Chips be the enemy

Oh Blogging world, how I am such bad motivational help to you.

Not only do I not do as well on my diet as I should but then, as if in hopes that if I don't post it it isn't true, I ignore this Blog's existence.

My name is Tanya, and I am trying to be accountable.

The last however long since I last posted has been a bit rough. I have a few good weeks followed by a few bad ones, and repeat. This week is really bad even thoguh I had planned to get back on track and start over... Why does the week go so fast in regards to weight loss but so slow when I am sitting at my desk at work?

Well, I am at a total loss of about 18lbs total. Which isn't terrible but its not great because I have been stalled there since about the last blog post. The problem with this is that next week I am going on holidays to Nova Scotia. Road trip=chips. thats just rhyming logic. AND, chips=delisious... deliscious=overeating... overeating=binge-spree... binge-spree=weight jumping back up five pounds. And then if it doesnt stop there, weight jump=self loathing... self loathing=binge-spree... I think you get the picture.

I would like it if someone would invent deliscious foods, that were good for you... and actually affordrable. Thats the real catch, sure theres lots of delisicous things but A. I hate cooking and B. I can't afford them even if I did like to cook.

Oh well, I will try to be more accountable and update more regularly. If you want a more regularly updated blog feel free to visit my new one... its more general stories so I can update that without feeling like I need to eat a tub of ice cream in self pity.

http://yellowshoesinthecity.blogspot.ca/

Read away my friends!

Talk to you hopefully soon!

Tanya

Don't Hate Me ....

Oh Food Baby, how I have pretended for so long you are not there.
Oh Food Baby, how I have let you get out of control.
Oh Food Baby, you suck.

Hello Blog world!
I am back.
It has been so so long.

It has been over a year since I have been on this. I have done a lot, and haven't done even more. You would probably thinking, "Oh, its been a year since Tanya has posted, she must be busy working out and getting in shape and is far too busy for the internet...." You would be so wrong.

Since my last post, I will try to give you a bit of a catch up. Well, summer last year I broke my foot and then for some reason thought that the cure to a broken bone was kraft dinner. Me and KD has a love affair for months in which I would eat almost a whole box, like... multiple days a week. Needless to say, I gained over 25 lbs in those few months. I had worked so hard and was beat by some cheesy pasta. On the plus side, I can make it pretty yummy now.

So then after all that mess, winter happened. I live in Canada so, if you don't know winter=layers and layers=safety. I can pretend the bulk is caused by the seven sweaters I am wearing and not the 25 pounds of KD and icecream I ate.

Then came January. I really do this every year with the new years resolutions, alongside the rest of the population. So then I decided to change - but didn't. I do that a lot.

Then February passed and nothing changed. And then March started and nothing was changing. Then I remembered if I want things to change I need to actually do something about it. So as of March 15th I changed.

I got my teeny composition notebook and did the unthinkable: I weighed myself.

It was not only shocking, but incredibly heartbreaking. The act of writing down that number and realizing that I had thrown away last years efforts and have to not only start over but start at a higher weight then before was just such a kick in the food baby.

Then comes Day 2. My weight dropped a couple pounds overnight. I figured that "Oh, well this wont be that hard" but then Day 3, 4, 5, 6, came and it didn't move. So then I remembered that its never easy. if it was easy I wouldn't have lost many months of work in an unfortunately KD overdose incident.

Alright so, I have been tracking my weight everyday and tracking calories for 93 days. Not every day has been perfect, most days aren't. I have been having a bad few weeks the last month because I recently finished university so its kind of a "celebratory" style snacking and probably partially stress from realizing I now am in the real world and I am in no way ready or willing to do that.

This week I got back on track. I tracked my calories all week. I started running on my trampoline on Tuesday. I jogged for 30 minutes which may not sound like a lot but on my old lady knees that was good. And then I was not a lazy idiot and ran again on Wednesday, and then I did 40 minutes on Thursday, and then AGAIN today! I know it doesn't sound like much but you know what for me that is pretty impressive.

So as of today I am back down 16 lbs in the last 13 weeks. So, I am not back where I was when I broke my foot but I am getting there. I refuse to help anyone move without steel toes though... That shits dangerous.

