Allyson | Week 9 | I Want to Ride my Bicycle

¯¯Bicycle! Bicycle! Bicycle!

I want to ride my bi-cy-cle,

I want to ride my bike!

I want to ride my bi-cy-cle

I want to ride it where I like! ¯¯

(Queen- "Bicycle Race")

Let's go, spring, I'm ready to ride!             I had various bikes growing up and loved cruizin’ around the neighborhood. My 'little girl bike' was complete with handlebar ribbons and bike spoke beads [#childofthe90s]. I must confess, even though my bike was awesome I was always a bit jealous of my sister’s cooler bike that had a radio attached to the handle bars [#firstworldproblems]. I distinctly remember getting my ‘big girl bike’ the Christmas I was in 3^rd grade. I came downstairs into the room with the Christmas tree and presents surrounding it and didn’t think twice of a bike. Then for some reason I made my way into the kitchen and there her beautiful tealness was! I was so excited! I rode that beaut throughout my childhood and into my early teens. But alas, my late teens came. I got “cool”, no longer needed a bike, and my old friend found a new home via a garage sale.

And then I was bikeless.

A few years ago our pastor found a bike on the side of the road and brought it to the church for someone’s daughter. This girl already had a bike so I said I’d take it. It wasn’t in too bad of shape and Colin gave it some new tires, fixed it up, and it was good to go. The only problem was that it was more of a junior’s bike than a women’s bike. Now, I’m not tall by any means (a mere 5’2.75), but long distance riding was not an option on that hand-me-down. Last year I whined like a baby all summer for a new bike.

AND THEN what to my wandering eyes should appear?! After dropping not-so-subtle hints all summer, Colin surprised me on my birthday with an amazing new dark purple Trek!! My lovely sister knew I was getting this wonderful gift and she gave me a cute turquoise basket [adorned with flowers] and a silver bell [so everyone knows I’m coming]! Luckily the weather on my birthday was just perfect and Colin and I spent the day at the Cuyahoga Valley Towpath riding 15 miles, and then taking the scenic train ride back to give our screaming thighs a break!

We live just minutes from the beginning of the Western Reserve Greenway that spans 43 miles through Trumbull and Ashtabula counties. Since getting my new bike we try to go there as often as possible. Last season we made it several times, and made friends with the cows!  We also took another trip to the Cuyahoga Valley Towpath, a family trip to Oil City, and celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary riding around Geneva on the Lake, basking in the mist of Lake Erie.

Moooos

We relished in our first ride of this season just a couple weekends ago at the Western Reserve Greenway. It was a bit chilly, and pretty windy, so we only completed 11 miles. [Thanks to Colin’s handy dandy bicycle computer we have quite accurate readings of very important cycling information like current mph, average mph, and time/distance traveled.] We averaged about 14 miles per hour and, according to Colin’s bike computer, burned around 500 calories. I thought there was no way we burned that much-- I burn that in an hour of Zumba. However, I have searched online and found several bicycle calorie calculators that, when I input the data from our ride, give me the same number [more like 477]. Spinning off [pun intended] of last week’s post about finding an exercise I love, bicycling is another. I really have been doing it more for enjoyment than a work out, but I will absolutely take a 500-calorie burn!

Oil City

Colin and I have set a goal for ourselves to ride a minimum of 100 miles per month this season [April-September]. We thought we might be able to get 100 miles covered in March, but that doesn’t look too promising as it is still 25° and snowing. This season we will visit the path near us regularly and aim to ride the entire path in one day. I’m thinking there must be a B&B at the other end in Ashtabula [with those covered bridge attractions and all] so the plan would be to ride up, stay the night, and then ride home the next day. We will also meet up with friends at the Cuyahoga Valley Towpath and have more family trips to Oil City.

Oil City      <3 Family

I am so thankful for my new, amazing bike! I thoroughly enjoyed it last season when I was riding just for fun, but now I will enjoy it even more knowing what a good workout it is. I’m thinking I can use it as a great interval training exercise and increase those calories burned and tone my legs/gluts even more!

Anniversary ride at Lake Erie

It really makes all the difference when you actually enjoy exercise and look forward to it….and it's all the better when you have  great riding buddies! 

Randee: Week: 9

Eating Plan: Weight Watchers Points Plus/Slow Carb

Goal: Lose 50 Pounds

Weekly Weight Loss: -1.6

Total Weight Loss: -8.2 pounds

Exercise Goals: 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes each time

Weekly Exercise: 3 workouts. 1 x 45 minutes, 2 x 30 minutes

Holy Slow Carb! Lets start by saying that I weighed in early this week, after only 2 days of Slow Carb dieting. (And I carbed it up the weekend before I started….) So I thought the results were pretty impressive! I actually found my first week of slow carb to be pretty easy. I did want some bread and sugar, but I held strong and stayed on track. Even the family was in on my plan and enjoyed some new foods (like lettuce wrap tacos.)

