Week 7, Day 48; Week 8, Days 49-53

Week 7, Day 48
Saturday, I managed another 2000 yards.


Week 8, Day 49
Sunday was my day off and weigh-in day. I knew the number wouldn't be huge since I have been sick, still I had a loss, which is better than a gain! 1lb down and a total of 34lbs lost so far. I'm not going to complain. I splurged quite a bit because I felt like I deserved it because I was sick. I sure know how to make lame excuses for food!


Week 8, Days 50-53
I upped my yardage again this week. I've managed to increase to 2500 yards. I swam this Monday, Tuesday and today. Yesterday was Body Pump day. I'm really, really sore, so I'm hoping that means a good weigh-in on Sunday!


Miscellaneous:
I decided I needed sweets in a major way while I was sick, so I decided to try Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches again. I've had them before and wasn't really that impressed. Well, after dieting and working out for as long as I have, they were like eating pure sugar. Gross? No! I loved them a little too much. I decided I can't buy them for a very long time. Pretty sure it doesn't count as low calorie if you're eating more than one a day. Oofta! Lesson learned. I'm worried it'll affect my weigh-in Sunday, but I'm hoping the increase in my swim will even things out.


So, I fit back in to a pair of pants that I love and held onto. Yes!!! I am seeing progress and that is really the best motivation for me. I also bought some new swim equipment (bag, goggles, swim caps) and that should be here this weekend. Woot! Swim Outlet is an awesome site. I had never shopped them before, but I will definitely be buying from them in the future. Free shipping, great sales and about every brand you can possibly imagine.


I'm finding it more and more difficult to get on here to blog everyday, so you'll probably only see a blog update 1-2 times a week. Swimming longer cuts into my me time once I get home; the kids are waking-up earlier and earlier, too. Don't they know they're suppose to sleep longer? ;)

Week 7, Days 46 & 47

Really struggling this week. All credit due to this sinus infection. Still, I managed to get in 2,000 yards yesterday and today. Not going to give-up.

Week 6, Days 40-42 and Week 7, Days 43-45

I have a good excuse for not posting these days. I've been super sick with a nasty sinus infection. Did I stick to my calorie goals for each day at least? No, not really. But, I'm back on my feet and on track again. 4 days in a row of being absent from the gym...I wasn't about to make it 5, so I did manage to go yesterday. I had to ease back into working-out, so I just did an hour on the treadmill at 2.5mph. My lungs are still quite tight, but I can breathe through my nose thanks to Mucinex.

Day 45:

I made it back into the pool this morning. In fact, I decided to see how far I could make it without stopping. I went ahead and stopped at 1,000 yards and followed it with 4 sets of 250. I'm glad I bought magnesium yesterday. My right calf muscle likes to cramp towards the end of each swim. I'll be glad when that doesn't continue!

SafeSplash

I am so excited about this! Joshua and Jenna both start swim lessons on Monday. We were able to pay off enough debit with our tax return to be able to afford special needs swim lessons for them both. It's really a great program and truly the price is reasonable considering the quality of instruction (they go through extensive training) and experience/knowledge of the instructors (most of them have a background in Occupational Therapy or are in school for OT).

I found this company simply by Googling "special needs swim lessons". I was going to just use our Rec Center for their swim lessons, but the more I thought about it, the more concerned I grew over the idea that the instructor wouldn't understand or might lose patience with the kids. Well, honestly, I'm not as concerned about Jenna in that area as she is extremely athletic, but poor Joshua's ASD gets the best of him often. The jumping, flapping and inability to connect the dots is very frustrating and difficult to handle for people who just don't get it. So, the slightly higher price in tuition is worth it in my opinion. They start on Monday!!

http://www.safesplash.com

 

 



Week 6, Day 38 & 39

Yesterday was Body Pump and one of my friends came! She left concerned she wouldn't be able to walk today. I'm anxious to hear how she's holding up. Haha! I added more weight on my squats again and I really felt it this time; still feeling it this morning! I am a little bummed that my Fitbit doesn't automatically calculate the calories I burned in class. I still had to use my app to tell it I was doing a work-out. I thought it monitored calories burned by your heart rate, but I guess I was wrong. Pretty bummed. This was the reason we bought it in the first place.