I think that is all for now. I really haven't blogged in a while. I was going to start a new blog about other stuff because this ones just about weight loss, but then I noticed this one and thought I should update. Also it had all kinds of page views and I don't know how that happened but thanks I think! I will update it more often and try to be useful.

PS- I just previewed this and the ad was for baby stuff and that is concerning and wrong. stupid babies get off my blog! I guess the whole "food BABY" confuses them. lol

Back on Track

Alright, so as I had said before, if I started to slip I would just get back on track and start over. Luckily I seem to have caught myself before slipping too far otherwise it would have been harder. Because of my recent lack of motivation and inability to get myself off the couch and workout when there wasn't the Boot camp classes looming in my near future, I have created a workout schedule that I have so far been pretty good at following (granted its been three days). It almost like a punishment for not working out, but mostly to keep me motivated and moving in between classes and hopefully get myself into the habit of working out on my own so I wont always have to pay to have someone kick my ass. I will show you what I plan on doing, so far… its not so easy (even if it looks it.)

 

Mondays: Boot camp from 6:30-7:30 pm – this is a crazy workout 

Highlights from  first class:

• she had us run the room a few times going down the stairs, ten squats at the bottom then back up then when you returned to the room 20 “warm up” push ups on the wall and repeat. This was just the warm-up
• She set up minute long stations including the basics like a bosu ball to do exploding push ups one hand on one hand off, bands attached to a door for twisting, an exercise ball to twist 4 times throw at the wall then do a sit-up (but reverse because you were already up), and a step to do as many as you can BUT
• See, when you sign up for boot camp in a small town, the equipment gets a little… different. TIRES! She had up hold a car tire above our head and do squats then military press the tire up. Then there was the enormous Tractor tire that in teams of two you had to flip it end over end. The tire weighed as much if not more then me…

This class was actually pretty fun. Everyone else seemed to already know each other so I felt a little awkward but in general the actual exercising was great. A minute passes surprisingly fast and by the time your at the point where you want to give up because it hurts and your exhausted she's counting down the last 10 seconds so you can push through. I enjoyed that part of it because I was able to give my all for the whole set instead of getting exhausted half way through. It was really hard to get water but at random points she would take a “walk around the room” break where you jog/walk fast to get your heart rate up again.

Biggest Accomplishment: I somehow got myself pulled off the floor in the side plank position. Granted my knees were bent so its kind of like cheating but before I never could get off the ground, so if I have to cheat a little to get my muscles to focus then I can work on getting my legs straight as I get stronger.

Tuesdays: Walk Outside OR Trampoline [minimum 20 minutes]

Now, this in no way sounds challenging or like a lot of effort. BUT trick is, the day before caused so much muscle building that moving is such a challenge the concept of walking to the bathroom was daunting let alone walking for 20 minutes at a reasonable pace or even trampoline-jogging. I made a commitment though and even though I literally put it off until 9:00 pm and was so tired, I couldn’t not do my first self inflicted workout. So, because Mother Nature thinks its funny to tease us with spring weather then make it snow in April, I decided to do the trampoline jogging. I turned the TV on and luckily bulging brides was on. I like that show and watching them do much harder workouts then my measly jogging was motivation to keep going and going and going.

I got to my 20 minutes and with the television show not over, I thought, Why don’t I keep going? And I did. I jogged with random spurts of high knees and faster jogging for an additional 10 minutes. So really, I ended up with a 30 minute jog even though my muscles were sore. The thing I love about the trampoline is even though it is a really great workout and you do feel it the next day, it doesn’t hurt while your doing it.

Biggest Accomplishment: Pushing myself an extra TEN minutes even though I was tired and needed to go to bed but decided looking good in a bathing suit was a thousand times more important.

Wednesdays: Elliptical OR Trampoline [20 minutes minimum]; Weights- Arms; Abs [100 crunches/moves – varying types]

Now, I gave myself a harder Wednesday either because I forgot how boot camp kills, or because I am mentally challenged. I was MORE sore on Wednesday from boot camp (maybe some of it was trampoline pain) but sitting into chairs was hard. My thighs were dead. So obviously I kept trying to ration it in my brain, your sore you can’t work out! But then at 9:30 I got mad at myself and was like, seriously It is only day 3 of this and your giving up? And I pulled out my Trampoline and began jogging. This time I only did 20 minutes because I had other things to do.

