After doing the weekly menu the other day I realize I am just not happy with how I feel. I feel fat. I feel like my clothes are tight and uncomfortable. I know I can do things different but I feel like I did so great when I was on South Beach last spring – so I am going back to South Beach. The combination of that and working out will make me feel better so I will commit to South Beach.

photo credit: Allie_Caulfield

I’m excited! I am looking forward to starting this back up. I did lose weight doing the Body for Life program, but fell off that so quickly and easily. I’m sure it would be easy to get back to. But I had such success with South Beach that I know I can again. I am making a new menu for myself tomorrow – I’m not throwing away any food, that is such a waste! I’ll make the same menu for Chris and the kids and the new south beach stuff for me. Once we go through the food we have and I do grocery shopping again, we’ll all go on the same menu.

Here is to two weeks of no bread, no cakes, no desserts, no packaged food, no cereal, no pasta, no rice. And honestly, I’m completely okay with that. If you knew me for years and years you would realize I don’t do diets, I don’t do food plans – mostly because being chubby was okay with me in the sense that I still had friends, still dated, still did whatever, being chubby didn’t stop me from anything like I know others have experienced. Plus last spring when I did this plan, I had a ton of energy. I felt like I was sleeping a little less (not a lot, like 7 hours down from 8 or so) and just over all felt great.

Are you following a food plan or watching what you are eating? It’s the new year so I know a lot of people have started that whole lose weight/get healthy thing that will quit around March or so, but if you have started something I encourage you to keep it up! Do whatever you can cause once you see progress it will keep you motivated.

All I’ve been talking about for the past few days is the Wii Fit! Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

• if you want to work out first thing in the morning, eat a little something, drink some water and wake up. Not-quite-awake me ends up older then the day before from being a bit unbalanced!
• it is a little board and a video game but you will be sore! Day three means I’ve done three workouts, 20 minutes each, and I am sore!
• while your mii character may be chubby, you can lock your account so no one can see your details (weight) and when you do the actual workouts, you are just watching the trainer do it. And when you play the games with your mii, they aren’t chubby. (I realize I am caring about this part of the game way too much!)
• I haven’t figured out what it takes to open new games or advanced games, but it is happening fairly fast! Sixty minutes into it and I’ve unlocked two more in everything available (if I’m remembering right).

I won’t do updates every day but I was a little surprised to wake up this morning and be sore. It is going to be cooler here today so I plan on getting the kids out on their bikes this afternoon. I am interested in a good walk outside. The weather flucuates so much here (from 80 degrees for two days down to 50 for two days and then back to high 70s) that I’m annoyed with it. I’d like it to be cooler just because it is winter, but also because it is more comfortable to walk around.

So I’ve worked out for three days in a row! It is easy to get this done since it is in my house. I can wake up and do a workout before the kids are even out of bed! I like working out at the workout area we have here but it requires the kids being up and of course leaving the house. Somedays that’s tough to do!

So many people say they are going to lose weight or get healthy for their new year resolution/goal – is that one of yours? What are you doing to stick to it? Today is also when I’m back on an eating plan, which I am excited about!

This week I am back to planning a menu for our meals! Just for a couple of days I’m just going to plan dinners, then once Chris gets back to work I’ll plan the full days meals. It’s harder to plan with him at home because he changes his mind about what he wants to eat!

So this week we are having:

• Monday: Turkey Chili (SO good!)
• Tuesday: Chicken Noodle Soup (only if it stays cold, otherwise something else with chicken)
• Wednesday: huge salad – lettuce, chicken, bell peppers, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers
• Thursday: Spaghetti, meatballs and maybe cheese bread or garlic bread
• Friday: Beef Enchiladas
• Saturday: Turkey burgers
• Sunday: Free day!

I am going back to the Body for Life program – at least as far as eating is concerned. I am also debating doing South Beach so I might alternate days. I just want to lose weight and need a boost! I’m going to do a two week meal plan next weekend. I’ve always wanted to plan for the month and cook for the month – but never have. I fear I don’t have the patience to do so! I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard, but we are only using the freezer that is with the fridge so I doubt we’d have the room. Maybe I will try at least once, to see how it works out.

What is on your menu for the week?

The Wii Fit questions I had – if my chubby Mii character would follow me around the Wii – have been answered! And they were answered because I finally opened the package and set the game up.

