to complete based on what happens in the movie - Who says there's no time for working out?!

Feel free to follow all of my Pinterest boards or my fitness board.

Daily Burn Tracker keeps track of your body, nutrition and workouts - all you have to do is enter your daily totals. The site has thousands of food items, but you have the option to enter in new items and save recipes for easy tracking. In addition, you choose which days you want to work out. The website reminds you to exercise, and you can assemble workouts or use their pre-designed ones. You can also sign up for challenges with other members of the DailyBurn community. I love this site, it is really motivating to look at graphs and see how far you've come!

Check it out, and feel free to add me (rzbynski) as one of your personal motivators. Let's get fit together!!

And as a final thought,

The pain of being unhealthy is far worse

than the pain of working out.

(credit: healthy-is-sexy.tumblr.com)

Let's try this again....

A little over a year ago, I set out with a big goal:

Lose 50 pounds in 50 weeks. Basically I set out to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Eat better, work out, and become healthy.

I started in January 2011, weighing 187lbs, and stopped blogging at 178.6 at the start of March. I had an accident, and was unable to keep working out, and my fitness goals were put on hold. Even after my body recovered, I was busy, lost my motivation and hopped off the fitness bandwagon. I'm sad to say that I didn't complete my goal.


BUT THAT HAS CHANGED!


Although I gained some weight back, I am more committed than ever to my goal! In fact, I'd like to achieve it sooner!

I weighed in a few weeks ago at 184lbs. I've been working hard and am already down to 177.9! That's just over 6lbs lighter, and lower than when I stopped last year!

My overall goal is to hit my ideal weight, 125lbs, by December 31, THIS YEAR.

That means losing 53lbs in 42 weeks.


I've been watching Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition, and they do 3-month weigh-ins. I like the idea, so I'm setting 12-week milestones and will do a big "weigh-in" to see if I hit my goals.

Round 1:   12 weeks: June 4              -  20lbs, 158lbs

Round 2:   24 weeks: August 28        - 34lbs, 144lbs

Round 3:   36 weeks: November 20   - 47lbs, 131lbs 

Round 4:   42 weeks: December 31    - 53lbs, 125lbs            

I've decided to make progressive goals, because I imagine I will hit plateaus and as I get closer and closer to my goal weight, the weight loss will slow. Here's another way to look at my goals:

Round 1: 20lbs in 12 weeks, 1.7lbs/week
Round 2: 14lbs in 12 weeks, 1.2lbs/week
Round 3: 13lbs in 12 weeks, 1.1lbs/week
Round 4: 5lbs in 6 weeks, .8lbs/week


This is from my original post a year ago, and it still applies:

"If December 31 comes around and I have only lost 20lbs, I'm not gonna cry myself to sleep with a bucket of chicken or anything.. I will still be a lot healthier than at the start. and that is the whole point.

I hope to keep this blog updated on my progress, and maybe inspire some of my family and friends to join me and commit to losing the extra pounds they know they need to.

If you are committing to have a healthier year, I'd love to hear from you! Let me know how it's going and we can keep each other motivated. Good luck!!"

My official week 1 weigh-in:

177.9lbs