I am back on track. I took time last week to feel sorry for myself that I gained the weight back - but of course I was going to if I wasn’t exercising every day and also not eating that great. And I did give up trying to follow the diet plan I started.

Well today is a new week and I have a new plan. I am back on South Beach starting today. Even if I can’t get to the Y every day, I am going to exercise at home. I found a few exercises to do and I realize that if I don’t train to run, I won’t be able to do the graduation run. I meant to keep that a surprise for Chris but ended up telling him las week. He said if I run, cool, if not no biggie. I really wanted to run to surprise him so I know I should have not said anything.

Really my long term goal is not to become a runner. It is to lose weight. I know I eat healthy already so I am back to using my spark people page to keep track of calories - not to keep myself limited, but to ensure I am getting enough! I need to exercise to be able to lose weight and build muscle. It snowed yesterday and is supposed to until Wednesday so I don’t see us going for a walk - but maybe we will, the cold will give us incentive to move!

We don’t have a scale at home and I haven’t been to the Y since last week - I talked to my cousin who works at the Y and was told lots of kids are still being sent home sick, I really want to avoid that for my kids. I know I have not gained any more weight, but I haven’t lost anything either. I’m going to try to get to the Y so I can at least weigh myself and find out the number so that update will come later.

I have felt discouraged since last week. I have no idea why since I have lost a few pounds and I was doing great working out every day. But I ended up skipping the Y three of five days last week - effectively only working out twice. Well three times if you count walking a mile here at Dad’s place. I made great time on that one because I was upset so I walked as fast as I could without running and burned that energy rather then acting out.

I weighed in today to find I have gained three pounds. I was very disappointed - for a few minutes. My pants are still loose (if not looser then last Monday) and maybe it’s muscle I’m gaining and fat I’m losing. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

I had to force myself to go to the Y today. I just did not want to go at all and did not have any interest in working out, getting sweaty, none of it. Once there I did twenty minutes on the treadmill - a good, slow warm up, and then running for six minutes (yay one more then last time I ran!) and a good cool down. Today was also a strength training day and I had a good workout on the machines. Even though I stretched afterward, I feel a little bit sore this evening. That may be because I did two reps rather then just one after a long time since last doing any or because I didn’t play basketball like I was. After I was done I just wanted to get out of there so I skipped the sauna/steam room though I wanted to sit in one of them today.

Starting tomorrow I am cutting out bread from my diet. I had a hard time following South Beach simply because I was restricted and for some reason when I am told no you can’t have that - all of a sudden that’s what I want! I know I will lose weight following the plan but making up meals or a menu plan was too much for me to handle while thinking about working out and running and taking care of kids.

At least I am going back to workout out every day. I’m going to reevaluate next Monday because I know I am not eating poorly.

I am still so happy over losing four pounds!

I also have been

doing cardio every day
strength training three times a week
drinking plenty of water
only having one portion at meals (no seconds)
only weighing myself once a week
more active with my kids
telling others what I am doing and having them motivate me

And I gave my college roommate a call to ask about how to train to make that mile and a half in fifteen minutes. She’s a track coach now and ran track since at least high school (if not before) through college. She had some great tips for me and I’m emailing her every day to let her know my progress, how I feel, etc. I will run that mile and a half!

Time for week two check in for Spring Operation Weight off for Moms. I had already decided to only weigh in on Mondays and today was the day!

I have lost four pounds!

I am so happy! I knew I lost weight because my pants fit different - but this time it’s not just they fit different in the waist. This time my pants fit different all over. I also had my daughter take pictures today - from the side and the front - and I’m going to do so every Monday. I didn’t last week but that’s okay with me. But I decided not to share for a month, then I’m going to show a months worth to show the difference.

I did quit following South Beach (more on that later) but after finding I lost weight I think I will go back to a modified version.

Do you have a SparkPeople page? Check out my page here and add me as a friend! I’m not really updating the actual page - there is a spot for a blog and such, but since I’m here I didn’t want to also do that there.

It is the first week of the Operation Spring Weight Off - and here is my story.

I started this because I wanted to lose the weight I had gained since my kids were born. At the time my son was three years old and I figured I couldn’t blame all my weight on baby weight anymore! With my daughter, I think I gained 40 lbs and after having her, I did go up one pants size. I stayed that size, eating okay and not exercising all that much and then my son came along. If I remember right I gained around the same amount of weight, but honestly I don’t remember exactly.

After having him, I went back to my pre-pregnant size. I stayed there for a few years and then we had to move to the south because of Chris’ job. And for some reason, I gained a lot of weight there. Maybe we changed our eating plans, maybe I was depressed, maybe I started snacking more, I’m not sure.