Arm weights are important to me because I like to feel strong. Maybe its because I am so short that I always have to justify that I am as strong –if not stronger- then all those tall girls but I hate that my arms jiggle. I used my 5 lb weights and worked each muscle until exhaustion. I wasn't counting but I did each one until it wasn’t able to do it with proper form again. This I hear is how you get the lean long muscles instead of the super big bulky ones you get if you use super heavy weights.

Abs were fun as always… By fun, I mean awkward and painful. I know crunches are not the BEST type of exercise but its something to help and I do a whole bunch of different ones to work the different core muscles.

Biggest Accomplishment: I will probably say this a lot but the biggest accomplishment was to actually start. I am a notorious procrastination. HENCE, I am blogging when I have 4 days until my 3 exams that I have in no way begun to prepare for. So the fact that (even though I could be studying) I got myself to workout for 30-40 minutes is fairly impressive. I am hoping that this schedule helps motivate me to want to workout on my own so the fact that (even though its two days) I was able to do it is impressive just on its own.

Thursday: Pilates [6:45-7:45]

This starts tonight. I am really nervous because I have never done a Pilates class before. I have done body flow at the good life gyms and LOVED it, but I have a feeling this will be really different and really hard. I am excited because it should be an amazing Abs-Core-Back workout and that is my biggest trouble area. I am that disgusting-and-dangerous-to-your-health APPLE BODY SHAPE. It is so bad to have all your fat in the middle and that's exactly where mine sits. And I have a lot of it. I have like… 35 pounds of fat that can just vanish and I would still be healthy sized. On someone who is 5foot 2 that is bad. I am working on it though! I will let you know how Pilates is!

Fridays: Just Dance 2 OR Trampoline [minimum 20 minutes]; Abs [100 crunches/moves]

Just Dance 2 is basically my favourite work out EVER. Not only is it crazy cardio-tastic but I get to play with my favourite ladies Chels and Colleen and we are getting really good! Well they were always good, but now I am getting better. Most Fridays I spend with them but I gave myself the option of subbing in trampoline because Chels has competitions and I have exams and stuff so sometimes it doesn't happen. Also, Abs are important even though I will be in crazy Pilates pain because it is April, in roughly two and a half months I will be expected to wear a bathing suit. That is no good. So before the humiliation happens I would like to get as much fat off me as possible with my cardio plans and it would be great to have some muscles waiting underneath that thick layer of ick so that when I can get it off I will be bathing suit ready!

Saturday: Elliptical [20 minutes]; Walk Outside [15 minutes]; Arms

So weekends I need to focus because that's usually when I eat pizza or other wondrous weekend food. So Saturdays have these three steps including taking the dogs for a walk. If its ever raining I guess I will sub in trampoline jogging but the doggies enjoy walking so on nice days I will take them out for a stroll through the forest.

Sunday: Elliptical [20 minutes]; Walk Outside [15 minutes]; Arms; Abs [100 crunches]

As said before weekends are bad so I have to exercise a lot and then Sundays add Abs so that 4 out of 7 days a week I will be working out that Food Baby.

 

 

So that is the plan! Hopefully I can stick to it. I am making a binder to record my “Actual” accomplishments. So that when I jog an extra ten minutes or do extra crunches or miss a day I have it recorded for review later if I don’t lose weight or if I lose a lot in one week I can look at why.

 

Now! BACK TO STUDYING! (I would rather jog for a month straight than study for finals…)

Forgive Me Food Baby....

For I have sinned. It has been weeks since my last workout and out of shame, since my last blog post.

I know I should be better, but the lack of motivation while at home has consumed me. The energy and motivation for not failing at boot camp has dwindled and thought my next class would start sooner but because of the location chosen it starts tonight. It is time to recommit.

Not only will I be doing a Boot camp class on Mondays (Fitness Hooping was cancelled because not enough people signed up) I will begin my first ever Pilates class on Thursday! It is an inconvenient week for classes to start because its EXAM WEEK next week but I have to get back on the horse before I gain any more weight back. I am pretending like its just water / PMS weight but its probably the bag of baked lays I devoured almost entirely on my own, alongside the half a pan of brownies that was my supper last night.