2000 yards this morning. It was another sloppy mess of a work-out. I feel myself getting sick. Sinus drainage always turns into an infection, so I'm busting out as much as I can before I can't anymore for a while. Oh the joys of winter allergies. I need to figure out which tree gives me so much heck so I can destroy them all! Just kidding. I love trees.

Week 6, Day 37

I really had to push myself to get to the gym this morning. Thankful tomorrow I get to "sleep in" as much as the kids will let me. My winter allergies are getting the best of me and I'm just waiting for this to turn into a full-blown sinus infection (which is what usually happens). Still, I managed to do 2000 yards. It wasn't pretty, but it could have been worse.

Today, Joshua has co-op. Normally, I would go into ninja mode on the house and spend time doing school with Jenna, but I think I will have to rest and let the messy house stay messy. Jenna is working on her letters. She's still struggling with it quite a bit, but I'm hoping repetition will be key and it will just click for her one day. She doesn't seem frustrated by it, so I'm thankful for that.

Happy Tuesday!

Week 6, Day 36

2000 yard this morning! I sort of planned to increase this morning, but I wasn't going to push myself too hard considering I just increased last week to 1500. Within the first 100 of swimming, my arms were aching and I just wasn't sure I could do it. But I pushed thru and I'm glad I did! Planning to do another 2000 tomorrow :)

Happy Monday!

Week 5, Day 34 & 35

I can't believe I forgot to post yesterday! I swam 1500 yds. Still keeping my 1:00/50 pace. Also... My hubby bought me a Fitbit yesterday! So excited! Loving it so far. I will post more about that later.

Today was weigh-in day. Down another 3lbs! I was almost certain I had actually gained this week. So glad I was wrong! 33 total. I'm in this for the long haul. I'm in no hurry. If I keep at it, I will be at a great weight for my sister's wedding next year. Excited! 

Tomorrow, is swim day. Time to go to sleep. 4am is not my friend.

Week 5, Day 33

So, this morning I did Body Pump. Tomorrow's classes have all been canceled due to instructor certification classes. This was my first time taking an early class since I started on this journey 33 days ago. My muscles worked harder than any evening or later morning class I have taken. It felt good to push myself.

Tomorrow, I will go lap swimming. Only having one day between Body Pump classes was rough, but in a good way. I'll be glad to have the chance to stretch all of my muscles out while swimming. I'm really anxious to get my Fitbit so I can see just how many calories I burn in class. Unfortunately, it's not waterproof, so I will just have to take my app's word for it that I am burning 500+ calories swimming laps. That's a pretty good amount of calories to be burning!

Not feeling particularly into the blog today, but I wanted to post about today's work-out. Back to the fighting kids and fussy baby. TGIF!!! Momma's tired.

Week 5, Day 31 & 32

Yesterday was Body Pump. I decided to nearly double the weight on my squats because the past two classes, I haven't really been feeling the burn in my legs. Sad to say, I'm still not. I'm thinking my left knee is keeping me from squatting as far as I really need to be in order to receive the full benefit of my work-out. I sure I hope my knee decides to behave soon!

In other news... I re-downloaded the "My Fitness Pal" app. I never really used it before, so I just deleted it. Well, I'm so glad to be using it now! I am able to keep track of my calories in and out. It's pretty awesome that I can scan the bar code on whatever I am eating/drinking and it will give me a list of nutritional facts and save it! Same with the exercising... Well, I can't scan a bar code, but I can log what form of exercising I did and it will give me an approximate calorie burn based on my stats. Also, I am able to connect with other friends who are also using the app and we encourage each other along the way. It keeps track of your weight when you log your weigh-ins, etc. I thought for a bit that I might use it in place of this blog, but I really enjoy being able to log all of this down and there's no way to do that on the app other than in a tiny notes section. So, if anyone reads this...you're stuck with me :)

This morning, I completed another 1500 yards in the pool. After I finished my cool down, I checked my HR and it was in the 180 range. I think I'm getting a good work-out! Huffing and puffing afterwards is a good sign of time well spent in the pool. Speaking of HR, I'm hoping to invest in a Fitbit by the end of the month. The Flex model is just under $100, so after some bills are paid off this month, I'm all over it!

Tomorrow, I do Body Pump instead of Saturday. The aerobics room closed all day Saturday for instructor training, so I'm just switching my days up.

