164 lbs.

down 33 lbs. from start

24 lbs. to my goal

So I'm feeling good and remotivated! I really am back in my groove! Working out all the time keeps you energy level up and makes working out not so bad. It's weird how when you start getting lazy, it is soo hard to get back into it. But once you are into it, easy peasy!

Anyway, Phil and I trained with Jeff last night. I was totally not in the mood to work out. I was feeling shakey and like I hadn't eaten enough(although I think I had) before we even begun working out. We did mostly strength training stuff so I didn't die. I can already tell my arms and thighs are going to be sore. We ended our workout with a little competition. Phil and I sat in v-sits facing each other and had to take a stability ball, touch the ground on both sides of you with the ball and then throw it to the other person. We were seeing who could do it the longest. We did it for like 5 freaking minutes! Jeff expected like 40 seconds. lol. I didn't want to quit! I pushed through it. We were both dying, but thankfully Phil finally caved and I eventually won! lol. But I think seeing our motivation to beat eachother sparked some ideas in Jeff's head. I feel like there may be more competitions in our future.

We have a softball tournament tomorrow. I have never played softball before so that should be interesting.. lol. We created a team at work with a bunch of people from our department, excoworkers and our boyfriends and a couple friends. We are going to play again another department at our work. That should be fun. But it is supposed to rain. If it does get rained out, they are rescheduling it for June 29th. That is the same day as Pridefest and I really wanted to go to Pride this year since I had to miss last year. So we'll see!

So I lost my DietBet this month unfortunately. I didn't lose much weight, but at least I lost something. But I just joined another one! It begins tomorrow and ends July 1st. So that will mean that I will have to keep working on this while I'm on vacation! But ya know, I don't think that will be that bad. It is an all inclusive place.. so I'll be drinking a lot of alcohol. But when it comes to the food, I feel like I won't do that bad. I can't really snack there like I usually would. The restaurants are only open certain hours so I can't just go grab food when I'm bored and feel like munching. Last year, we typically only ate at meal times. So I think I'll be OK. But I still will have to try really hard, because I'll have a lot of new grounds to break. I haven't done my official weigh in yet but if I weigh tomorrow what I weight today... I'll have to be like 157ish lbs.

Well, I have to get back to work. I only have a half day today. AND I have a job interview! Wish me luck!

See ya!
Melissa

164 lbs.

down 33 lbs. from start

24 lbs. to my goal

I'm getting back into the groove of things. I have been to the gym every day this week since Monday and I'll be there tonight too. I have yet to lose any weight though. I need to work really hard these next few weeks. I want to be in the 150s by the Dominican. I always get stuck around this spot every 10 lbs. I have to push through and get into the next 10. As I've said before, that is always extra motivating and gives you that boost you needed! I will be so happy! It will be early highschool years weight!

I now fit into medium t-shirts well. That was one of my non-scale goals! I still wear a Large in tight/fashionable shirts and dresses, but it's still a step in the right direction. The pants still have a ways to go. I went shopping yesterday and it totally depends on the place, but I fit in between size 11 and 13. Some 13s fit me pretty good and then sometimes, they are huge. Pants are so weird and it's so hard to get ones that fit you just right. I think 13s are still way too tight from Target. But I hate all Target pants. lol.

Phil bought some new protein powder flavors. We got Cookies 'n Cream and Strawberry. I tried the Cookies 'n Cream last night. I have a problem with the texture of protein powder, but I think I figured out the best way for me to enjoy it. I blend 1 cup of ice, 1 cup of light chocolate soy milk and 1 scoop of Cookies 'n Cream protein powder. I think blending the ice into it makes the entire drink a different consistency so that I don't notice the powdery texture as much.

Well, my work sucks right now so I'm going to get back to work. Ughhhhh......

See ya!
Melissa

164 lbs.

down 33 lbs. from start

24 lbs. to my goal

OK, I am getting back into the swing of things! It's terrible how just taking a week off at the gym messes up your eating and your motivation all together. But Phil and I trained with Jeff last night. It felt great! I know I'm really going to be feeling it tomorrow! I'm already feeling it in my glutes a little this morning. I am seriously so happy that Phil and I signed up for this and are doing it together. It is really what we needed.