My biggest issue has been working out. I hurt my back last week. Yes, by simply bending over to pick something up….getting older sucks…. So my sore back has slowed me down this week. I did manage to do some lighter workouts this week, but not as many as I wanted. Most of my workouts this week have been low impact and core strengthening to try to not injure my back again in the future. Hopefully this week my back will be even better and I can do even more.

I cannot wait to try some new things this week. I have been searching Pinterest to find ideas of some new foods to try. Particularly some breakfast ideas that I can make ahead of time. The slow carb diet wants you to eat breakfast within thirty minutes of waking, which is next to impossible as I get the kids ready for school. So I want to try some foods I can prepare ahead and just heat up. I also usually eat my lunch in the car on my way to work 2 days a week and that was my biggest challenge this past week. So I really have to come up with a plan for those days.

Highlights from this week: Went all slow carb and stuck with it (except on my cheat day- which was great!) I lost about a pound and a half in about 2 days on the plan.  And again- low carb all week even with all these Girl Scout cookies surrounding me….

Challenges for this week: Week 2 of Slow Carb. Gotta stay on it. I really want to give this diet at least a full month and see how I feel about it. I also need to stay on the workout plan. Even if I do 4 days of low impact and all core strengthening- exercise is exercise!!!!

Christy: Week 9

Ahhh, Sunday...The end to a very busy weekend that held many opportunities to stray from my weight loss goals. The first temptation occurred when my daugter & I went out to eat after seeing the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet. So many choices...do I choose a burger? do I have a soda? We decided to split a Hummus veggie wrap (minus the onions) and I had water while she had her first Shirley Temple. Later that same night I attended a girls night out where each of us brought an appetizer. Turned out almost of the attendees brought dessert! Mint this, fudge that, cream this...yikes! I knew if I had one I'd be going down the slippery slope. So, I had none! I did however have a few extra chips n cheese dip that I brought but didn't over do it! I also chose to bring flavored ice tea that was 35 calories as opposed to an alcoholic beverage. So glad I did because nothing I ate or drank made an impact on how much I enjoyed the night and I felt good the next morning! And here I am at today...St. Patrick's day! I ate light the whole day because I knew I had delicious corned beef & cabbage in the crock pot for dinner and the beer was a flowing early on! I stopped by a friend's jewelery party and while I sampled everything, I didn't pig out! See a theme developing? That guacamole was soooo goood tooo...but alas, here I a, didn't over do it and I feel great!  I feel like I've been able to "live my usual life" and yet be responsible for my eating behaviors. Ok, I am staying realistic and I know that I may not pass every temptation that comes my way...but I know it is possible. And the more I "pass" these tests, the more my confidence builds and my weight loss stays on track!

Last week I toyed with the idea of bringing my son to the gym with me 3 days instead of the usual 2. I mentioned last week too that the new tot room care taker is terrific! Turns out that my son asked me every day last week if he could go to the tot room. He absolutely loves playing with the care taker and she adores him right back! Its one of the most quality hours of his day (yeah, she's really that great).  As a result, I feel so much freer to concentrate on a thorough workout and I'm going to keep on taking him as long as he wants to go also! This feeling on his part may not last forever so I'm taking advantage of it to further my journey while I can!

Last week I also saw some great numbers on the scale...one of them was my goal weight! However, when I weighed in this morning had a loss of 1.5 lbs putting me at 151.5.  I wouldn't be surprised if tonight's beers did a little damage but.... I continue to feel confident in maintaining the areas I've changed. I am focused on being able to do what I want to do-within balance & reason-in terms of eating/drinking. The actual weight I'm losing is coming off a little slower these last few weeks. I am suspecting it is a variety of reasons which include: being bored at times with working out, feeling a little cocky at times which causes me to splurge more than I have a craving to, and feeling that since I'm so close to my goal weight I should concentrate on maintaining & not losing.
Perhaps there are other factors and influences and I have yet to uncover such as stress. Stress usually ebbs & flow so while it may account for a fluke week, I don't agree it's a main culprit in the month of March. I'm probably over thinking this stage of my journey! I am hoping to move past these last few pounds, meet my goal, and figure out where I go from there!
Week 9 is more of the same...exercise 5 days a week, incorporating a strengthening routine of arms, back, butt, legs, abs, keeping my weight lighting Wednesdays but running 1 mile prior to lifting, increasing my cardio such that I'm burning 400 calories instead of 300.
While I do not have any regrets this week, if I had to name one it would be the regret of permitting stress to take over in the form of being irritated about things I have no control over. I can already tell that this week is going to have it's share of irritating instances.  Just take a deep breath and push through! My goals are important and I want to reach them!

Jenn week 9 a short update.

I find blogging from my phone to be a pain but I wanted to stop by and give a quick update.  I promise to get back at my regular blogging next week. This week I am out of town visiting some family with Harrison while my husband enjoys his yearly golf trip.

As of this week I have lost 10.6 lbs since 1.20.13! I'm still getting in regular workouts and my eating has been good.  I am frustrated by the lack of tone I have in some areas but I have a few new workouts to try this week and I am hoping I'll start to see some better results soon.