After calculating my weight (three pounds less then I thought I was! – or at least three pounds less then my bathroom scale) and BMI, my character is a little chubby mii. I figured that’s okay because I will make it so I am the only one to play the Wii Fit game, so noone else will see her. Then the Wii Fit gave me the chance to set up a password! I didn’t know this was even an option. So I put in a four digit code and now the code has to be entered before the details of my character can be seen. Yay for that!

I played a few games just to see what it was all about and had a blast! I did a couple of balance games (and opened the hula hoop game) and a couple of the strength training ones, in addition to the daily thing it wants you to do.Oh and my Wii Fit age is 29! Sure that’s just a year less then what I really am, but I was happy.

photo credit: dreamshoot

I’m excited to have joined the Wii Fit Mommies group. The first twitter party is tonight and I can’t wait! I wanted to set up my game before tonight so if something was said regarding the game I would have an idea of what they are talking about. There are also a handful of prizes being given out during the twitter party which is always fun.

Do you have the Wii Fit? What is your favorite game? I only unlocked the hula hoop game so far but I’ll probably play again later and see if I can unlock anything else.

I’m not sure when I found out about WiiFit Moms but I know it was first on twitter – follow them at @wiimoms. I took more time today to look into the site so I could join the party they are hosting!

I do have the WiiFit (would you have answers for me?) and have yet to open it but I am going to soon. My husband is on vacation right now and any video game playing is taken over by him, so I may have to wait til he goes back to work. I plan on doing something on the WiiFit every day though, once I am able.

The Wii Fit Mommies has a whole network and fun things for you to do. You can join the forum and also participate in the first wiifit moms party which is tomorrow night at 8 eastern time on twitter. I’ve seen various parties happening on twitter using hashtags – my super simple explanation for hashtags is using the number/pound sign # with a word. In the case of the party for wiimoms the hashtag is going to be #wiimoms – so it’s easy to join, just post a tweet with the hashtag at the end! You can then find others posting on that same topic. There are also prizes you can win so check it out before the party!

Have you joined a support group online? Do you have an in person support group to help reach your fitness, health and weight loss goals? I always work better by working out with someone and hopefully online support will work just as well!

Happy New Year!

Let’s start off the new year with new ways to get fit! Or at least, it’s a new way to me. I got a Wii Fit for Christmas (actually I bought it before and was saving it for Christmas, and then forgot about it and didn’t wrap it for Christmas. Oops!) and have yet to open it from the box.

photo credit: silangel

My reasons for not opening it yet are not smart ones, and I didn’t even want to tell anyone but I finally told Chris ~ and now I have questions. I know (I think I know anyway) that Wii Fit will change my Mii character to being a little chubby one (I need to lose weight, I’m okay saying I’m chubby). However I’m still wondering

• if we have friends Wii consoles registered on our Wii, do they see our Miis as we’ve created them? Or the new chubby Mii?
• does the chubby Mii play all the various games? Or does it stay within WiiFit?

Basically I don’t want anyone seeing my little chubby Mii character.

I actually wonder how playing together on the Wii even works. We’ve registered two other consoles that belong to friends of ours but they haven’t added us yet. Can we play games that only one of us have? I know we can send messages to each other through the Wii, but I don’t know much else.

I’m sure this info is all easily found online! A quick google search is in my future – but if you have experience with WiiFit I would love if you shared! I did start following wiimoms on twitter (are you on twitter? Follow me! I’m @Tsoniki) and they are going to do a kickoff party this weekend so we’ll see how this works out. I look foward to trying to workout on the WiiFit!

Do you have a new way to get fit?

Have you started thinking about your resolutions or goals for 2009? I hope so we are just under a day away from the start of the year!

photo credit: Ikhlasul Amal

I wanted to set different goals for myself for the next year, small ones that can be easily met and then move on to the next goal. I’m sure I’ll be rewriting my list as time goes on but I really want to make this next year a year of getting and staying healthy and losing weight. I’m disappointed that I gained back the weight that I worked so hard to lose, I haven’t gained any of the five pounds I lost during December back, but wish I lost more then I did.

Here’s how I feel – I was so happy about losing twenty pounds and just about quadrupling my wardrobe because of it being in storage when Chris was in his various schools. Now since I gained that weight back (I’m up five pounds since we moved here) I don’t feel comfortable wearing all the clothes that I have. Which is not fun to have a closet full of clothes and not want to wear any of them!