So I have concluded that I am not going to with this DietBet. I have 4 days to lose 4.4 lbs. I wish I didn't screw myself when I first started this bet by using my weigh out picture. I could have won if the goal was like 162 or so which is what it was supposed to be as opposed to 159 lbs. I also wish I could sign up for another DietBet right now. However, if I did, it would end while we were in the Dominican so I couldn't do my weigh out. So I am making a goal for myself. Maybe me and Phil can bet against each other. I want to be in the 150s and he wants to be in the 220s by the Dominican. So in the next 25 days, I need to lose at least 5-6 pounds! It won't be easy, but it's a totally do-able goal! I'm going to push myself. I don't want to fall off the bandwagon.

Let me tell you what happened last year... I lost almost 20 pounds from March to May-ish. We went on the float trip with our friends like we always do. I quit MyFitnessPal and went back to my old ways. I slowly gained all the weight back. We went to the Dominican in August. I wore a maxi dress on the flight there. We got off the airplane where they great you with shots and whatnot and a guy working at the airport asked me if I was pregnant!! That's one of the worst things that can happen to a girl. I was so mad and sad. And a few weeks after that, my grandma told me my belly looked like I was pregnant(grandmas have no filter, or at least mine doesn't). You'd think that would inspire you to do better. Well it doesn't. It just made me angry. So I ate my feelings. And gained more weight. It wasn't until I went to the doctor in November. I weighed 197 lbs and the doctor told me that I was prehypertensive. She then proceeded to tell me my weight in previous years and all about my gradual weight gain. I was tired of going to the doctor and them telling me how unhealthy and fat I was. That's probably one of the most exciting things to me now. I can't wait to go to the doctor, step on that scale and say "BOO YA!" lol.

I'm not quite sure how I got off on this tangent. I suppose it was, because I'm scared that I'm getting content. Last year, I made it to about 174 lbs, was happy with that accomplishment and quit. I'm scared that that is exactly what is happening now. Like "Hey Melissa, you are doing better than you ever have before. You are awesome. This is good enough." NO. I'm not done. I'm still not where I want to be.

Let me also tell you another thought I have. One reason that I think I start getting lazy is because all these people are like "You look so good! Don't want to lose anymore, you'll be too skinny". One, I know they are wrong. I won't be too skinny. I'm not skinny yet. I'm just not super fat. But two, I think people, not that they are trying to be mean, but don't want you to succeed. They don't want you to be so successful that it'll make them look bad. So it's like "Oh good job losing a little weight but don't lose anymore please. Then, you're going to make me look really bad!" I think I am probably guilty of this as well. It's just interesting. lol.

I can't wait to get off work today and go work out! I want to get rid of all my stress and enjoy this wonderful Memorial Weekend by doing fun things, but also by getting back into routine a little bit! I have plans to go to the zoo on Saturday. I haven't been in forever! Then, Phil and I are probably going to go down to the lake on Sunday until Monday. Phil's dad and stepmom will be down there so we'll do some fishing and hanging out. We haven't seen them much recently so it'll be good to catch up.

OK, back to work!
See ya!
Melissa

I've been doing terrible lately. I need to get re-motivated! I have been doing the bare minimum at the gym... only when we have a date with Jeff. No zumba, nothing! And I'll eat good for breakfast and lunch... and then do bad for dinner. Grrr... I don't know what's happened. I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things starting today. We have our workout with Jeff. Phil and I made a deal that we would make each other go to the gym tomorrow night before we do anything too.

I've been stressing hating my job the last couple of days. I even considering going back to school to get my MSW. Phil shot that idea down real quick. He's a stickler when it comes to money and the idea of another 20 something dollars in debt is not very appealing to him. So instead, I have applied for some social service jobs that I can apparently get with my Bachelors. We'll see! I'd be willing to take a pay cut if I got to do something I actually wanted to do. My job is just transforming into a job that I did not want or apply for. It's kind of unfortunate. It may just be a transitioning phase, but I'm not happy.

I also have some family drama going on right now. Not what I need! Not that there is such thing as a normal family, but Phil's is pretty darn normal compared to mine. Why can't I have that? Ugh.

I'm ready to go to bed. Too bad I gotta get my butt to the gym intsead.