I don't know why its so hard to stay motivated. I did it for two months straight, lost 12 ish pounds, now I can only say I lost 10 pounds and haven't done measurements in weeks. I assume I am losing muscle though because my legs are getting jiggly again.

However, through it all, my weekly JUST DANCE 2 battles with my girls have happened. I even crack 10000 points on Hey Ya which if you have ever played you know how tricky that is. Me and Chels even played Rasputin this Friday. Have you played this level yet? Hardest. Song. Ever. Especially for someone whose knees don't bend like that and crack if you turn to quickly. I cant squat as low as Chels but I kept up nicely! A few weeks ago I played with Colleen also and I believe she has a potential career as a Tina Turner impersonator. <3.

The worst part about these last few weeks is money issues. The way my pay checks fall, I ended up getting all three days I missed of work off one check and then with some really high bills including a 200$ bill to repair my poor virus infected laptop that basically broke my heart on Thursday, followed by a 200$ vet bill to help my poor baby eat her food on Friday, I have no money left over for groceries.

I got a bit of stuff [Thank Freddy I got my Tax cheque otherwise lord knows what would happen] last night at the grocery store but I need my computer back so I can pay off my credit cards and get back on track.

I think I jinxed my computer. I have been contemplating buying a new one because I tend to get bored of my technology quickly and so was looking into a desktop so I could have a nicer keyboard for my writing endeavors, but as soon as I look into getting a new computer, even though I can't afford it, my laptop crashes costing me half as much as a new computer. I was tempted to just buy a new one instead but then I would have to transfer all my pictures myself and that's a lot of work and I would probably end up transferring the virus alongside them.

Anyways, back to relevant information. Workouts! Resume tonight. now at 6:30 I will re-enter the hell that was boot camp. It is in a different location and has a different teacher so maybe the exercises will be different. If not, tonight will suck. Day one literally almost killed me even by the second time we got to it. Stepper-things are not fun. But they gave me great legs really fast. These legs have since turned back into tubes of cottage cheese. But Tanya's wedding is in Three weeks from Saturday and I am wearing a strapless dress that hits just above the knees so I need to look good.

I am excited for 2 classes a week. I think that will make a big difference. Especially because they are two such different classes. I have heard only amazing things about Pilates and I know from experience how useful boot camp is in muscle and cardio building. I am excited for the mixture and I will keep you updated on how it goes!


PS! Bought the new Britney CD and had a dance party with the girls. It's fun to dance like a fool !

Laziness is the Enemy

SO, its now MARCH! Two full months complete and already two weeks into March. Crazy. I think I have been doing pretty well so far. Granted I have cheated and eaten so many Delicious things, but overall I have been pretty good.

The only really large issue is, since boot camp ended a few weeks ago and before it ended the last class was cancelled. I haven't really had a good work out in weeks! I have had almost no motivation when it counts. The only time I feel like exercising are when I am bored at work. I get home, I sit down and I don't move. Or like last night I spent my evening in my office jotting down notes but really could and should have taken 20 minutes and gone for a run.

I weighed in this morning and despite my three weeks of laziness I have still been losing weight. The only thing is I have probably started to lose muscle and that is the last thing I want. I won't become a super hero if I jiggle. Super heroes do not jiggle.

Tonight I will be going for either a run on the elliptical, a jog on the trampoline, or perhaps I will go outside and go for a brisk walk as it is finally starting to warm up. I think I might do the elliptical today but who knows. Apparently I can make these plans now and get home and eat muffins all night.

I need to get re motivated... Usually I receive monthly motivation when I receive my Women's Health Magazine. I love the tips they have and the exercise routines always seem so great, however I haven't received it in months and I am getting cranky. I have updated my address and emailed them twice so they better send it soon.

