such a bad blogger!

My sister and I made another pact...this one a year long.  We are calling it the 4th of July bet.  There are four quarter check ins and a five pound loss expected for each weigh in.  October 8th was the first weigh in...we all made it...now the next one is Dec 31st...yikes.

End of first week - 49 more to go!

Darn scale...went up 2 pounds on Saturday so Monday's official weigh in was down 4 pounds.  This week has been good so far lots of crossfit and lots of treadmill (it is to blessedly hot here in MD to be outside...sorry I'm a whimp when it comes to wet heat.) I need to take my measurements so that I can have some perspective with the scale.  I saw an interesting quote the other day and loved it :

"because excuses are the minions of apathy!" I have no minions today :)

almost home a week...and 5 pounds lost!

I know I lamented about not losing weight in MT, but apparently my body was "saving" it for this week. :) 

We (my sister, my dad {gasp} and I started a new diet pact - this one has been dubbed the 4th of July Bet.

Here are our rules:

Rules:

• 50 week bet of half pound a week. 
  • We are shooting for 1/2 pound a week. That's 6 pounds per 12 week session. The penalties apply at 5 pound per 12 week session. 
• Check in days are on Mondays.
• If a quarterly check in is not achieved then the participant will pay $100 to the opposite political party. For the quarter following the payment, we will pledge to loose 5 pounds from there. For example, if the second quarter we miss our 10 pound goal and loose 8 pounds, then $100 would be owed to the other party and the third quarter goal will be 13 pounds.
• If someone passes the goal for the quarter, GOOD JOB! The next quarter's goal stays the same. For example, if someone looses 8 pounds in the first quarter, then the second quarter goal is still 10 pounds. 
• We are counting in whole pounds, no rounding.

Start bet July 16, 2012

1st Quarter Check in = 5 pound loss by October 8, 2012

     Total Goal Loss: 5

2nd Quarter Check in = 5 pound loss by December 31, 2012 (Because of the cruise dad has to maintain this quarter, his goal will be to loose 5 pounds total by Dec. 31)

     Total Goal Loss: 10

3rd Quarter Check in = 5 pound loss by March 25, 2013

     Total Goal Loss: 15

4th Quarter Check in = 5 pound loss by July 4, 2013 

     Total Goal Loss: 20

My sister wrote up the rules...I think she missed her calling as a lawyer! :)  hmm...we didn't have any contingency plans if someone lost all of their weight before the 4th of July 2013...we should all be that lucky (ahem skilled) to lose our 20 pounds before the deadline!

After 4 weeks of CrossFit...

My sister and I...or I should say I talked my sister into doing a little CrossFit with me while I was in Montana for the month.  So, the big nerd in me wanted to take some baseline data and see how much better we could do by the end of the 4 weeks.  Our baseline was 4 rounds of 50 seconds of work with a 10 second break, 4 exercises in each round so a total of 12 minutes of exercise.

Base line data                                     At the end of 4 weeks
Squats 37                                            Squats 83
Push Ups 41                                       Push Ups 79 (no I couldn't squeeze out 1 more)
Tricep Dips 77                                   Tricep Dips 93
Ab crunches 138                                Ab crunches 174 (!)


Pretty exciting results.  We plan to continue doing CrossFit with a tentative schedule of 3 days on and 1 day of rest.  When the school year starts I think we'll move to a Monday and Friday off and the rest of the week on.  I think that now that we are stronger it will be a good time to add in some more cardio, but we'll see how this goes.  I can say at the end of my month in Montana I have lost 3 pounds (at time it was a total of 5 pounds) and I think I am burning fat off and putting on muscle and .... I .... hate.... how that does not show up on the scale. I think it is time for another weight loss bet.... but more on that on Monday.

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming

I've been exercising....I've been watching what I eat....and does the scale show it? nope...nada...nilch....boo...

I am pretty sure I am replacing fat with muscle as I can tell in the mirror I am less lumpy and bumpy...I just wish the scale would show it too.

So, until then my goal is to not get discouraged and to just keep swimming....just keep going...keep going. :)

Day 3

In the past my down fall has been on the dreaded Day 3 of vacation, I am halfway through the day and feeling pretty good. :)

I think that meal planning has really helped and asking my dad to move all of his candy out of the way has been a big help.  I also thing that starting to do some Cross Fit exercises every day have been good for me as well.  I got my sister involved with CrossFit so that was extremely helpful as well.  Here is what we have done the past 3 days:

Day 1 (Base line)

3 sets of 50 seconds for each exercise with a 10 second rest; total workout 12 minutes

As many of each type of exercise as you can do in the 50 seconds being mindful of form.