Happy Thursday!

Week 5, Day 30

Another 1500 yards pounded out. Felt good, but I was a bit slower this morning. I finished in 40 minutes as opposed to 35 yesterday. My left knee is flaring up again (old ski injury) and my right ankle (rolled it pretty good a couple of months ago) isn't happy with me either. The joys of getting older! Hoping my next decade is a little less eventful as far as injuries and pain goes. I will be thinner then!

Oh my stars... I thought today was Wednesday. I need some tea.

 



"I don't worship God by singing. I connect with Him elsewhere."

This blog post is a great, short read. Read this! You can worship God no matter where you are.

Coca-Cola

America. What a great nation. Okay, not always so great, but the people are what make the nation, not the government. Yes, we must abide by the "rules" of our government to avoid punishment, but truly, we are blessed abundantly.

I am quite annoyed by the negative reactions to Coca-Cola's ad. We are, always have, and always will be a diverse nation. A melting pot of many nations. I think it's one of the reasons we are so great. And quite honestly, English was NOT the first spoken language here in the U.S. What was? Well, I am sure there are other languages, but Native American, for one. They WERE here before the English, weren't they? Uh, yes. They could have eliminated every single person who stepped off of those ships, but they didn't. Were there battles? Sure, but ultimately, they came together in harmony. Teaching, learning, living.

So, how can people get their undies in a knot over the fact that the commercial singing, "America, the Beautiful" was in multiple languages? We should be proud! We are a diverse nation and a beacon of hope and safety to other nations and individuals seeking those very things... HOPE... SAFETY. Would we not want the same if for some reason we had to flee our own homes and venture to foreign lands? Did God not create us all? Every. Person. Is. Created. In. God's. Image. That means EVERYONE! There is no argument to be had.

To the haters of that ad, I say this...

Search your heart and mind before uttering a single word of hate. Hate does NOT belong here. YOU are part of the problem. STOP IT!!!

Week 5, Day 29

I was so tired this morning, but I'm glad I got my sorry butt out of bed! I increased my yardage by 500 yards. That's a 50% increase! I'm going to stick with 1500 yards for about two weeks and then up it again. It was pretty simple to add the yardage. I simply added an extra 100 yards to each set. With transitions between each set, I finished in 35 minutes. Basically, I am averaging thirty seconds a length (that's 25 yards). Not bad for a person weighing as much as I weigh.

It's fun to think about how fast I truly could be if I weighed my goal. I still have about 120 pounds to go until I reach my goal. I'm getting there, though! It's exciting to think that if I lose 3 pounds this week that I could be at my goal for July! Yes, July! I'm only 3 pounds away! I'm hoping that with my increased yardage that I will make that goal. You'll probably be able to hear me scream from where you live when I weigh-in (if that goal is met) because I haven't weighed that weight in a couple of years. The possibility is almost too much to think about!

Okay. This house isn't going to clean itself. I was lazy all weekend and just enjoyed relaxing, so the house suffered! Cleaning and school...all day.

Week 4, Day 28

My day off and weigh-in day! I am down 30lbs since Christmas! Yeah, you read right... THIRTY!!!

Today was also Super Bowl Sunday and that means lots of yummy snacks. So what did I do? Protein shake. Yep! I may have had a couple of bites of a hot dog, but no bun and nothing else. Phew! Tragedy averted. I call today a success! 

Tomorrow, I'm upping my yardage. I'd like to see at least 2lbs lost at next weigh-in!

Week 4, Day 27

Holy moly... Body Pump this morning. It was the same routine as Wednesday and I didn't feel like I got enough of a work-out, so I added the very smallest weight to my squats. Have mercy! Hurts so good. I still prefer the routine which we did on my first night a week and a half ago...more legs. I am primarily upper body strength, so the arm sets aren't a big deal to me. I think I might have to start doing squats at home and eventually invest in a barbell and weights.

Tomorrow is my day off and the Super Bowl. Temptation galore! In fact, I am providing some of that temptation with cheese balls and dips. Will I partake? No way. I told myself I was going to let myself have a cheat day tomorrow, but I am worried I'll go too far.

Shower time. I got some funny looks in Target (picking up dip and cheese ball ingredients) because of my sweaty back. Maybe they were just jealous :)