See ya!
Melissa

I refuse to weigh myself today. It can't be good news. lol. I am going to weight a couple days and see how I'm doing once I am back into the swing of things. I did not work out a single time last week. And then we went camping/floating this weekend. It was a great time! And the dreaded bikini photos did not turn out as bad as I had expected! Luckily, all the pictures were on my camera so any that were absolutely horrendous, I could delete. But really, there wasn't too many. I feel pretty good about it.

Here's a couple pics...

Two of my best friends and I! (Ashley, me, Jenny)

This is my workout buddy and inspiration Jenny and I!

This is Jenny's husband Josh and I. This is probably one of the chunkier pictures of me from the float. But I still like it! That's an amazing thing!

So hopefully Jeff is all better this week and we can get back to training. I haven't been to the gym in a week and I already feel super out of shape. I have a feeling I'm going to die tonight. lol. We have less than a month till the Dominican now and I need to get serious! I want to keep going on vaca and to the lake and floats and feel better each time!

See ya!
Melissa



Why have I not worked out ALL week?! And I allowed myself to eat crap the last two days. I'm gonna be a chunker for the float trip. :( 

I don't even want to step on the scale until later next week when I have hopefully repaired the damage done this week. 

164.2 lbs.

down 32.8 lbs from start

24.2 lbs. to my goal

 

I was not successful in convincing myself to go to the gym last night... I've just been tired and wanted to relax. I also wanted to try one of those recipes I told you about! So I did a lot of snacking. It was all healthy snacking but I overdid it just a tad. From the blog, I made the One Minute Chocolate Cake.

 

I will tell you that mine looked nothing like that picture. However, I was happy with it. It wasn't the best chocolate cake I've ever had.. but I didn't expect it to be. It was good and satisfied my sweet tooth. I was mad at myself for not going to the gym. But ya know what, sometimes you need a break and to just not do anything. And that was me Monday and Tuesday this week. And also, we're going to have to be working out every single week for the next 6 months. We might as well take advantage of Jeff being sick this week and take a quick break. lol. I hope I can at least convince myself to go to zumba tonight. I mean, we do have a float trip this weekend!

See ya!
Melissa

 

164.2 lbs.

down 32.8 lbs from start

24.2 lbs. to my goal

So I have not personally tried any of these recipes YET... but I definitely will soon! Maybe even tonight! I discovered an amazing blog. You can visit it by clicking this link: Chocolate Covered Katie - The Healthy Dessert Blog! Obviously everything looks delicious! I've seen a lot of recipes on Pinterest for different healthy desserts. Most of the time when I look at the actual recipe, there is a loooong list of ingredients that I have never heard of and definitely don't have in my house! The ones I haven't heard of frustrate me. How am I supposed to go to the grocery store and find something when I don't even know what it is in the first place? haha

This is her Chocolate Cake Batter Milkshake! Yum!

Anyway, the recipes that I've found on this site all seem pretty simple. I have found quite a few that I can make without even having to run to the grocery store first. This is a major plus for me. Convienence! When I want something sweet, I want it now and I'm not going to go to the grocery store to buy ingredients. If I want sweets that bad, I'll end up going to Ted Drewes. lol.

So Jeff was sick and cancelled on our session last night. We rescheduled for today. Hopefully we survive! :)

See ya!

Melissa

Edit: Jeff is still sick so I have to talk myself into going to Cardio Dance tonight. I have not been in the mood to work out. I need my personal trainer to force me there! By the way, I love Jeff. He's nerdy. And super nice. The last text he just sent me...  "I want to be there so bad!!! It's killing me! You guys are awesome for staying on top of everything. I can't to see you guys soon!!" lol. Cute. Okay, bye!

164.2 lbs.

down 32.8 lbs. from start  

24.2 lbs. to my goal 

So the scale finally gave way! Not much but enough to keep me going. I'm also feeling a little more positive about the float trip. I think I'm gonna wear a bikini! Most tankinis aren't cute anyway. They kind of shorten your midsection making you appear even wider. I'm just gonna go for it. I just have to be conscious of my position in pics. No sitting just straight up and down on the raft. Only standing.. laying.. or hiding behind other people. Lol I just gotta do it! But I'm gonna work really hard this week for this weekend and also for my DietBet. I'm about 5 lbs away. If I work super super hard, I may be able to win. I'm not giving up! It's now or never! Today I had my first rest day since last Monday. I needed it I think. I decided to lay out for a bit instead of going to zumba. I liked this pic I took... But remember, I don't look like this standing up. Lol 

That's my motivational pic to keep me going and to feel that good about my body standing up, sitting down, jumping, whatever! 