At any rate, I joined LA Weight Loss and lost over 15 lbs in two and a half months. I think I lost 17 lbs? You would think I would remember losing weight! But honestly, I’m not obsessed with a number, I go by how my clothes fit and how I feel overall. I stopped following LA in May once we found out we were pregnant again - but I probably didn’t need to because it was just changing how I was eating, I wasn’t taking supplements or anything. And I had been doing LA since right around getting pregnant anyway!

But I quit - and then I gained 14 pounds over the next months. Looking back I shouldn’t have stopped. I needed to lose weight and like I said, I wasn’t doing anything to harm the baby. I had already gained another size!

And so now I am stable. I have lost ten pounds in the past few months but I wasn’t following a new diet or exercising more/differently. I joined the Y and have been regularly working out for the past couple of weeks. I am also going to start South Beach (if I can ever sit and figure a meal plan!) and continue to work out.

My goal is to lose 15 pounds. I’ll work on more later, but for now it’s losing fifteen. Chris is graduating at the end of May and that is my goal date.

Though I’ve had my energy back for a couple of weeks now, we’ve only been walking around our neighborhood. Chris has been mowing lawns for a workout then we go for a walk and he very much enjoys that. Well finally today we went to the Y and I admit, I felt great! I do love going, it’s just getting up out of the house and doing it. I need to get my swim suit, another change of clothes, make sure I don’t forget my deodorant, fix the kids up, fix their hair, make sure they are good to go. That’s a job in itself!

I am going to make it a goal to work out at the Y at least three times a week, and on days I don’t to at least go for a walk. We pay to be members of the Y so we need to use it. We may go to the pool tomorrow or Sunday so that’s one day, and then next week I know we’ll go a couple of times. Chris is very interested in getting into better shape because he is interested in different jobs within the military that require he be in better shape.

Of course another incentive is the kids love the child care part. They are constantly talking about the kids they meet in there and once we even saw one of the kids out in town - I love that, the connection to the community, even in that small way.

Have I mentioned that my jeans don’t fit? I’m walking around wearing either elastic shorts (it is SO hot here, shorts are all I want to wear!) or my jeans/capris with a rubber band holding them shut. I’m so glad I have long enough shirts! I think I’m going to buy more shorts as it is the summer time and I can buy maternity clothes later down the road.

I was just reading over at Blogging Away Fat about saving smaller sized clothes - huge eye opener for me! I still have clothes (mostly jeans or jean shorts) that I wore years ago. Years as in probably 7-8 years. Of course this was my in between college and getting married phase and I haven’t worn them since. Having a baby does that to you. I went from maternity clothes to a size bigger then I was in college. I’ve stayed that size - but kept the clothes.

I’ve long talked about going through my closet and getting rid of all of those clothes. When I joined LA at the beginning of the year I went through them again, separating them into the two sizes I have. Of course now it will be a little while before I can wear them so maybe it is the time to just get rid of them. I enjoy shopping, finding good deals, and though jean shorts won’t really be out of style, seeing the room in my closet would be more encouraging for my weight loss once I have the baby.

For some reason it has been really hard for me to make sure I am getting all the water I need. When I first started LA I was able to get my 8 glasses in by about 2PM every day, maybe by 4PM. But the past couple of weeks I realize that I would barely have six glasses by dinner time! That isn’t good - especially since it is summertime and thus getting hotter and hotter. Today I have my six glasses in, and it’s almost 2pm!

Last week we went to the beach and took several bottles of water with us. We ended up buying a couple of small water jugs to take with us next time. It only takes one time of going to the beach to realize what you took too much of and what you need for the next time. We plan on going again in a few days so I’m glad I found just what I was looking for in the jugs!

My friend Tishia Lee left a great comment:

The key when we slip up (and it will happen from time to time - we are only human) is exactly what you did, got right back on the plan!

This is so true! The most important part of her comment was getting right back on plan. Sometimes it can feel easier to throw your hands up in the air, give up and go for the junk food. Easier to grab the bag of popcorn or chocolate and say why not, I’ve already messed it all up.

That is just not true. Whatever you did wrong, it is recoverable. Having a moment where you give in to having your favorite snack (or salty food like me) isn’t that bad. Start over, start again and keep on track.

These are the moments when having inspirational quotes around you would be great. Find a couple that work for you and tape them to your mirror and your fridge.

I joined myfooddiary.com back in March and for the first month or so I was very diligent about keeping track of everything I ate or drank. It’s great to do that and see that if I kept eating the same way I would lose anywhere from 1 to 2 lbs a week, just what I am aiming for. For the past few weeks though I haven’t been as diligent and now I’m looking for a free place to keep track online. I would like to be able to keep track of the food I’m eating as well as my weight so I can see the loss over time. Then again I could start an excel workbook to help keep track of my weight, so really I just need a food website.

I joined sparkpeople.com and am working on setting up my own site. I’m going to stay subscribed to myfooddiary until I get used to the spark website but so far it looks good!