Squats
Push Ups (However you can do them girly or otherwise)
Dips (we tried the chair dips the first round and then modified them)
Abs (crunches

Day 2 = 3 sets of 50 seconds and 10 rest; total workout 12 minutes

Squats
Push ups
Abs
Touch downs (kind of a slide where you touch your foot or ankle and then skip over to the other ankle...hard to explain )

Day 3 = 3 sets of 50 seconds and 10 rest; total workout 15 minutes

Squats
Plank (yoga move)
high knees (hold your hands straight out at the waist and bump your palm with your knee)
Abs
Dips

Tomorrow is a rest day and boy do we need it, I am very sore but it is that stretchy-you-know-you-have-worked-out kind of feeling.

And I am officially down a pound since I got here! yay me!

I have made it through day 2

I have successfully made it through 2 days on a low carb diet at my parents house....although I think I might give myself a reward after being here for a month on a LC diet and have a carb day....we'll see.

I have also started crossfit and I am liking it!

Goals for the next Month

I am going to my parents for a month and I have to set goals.  I tend to last 3 days, and only 3 days, on any kind of diet, while I am there.  I slip into old patterns of eating and sweets when confronted with stressers that only family can bring on.  So, my goal is to last more than 3 days because I can't afford to eat my way through the next month with my family.  My other goal is to do something active every day while I'm there.  I have finally figured out how to use Amazon Cloud so I've got some music to walk / jog (?) to and I am excited about that.  How I plan on keeping LC is to meal plan with my mom, she is a fabulous cook and cooks her way through stress.  She also plans very large meals when we are around (think Thanksgiving dinner) and I really can not afford to eat that way while there.  We will see how things go! :)

Progress on Week 1 of new bet

Well, right after I wrote that last blog I slipped in the rain and wrenched my toes.  I thought I had broken them, they were THAT bruised, but after I had them X-rayed they were fine only sprained.  Thank goodness, as for what my bet eventually will be I haven't figured that out other than I am taking this week to get back on track with my eating low carb and resting my foot as much as possible so that I can walk the 5K. I signed up for it a long time ago (actually I signed up for the whole season and have missed the first 2 for various reasons) and the doc said I could do it if I WALKED it absolutely no RUNNING!

Oh and I am down 4 pounds since starting Atkins on Monday....and I feel so much better with out the sugar swings!

My goal today is to figure out what I can do reasonably this summer and set up guide lines for myself.  I need guide lines because the boys and I are going to Montana for a month and historically I last 3 days with my family before I fall off the diet band wagon and I can NOT afford to spend four weeks with them off diet.  I have a plan.... and now I am just going to need my husband to text me daily and remind me of that :)

I think I'm ready to start again :)

OK, it has been a loooong time since I posted...wait lemme check....yup it's almost been a year.  yikes.  Well, there have been a slew of issues I've had to tackle and I think I'm at a place where I can try again.  Here's what the  past year has wrought:

#1 I had a very rough year with an administrator who very much disliked what I had to say...especially when it was the truth (or a more realistic version of the truth in my every humble opinion).  So, I agreed to be excessed (moved to another school) I found a position as a 5th grade teacher where as I was teaching 1st with her.

#2 My dad had major heart surgery to fix a dissecting aorta ... a fatal issue if not treated.

#3 My dad's recovery was filled with what the doctors believed were mini strokes... which turned out to be mini seizures and now he feels much much better but he will have painful irregular beats which can be brought on by heat and stress

#4 My son started Kindergarten and I had a sitter lined up for him and then it fell through within the first month of school and I had to scramble to find an alternative

#5 Then there was teaching 5th grade and I remembered why I moved back down to the primary grades (I had taught 5th grade for many years before my children were born.)  My problem, and it is all mine, is that I care too much.  I take it very personally when kids do not do well on high stakes tests (and my county likes to test up the ying yang)  I can teach the curriculum with my eyes closed but I take it too personally.

#6 then there was my actual students I had about 5 "lovelies" that made teaching the other 24 of them difficult and then halfway through the year I got another "lovely" that upset the pecking order.  At times I felt like a I was holding down a lid on a boiling pot of water, most of the time I could keep the boiling water from overflowing but more than I would have liked it boiled over.... not a good time to diet....not at all....sigh.

After graduation of my lovelies...I packed up one classroom and moved it to another because I had a heartfelt conversation with my new principal and told her I need to move to a primary position (first or second).

So, next year I will be a second grade teacher :) and now I am going to put myself on a summer challenge of weight loss!