So my first goal – get back to the weight I was when I left Montana at the end of June. I am going to do this by watching what I eat and exercising daily. I want to follow the “Body for Life” program and hope that I can, however I’m not going to hold myself to this (other then not eating a bunch of junk food!). I don’t foresee that I will not follow the program, but we are going back to meal/menu planning so we’ll see how I do.

Yesterday was the first day I went back to working out in a couple of weeks – and afterward I felt great! However, once I got home I felt like I wanted to eat all day. It felt like no matter what I ate, I was still hungry. But I had a strange headache most of the day so maybe that contributed to feeling hungry? I’m not sure. I am going to work out again this morning andmay not eat that great because we are planning on appetizers and hanging out with friends tonight.

What is your first fitness goal for 2009? Let’s do this together!

• First goal – lose five pounds.
• Second goal – lose 15 pounds (on top of the five, so 20 total)
• I want to be able to wear all the clothes I have in my closet which are two sizes below what I’m wearing now. I can do this!

I cracked. I broke. I ate popcorn with m&ms.

photo credit: robertpaulyoung

I know, I know!

Yesterday was rough. I wrapped Christmas gifts*, hung out with the kids, did laundry – all the normal things one does during the day. Except I didn’t follow my diet plan. I ran out of bars and shakes so need to run to the store. Lame excuses. LAME!

I didn’t work out yesterday either. So it was flat out a loss. Today I am off to a better start! I ate breakfast (eggs and a piece of toast) and plan on taking Chris to work out with me. I definitely need a partner in this. My friend will be on vacation for another week or so and I feel that I will continue to struggle until she gets back.

I need to be able to do this on my own! Considering I love to make lists and be organized I think I will make a weekly food and workout chart. Then I can cross things off, plus have a grocery list to follow. Working out doesn’t have to be hard, you just have to do it.

*I hate that I am so late with Christmas this year. I am usually so prepared, so ready to send things out! This year not so, I just got my family’s gifts in the mail today. Sure priority mail and with luck they will get there in time, but Christmas happens at the same time every year! I should be ready! I’m not sure what happened this year. End of rant.

Monday started week three of the Body for Life program that my friend and I are following. Only, really it should be like week two. Last Tuesday I hurt my back and didn’t work out for five days. I’ve hurt my back this way before and the result is always the same – I have a heck of a time walking, much less doing anything else. I hurt it Tuesday morning during that days workout and spent that day and most of the next day in bed or stretching. It was a rough couple of days!

Wednesday night was a Christmas party for Chris’ job and my friend and I agreed that night would be our cheater night and then we would cheat a little again on Sunday. So I ate mashed potatoes that night and she had a roll – we live on the edge! The Christmas party was SO much fun! We really had a great time hanging out with co-workers and friends and are already trying to plan another party for the springtime.

Sunday we cheated due to throwing a surprise party for a friend! It was great considering we had just a few hours to throw everything together. I made a cake, we had appetizers and food and even a handmade gift by the time he arrived. He was embarrassed but happy and is teased that he is a man now since he is 25 years old.

My friend is gone for the Christmas break and I admit it’s hard doing this alone! Yesterday was our 8th anniversary so we went to dinner – where I ate cheese fries! I felt bad after doing so! I worked out at the house and am planning on hitting the treadmill today. It’s raining right now or I’d just take the kids, their scooters and my iPod out for a walk! Maybe the weather will clear up in a bit.

Anyone else think I’m crazy trying to lose weight aroud the holidays? I haven’t made cookies or anything like I usually do. I am going to try to make cookies starting today so it will be a test of the willpower. Maybe I’ll just jump back on the scale as I like seeing the few pounds I lost gone.

I’m getting sick. Which for me usually (in this case, yes) means I lose my appetite and don’t drink nearly enough water. I have eaten everything I should today (dinner is cooking now) but not nearly drank enough water. I’m working on that! I will do better tomorrow, for sure!

photo credit: chispita_666

Really, I’d just like to sit on the couch with a blanket or two and watch movies. Or recorded tv. Here’s hoping it goes away fast!

It’s ‘just’ a head cold so I can stil work out. Tomorrow is cardio! It’s only a 20 minute workout so I can easily get that done and then allow myself to be a bit lazy. Both kids have colds too, I blame the weather. It’s been in the 70s and then for a few days in a row it was in the 50s and 60s. Of course today it was back to almost 80, but let’s not get upset. I mean not like it’s actually Christmas day or anything! I know it won’t snow, but as long as it’s cold during Christmas, I’ll be happy.