Ok. Time for bed! 

See ya! 

Melissa 

165 lbs.

down 32 lbs. from start  

25 lbs. to my goal 

 

So this week is weird. It's our first week with a personal trainer which is awesome. But my weight is not moving. And I don't feel skinny this week. I feel like I don't look any different than I did at 197 lbs. Also, we have our yearly friend float trip next weekend. I just put on my swim suit.. and I'm not happy. I'm going to be in a tankini again this year. It wouldn't be as bad if I was standing up the whole time. But sitting down, I am still very unhappy with how my body looks. And so many pictures are taken on float trips while you're sitting on the raft. I'm just not having it. I thought that I would look so much better at this weight and I just don't. I thought I'd feel so much better this summer. I wish our trip to the Dominican Republic wasn't next month. We went in August last year. Even though I'm excited for the trip, now I want more time to work on my body. I want to be totally comfortable in a swim suit! And that will not happen in the next month. Blah. Maybe I'm just having a bad week. But I'm feeling uninspired. I have eaten well all week and worked out every day and the scale has not budged. I need the scale to keep moving or else I get unmotivated. And then you get my trainer and lots of other people that say "Don't look at the scale. Look at yourself in the mirror." That isn't helping. I'm looking chunky this week. This belly needs to go and it needs to go now! I'm crabby. Is this work day over yet so I can go workout with Jeff?

See ya!
Melissa

165 lbs.

down 32 lbs. from start  

25 lbs. to my goal 

 

Let's just say.. I am feeling Tuesday's workout! I feel it particularly in my upper arms/shoulders and back. I also feel a little in my glutes and abs. I'm glad we'll have two days between workouts to rest up a bit. I did zumba yesterday for two hours. I'm so happy to have found zumba. It's a way for me to do cardio and not feel like I'm working out.

 

I just wanted to let you all know that I can tell that I did something right on Tuesday. :) Now I'm ready for that scale to start moving again!!!

 

See ya!

Melissa

165 lbs.

down 32 lbs. from start  

25 lbs. to my goal 

 

So we survived Day 1 with our personal trainer! I actually really enjoyed it. I'll try to tell you what all we did that I can remember.

 

We started off doing a circuit that included...

• Box Jump
• Push ups
• Running on a broken treadmill(so we had to literally push the belt to move.. lol)
• The thing where you take a stability ball and switch it back and forth from your feet to your hands.. working your abs.
• Dead lifts(don't remember the weight)
• An arm exercise with weights.. don't remember the name

Then we switched it up a bit...

• Toe touches
• Lunges
• Push up holds
• Another arm exercise
• Planks
• Side planks
• Some push up balance opposite arm and leg things
• Push up and high five Jeff things
• Squats

And there were a lot more but I don't remember. We also did...

• Pull ups
• Hyper Extension Bench
• This thing where I put a stretch rop thing around my feet and pull it with my hands and take sideways steps

OK, that is about all I remember. And I'm sure I'm boring you trying to explain things that I don't know the names for. But I actually did better than I expected to. Jeff was just trying to get a sense of where our fitness level is at. Surprisingly, Phil had a really hard time. He thinks it may have been because of the Chinese food we had before.. lol. But he felt like he was going to pass out and had to sit down for a while. I think he was kind of beating himself up over it and felt stupid. But if you haven't done high cardio stuff in a long time, you're going to have a hard time. He's going to do better than I will in a lot of ways. I think that I would have been in the exact same position had I not began cardio last Thanksgiving. Next time, Jeff said he plans to do some more strength training with weights. That will probably be more of Phil's thing than mine. Overall, I really enjoyed it and I look forward to more! Since our schedule this week is not our typical schedule, Phil is going to work out with him for 30 minutes on Thursday and I'll have my 30 minutes on Friday.

I'm going to zumba tonight to get my cardio in. I can't wait to see how my life is in 6 months!