I believe I am resigning up for boot camp. The next session starts soon and I think I really need to be in it. I might sign up for a Pilates class also but that doesn't start for a while so I have time to decide and figure out if I have enough spare money. I know its good to invest in myself and all, but its also good to have electricity and food. I really need the classes to motivate me. Because I always am so out of shape when I start the classes I am motivated to work harder in between because I hate being embarrassed by the super fit perfect girls in the class. I want to be the super fit girl, not the one that's turning purple with a charlie horse in her calve and a stitch up her side.

Any type of class is good though... There is also a fitness hooping one that sounds interesting? I read in Shape magazine that that is how Marissa Tomei stays fit and shes in great shape so maybe something to consider?

Weigh in this week surprised me, I expected to have not lost any weight this week but I was down 1 pound... Based on the pattern of my weight loss since I started, the last three weeks have been surprisingly good. I wonder if its because its muscles that are dissolving... I hope not. I have been really good with my food. I discovered these individual packages of turkey and chicken that are pretty good which are only 100 calories. It is so much deli meat and really I shouldn't eat it all but for 100 calories, may as well. I have been putting it on a weight watchers whole wheat bagel that are only 140 calories. so total 240 calories for lunch? I usually have a muffin as well but that still only brings me up to 355 calories. And I am full until I get home from work at 4.

My muffin kick is still going strong. I love them and they are so good. Its probably going to be an issue because I keep eating too many and not letting them make me full. I really need to do groceries and get a wider variety of foods. Cannot live off of muffins. (However if I could I probably would...)

Dear Walmart

Your pants are ridiculous.

So, as a student/recent home buyer/dutch girl I have never been fond of spending exuberant amounts of money on silly things. One of these silly things is clothing. Mostly because the clothes that I absolutely LOVE do not look good in sizes 12-14. So I settle. I settle with the riff raff sale bins at walmart. I know the clothes don't really look great but I figure why spend money when I don't intend on staying this size forever.... I have been this size for four years and still haven't thought to splurge? Oh well.

My problem is this, my pants that I have been wearing to work are a size 14 from Walmart. Their dress pants fit unusually and uncomfortably small. So when I started my job my pants we crazy tight. Now that I am down 11 lbs and 17 inches, these pants now resemble that of a 14 year old boy in 1996 with their under pants hanging out. Not really work appropriate.

A few weeks ago as these pants started to fall down I tried to squeeze back into my other dress pants I bought without trying on and have never ever fit. They are a size 12 also from Walmart's "I only fit tiny people with obscenely long legs" collection. So when that didn't work I just made sure to wear long shirts to cover any peaking undergarments.

Today, I figured I would try again as yesterday was embarrassing as my old size 14 dress pants are pretty much not attractive and I had to drop off a paper at school. I do not like being at my school when I am in my "normal" 22 year old clothes, let alone in my "grownup" dress pants while everyone else seems to dress like fashion models. So this morning, after facing the humiliating trek at school wearing my baggy old lady pants, I decided to try on my less embarrassing black size 12 pants.

These pants now will go up, and my legs will actually fit so that's good, they are mildly tight on top but I think within the next two weeks they will fit much better, or even once they stretch out a bit from being worn. They are WAY too long. I think Walmart only makes pants for giants... I get that I am short but they are moderately excessive. I need to go get them tailored if I intend on wearing them more often. All in all I am pretty happy that I can now get into these pants as two months ago no amount of Crisco would have gotten these to button.

I need to exercise tonight. I have fallen off the wagon per say with my exercise habits. Stupid essays and midterms. No more excuses! well not until the last weekend in March because then its another paper but hopefully it wont be too awful.

What I have been working on is my food! I have been trying to figure out healthier snacks/breakfasts to eat so that I am full and happy all the time. My friend Emme has given me her excellent recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins. Holy yum. I like them so very much! I am so impressed by how easy and fast they were to make as well. I could make them healthier next time by buying whole wheat flour, but I wanted to make it easier this time and I already had regular flour at home.

The recipe is really easy, I will post it soon...assuming its not a secret family recipe, I would assume not. But they are fast and if you use the "medium" cups as I did you end up with 24 muffins at only 115 calories. I am testing today to see how long one muffin keeps me full. So far its 8:25 I ate mine at 5:30 so pretty good? I am not starving as I usually am by this time. I could eat but I could almost always eat. I brought an extra muffin with me because I had originally assumed it would make only 12 muffins so accounted for 230 calories. I am super pleased with them. I think it must be the oatmeal filling me up?

