This is my journey to become a healthier me. It began on January 26, 2010 and stalled out... I got a type 2 diabetes diagnosis on March 30, 2022 and started to focus on my health again. On November 8, 2022 I added Ozempic to my toolbox to help me shed some pounds and inches!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Sigh: Round Two

Once again, I was expecting to post a big number this week. Today is Day Thirteen of the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Slimdown, and I've stuck to the program 100%. Some exercises I have more trouble with than others since I am not all that flexible, but I've been trying my best. I was expecting at least some kind of reward for all this effort!

Nope. I'm down 0.8lbs. Seriously, I was doing better when I was just counting calories and not exercising at all, and that's really frustrating since I know the exercise is good for my body. I mean, I know I'm not obese anymore so it's harder to take the fat off, but I still have about thirty pounds that I want to lose, so I didn't expect it to get really difficult for at least another ten or fifteen pounds, especially since at one point last year I was about eight pounds lighter.

My muscles still ache like hell when I'm exercising, so if the previous commenter was correct and they are holding water, I guess that could be part of it. But I didn't think this would continue, especially since in the past I've at least done the 30 Day Shred a couple of days a week and it started taking weight off well. I just was stupid and gave up.

I've also been eating better than I have in a while. More fresh vegetables and salads. I've also been finding that I've fallen into the habit of having four or five mini meals a day instead of just breakfast/lunch/dinner. It's made more sense because I prefer to eat lightly before a workout, and then I'm usually hungry afterwards, so I have a small meal before and after a workout. I'm still counting calories so I know I'm well within my optimum range and I am not overeating just because I'm exercising.

Well, I'm feeling stubborn, so I'm going to finish the workout and just ignore this result and see what happens. But I am not really happy right now. It would be nice to get a little positive feedback! Seeing the pounds drop off when I started losing weight really gave me the incentive to keep going. Now I feel like I am not getting much.

Bodies are frustrating. That is all.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Sigh

Well, today was intended to be an excited, triumphant post. I've been keeping a secret and didn't want to share it and risk jinxing myself by talking about it before I was really ready. But anyway, I'm not ready to quit yet so I am going to keep writing and we'll see how it goes.

A week ago, I started the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Slimdown. I've written about it before but I've always given up in less than a week, for various reasons. This time, apparently the thrill of putting those cute little star stickers on my calendar (just like potty training a toddler!), is working to keep me motivated because I've completed week one of the program. I've also been using an iPhone app, Lose It!, to keep track of my calories. I used to be a Sparkpeople fan but I love the barcode scanner on the app that saves me the hassle of inputting all the food information if it's not in the database. And of course, always having my phone around makes it handy to use.

So for the past week I've been right in my caloric range every day, and I've exercised every day except yesterday which was my day off. And boy, do those workouts kick your butt! I also add in some extra cardio on the 30 Day Shred days since the workout is only 20 minutes; I add at least 20 minutes on my elliptical trainer. I was anticipating a nice big drop in weight, which is what usually happens to me when I start exercising. I've never been this focused on exercise before. Would the promises on the Jilliam Michaels DVD about losing up to five pounds a week apply to me? Well, no. I actually gained half a pound. I felt so miserable when I looked at the scale today. How was that even possible? I'm incorporating more vegetables into my program than I usually do, exercising daily, and counting calories; how can I actually be GAINING weight? But at any rate, I committed to my husband to finish the program and see what happens. Maybe the scale will start to move. I sure hope it will! But I guess all I can do is to keep doing what I'm doing.