See ya!

Melissa

165 lbs.

down 32 lbs. from start  

25 lbs. to my goal 

So Phil and I have signed our lives away.. We are officially signed up for 6 months with a personal trainer that involves 8 sessions per month (or twice a week). Ah! It ended up being WAY more expensive that we even thought.. but by the time we realized how much it was, it was kind of too late to back out. It is so expensive that I can't believe I'm really doing it.. However, I am happy that I am. I think it will be worth it! 6 months is enough time to make big changes! I've been on this journey for 6 months already, I should be where I want to be in another 6.

We will typically have our sessions on Mondays and Thursdays at 6:30pm. We couldn't fit it in yesterday so we're doing our first official session today. He expects us to do cardio 3 times a week so that means.. I will be working out 5 days a week. And that also means I can do zumba and easily get my cardio in! And I still have the best zumba days free.. so I'll probably do Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday most weeks.

My trainer Jeff did my assessment yesterday(meaning he took all my  measurements and what not). I am currently at 29% body fat which is in the average range for women. I'm pretty happy with that. But Jeff has plans to get me to like 24-25%. He tells me to stop worrying about the scale and just look at myself in the mirror. If I'm happy with that, that's the important part.. especially since he plans for me to lose fat, not weight. Well, I can't not look at the scale. I know it drives a lot of girls crazy. It helps me. It keeps me motivated. And I do want to lose fat and gain muscle, but I still need to get more lean. I know my body type and I know I should technically be smaller. My mom and I have very similar builds and she was always thin when she was young. She had a really good body. I would like to get to her size back then. I'll tone up as I go, but I still have some weight to lose whether Jeff agrees or not. lol.

Jeff did tell me that I'm more fit than Phil. I found that kind of funny. Because 6 months ago, I think I was the same as Phil. In fact, I'd always be scared to do physical activities with friends for fear of being so out of shape. I would ride bikes with Phil but if he wanted to ride with a group of friends, I would back out. I'd be so scared that everyone would be going too fast and I wouldn't be able to keep up. Same thing when my friends would invite me to do 5ks. I'm still a little scared of that though. lol. Now I'm getting to the point where I realize, my fitness level is pretty average and I need to not limit myself so much. I've never heard of anyone dying from riding a bike while out of shape. lol.

OK.. time to get to work! I'll let you know how tonight goes!

See ya!
Melissa

165 lbs.

down 32 lbs. from start  

25 lbs. to my goal 

So I have been eating well and working out really hard the last week or two(if you don't count yesterday) and the scale is moving slowly, but I want it to go faster! When you work hard, it should pay off. lol. I know it will in the long run but sometimes it doesn't feel like it. So I bought a new scale this week just because I thought I had a cheap one that wasn't entirely accurate. My new one is the same way. I can weigh myself twice in just one minute and the scale sometimes says two different things. Obviously my weight doesn't fluctuate that quickly. I just wonder if there is a scale that exists that just works really well. I'd like that scale!

So I have realized that alcohol is bad. Not only are you ingesting too many calories when you go out drinking, but the aftermath is even worse. After a night of drinking, sometimes I'll want to eat at night. But the next morning, I really want to eat. I want the worst food possible and lots of it. That's how I'm feeling today.. morning after Cinco de Mayo. I did more drinking this weekend than I've done in weeks. And I think I can go a few more weeks without drinking. lol.

So Phil and I have decided to sign up with a personal trainer. We are going to do the group training. It's a lot cheaper if we do it together. It'll be 2 times a week for 6 months! It's definitely not cheap, but I think it could change us! 6 months is a long committment. I'm looking forward to it. I hope to still fit in my zumba on the other days as cardio and then hope the trainer can assist me more with the weights and toning. Hopefully that will help me lose the weight but get toned at the same time so I don't find myself having to play catch up in the toning department once I reach my goal weight. I'm pretty sure we are signing up today after work!

I stumbled across this picture the other day. I want Britney Spears' body! I don't want to be uber muscular. I just want to be small and toned. This is my inspiration. :)

I do not want to work today... and I want Jack n the Box. Blahhh. Hopefully I can keep myself in check. I cannot slack this month. My summer body and the DietBet is currently on the line! :)

See ya!

Melissa