So all in all, decent day. Made it into a size smaller pants, had a Delicious muffin for breakfast and will have another for snack and finished my essay on time and handed it in (despite the awkward walk through the halls). I believe tonight I will do some "rebounding" and then use my dumbbells and work on my arms some more. My biceps are getting plenty big but if this little waddle underneath doesn't go away soon I am going to be displeased....If anyone in the world knows how to get rid of the "Bingo Wings" or as I call them "Oprah Waddle" please tell me... I have to go to a wedding in a few months and most dresses do not have sleeves...

Multitasking is not fun

Especially when all of your tasks are undesirable. So this week I haven’t been around much. Sorry! I seem to have had a midterm and assignment within two days of each other as well as working and exhaustion and trying to find time to exercising… and failing at every last one of them.

My midterm was impossible to study for and I did awful, my paper is terrible, work was pretty whatever, I couldn’t sleep in on any of my days off as that now seems to be the norm and exercising, short of jumping on my new mini trampoline a few times I did not complete any kind of challenging goals. I think the longest I “rebounded” (as I have been informed its called) for was 10 minutes. I guess I need to build up my endurance but it is a really good work out.

I need to plan out times to work out and make commitments until I get back into an exercise class. Registration begins tomorrow night so I really need to get the guide and pick a class to take. I would enjoy taking the boot camp again, or maybe a Pilates/yoga class to help with flexibility. I wouldn’t mind an aqua class but I don’t think I am really ready for a bathing suit just yet.

This week I have been focusing on my eating as it was getting a little bit ridiculous. I have decided that my little addiction to fruit snacks is absurd. I really love them and they are the PERFECT snack, but for some reason if I have one, I must eat 17… packages that is. Its really too bad because they are low cal and not too bad for you and taste delicious and are portable and fast. However I will honestly eat the entire box in one day if given the opportunity.

I need to find healthier snacks. It proves almost impossible for me as I am the worlds pickiest eater. It is so inconvenient but I just don’t like so many foods and the ones I don’t know if I will like I usually just don’t try them in pure fear that it will be disgusting and also I don’t like to waste food so why eat it and hate it when someone else loves it? That would be selfish of course.

I just made some low cal brownies! They come from a box and are the easiest things to make but they are so good. I also was given a friend’s recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip muffins. I am pretty sure I ate them at her house when I was little so I am almost positive I like them. And who doesn't like muffins? When I make them I will perhaps post a picture if they turn out yummy looking. I am not the best cook so its likely they will turn out looking like cups of vomit, but we shall see? I plan to buy the ingredients tomorrow.

I don’t think I will lose any weight this time as after my exam and before Chelsea’s dance show I ate more then necessary quantities of pizza followed by dairy queen I didn't even want but bought out of habit. It didn't even taste great… and the girls at the counter were super bitchy. I understand the displeasure of working until 10 on a Saturday night ladies, but if you don’t give the 12 year old her Oreos, she’s going to pout and it is no fun for anyone.

I really need to focus my exercising. I am starting to think that you lose pounds based on eating habits and inches on your exercise habits. Because the weeks where I work out hard core I end up losing inches every where but never much weight and then if I ever have a good food week (oh so rare) I tend to go down in weight by the .2 lbs I get to watch. It is getting frustrating, I kind of hate the biggest loser as it creates these false hopes in your sub conscious. Even though I know there's no humanly possible way to lose 22 lbs in a week, some guy on biggest loser did so it is in my brain that 1 lb is useless. But, that would be scary if I did lose 22 lb in a week… unless I cut off a leg which is not really on my to do list.

Anyways this was just a random I AM STILL ALIVE post. I will post something much more relevant when my brains not fried from writing a useless paper on random theories I pretend to understand. So have a good night!

OH! P.S. While I was writing my essay I didn't feel like citing the same thing three times for each point so I tried to figure out semi colons and Google brought me to this:  http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon holy moly that site is so funny. The semi colon ones not even the best one. How to ride a pony had my laughing pretty good.  Go check it out. I promise you will enjoy it. If you don’t… you are no fun.