I want to thank you all for your inspiration these last few weeks.  It's been very helpful reading your posts while my life has been a bit nutty.  You all have really helped keep me on track!
Hugs and have a wonderful week!

Jamie Week 8 sticking with Crossfit

I believe that Crossfit is what will take me to the next level of fitness. Did that sound good because what I really mean is I hope it takes away the jiggle in my abs and thighs.
I am still having a hard time grasping the concept of Crossfit. It is very short workouts but they are hardcore give it every thing you have. So today it was 5 shoulder presses 10 deadlifts 15 box jumps repeated as many times as possible for 10 minutes. I was dripping sweat when it was done and my whole body was shaking. The funny part was that I tried talking the trainer into giving me more weight than he did and he refused. Im glad he refused.
The thing about this Crossfit gym and Im not sure if its like this everywhere but its like your own personal trainer. They decide  what weights, what workout, how long, how many times, check your form and cheer you on. I left today saying I think ill just get used to the soreness 7 days a week. haha
I also on Monday still attended step aerobics for 45 minutes and bootcamp for an hour. I even added an extra step in aerobics and about half way through was feeling the pain. The next day was so bad. I  grunted with every little move. At bootcamp we say you know it was a good workout when it hurts to sit on the toilet. We call it the toilet test. It hurt really bad to sit on the toilet on tuesday.
Last week I was really sore as well so I took a yoga class Friday morning. It was heavenly. The room was heated to 90 degrees so all my muscles loosened right up and the yoga released tension and stretched my muscles and I could go on about how great it was. I was in a great mood all day. It happened to be my day off, so I went home and worked on laundry and hung out on the couch.
So last week I worked out 6 days, this week I will make it 5. I feel good.
The trainer at Crossfit told me not to focus on weight but losing inches now. So we took my measurements and I will check back in a couple weeks with how I am doing. wish me luck!! I hope everyone has a great week, stay positive, stay strong. Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. A fellow weight watcher taught me that.
Opps: One of the girls at work was promoted so we got her a cake and I ate 2 big pieces. But it was only one day. Its ok.
Wins: 6 days a week I worked out!
Goal: Sunday my sister in law is having a St Pattys party at her house and I always overeat at these things. I need to eat then step away from the buffet area because I linger and I munch.

Allyson | Week 8 | Insane in the Membrane

I think I have mentioned before that I hate to exercise.  I can’t help it, I just do. I prefer to be lazy. However, laziness is what got me overweight in the first place, so obviously I can’t keep that up. Over the past year and a half I have tried many different exercise routines and workouts, trying to find something I actually enjoyed and wouldn’t be a chore to do. These workouts included P90X, Jillian’s 30-Day Shred, Biggest Loser DVD, Yoga DVDs, Wii Fit, running, strength training, Zumba, aerobics, etc. Out of that huge list, I can only say I thoroughly enjoy one: Zumba. I love to shake my thang and this work out lets me do just that! I actually enjoy going to Zumba, I have fun, and I look forward to going.  If you are stuck in a workout rut, I highly suggest finding a Zumba class nearby.

The problem is, I can only make it to Zumba once or twice a week and then am left filling the other days with something I don’t enjoy. If I don’t enjoy it I probably won’t do it. BREAKING NEWS: I found another work out I do enjoy!   Insanity.   (That's the name of the program...not just insanity that I found an exercise I enjoy.)  Okay, I don’t actually enjoy it while I’m working out (as sweat is dripping, lungs are burning, every muscle is screaming), but I do enjoy how I feel when I’m done and especially the next day when I just about can’t move a muscle.

Insanity is a 60-day intense workout program incorporating strength into ridiculous cardio. Monday was my first day and only a couple times I thought I was going to die.  I was actually a little disappointed Tuesday when I wasn’t that sore. I told a friend I was bummed I wasn’t in more pain, and I feel like I must have done something wrong (as another friend who did the program –a guy—said he just about died during the warm up). My friend is so dear, and she said it was no wonder I wasn’t a sore mess since I have been working out for quite some time now. That was nice…but I still wanted to feel sore. I know that might sound weird, but I really only feel like my body is changing and the program is working if I basically can’t out of bed the next day.

Since I didn’t feel like death after Monday’s workout, I decided to up the ante on Tuesday. I did Insanity in the morning and then went to my Zumba class in the evening. Last night wasn’t too bad...but I had certainly achieved soreness when I woke up this morning! My shoulders, triceps, quads, hams, and calves reminded me all day that I worked them out the day before. Love.

Even with all the soreness, I was able to get through today’s Insanity workout (“Pure Cardio”).  I am trying really, really, really hard to stick with this program for the full 60 days. I have a bad track record with fulfilling #-Day programs…and I have never even seen the third 10-day portion of Jillian’s 30-Day Shred.  I want to get to the point where I don’t feel complete if I didn’t work out that day. I want to get to the point where I can have a bit more freedom with what I eat, just as long as I workout.

The past several weeks I have done really well with keeping my carbs and cals low during the week, but as soon as dinnertime on Friday hits I lose all self control and have myself a little food party through Sunday night. This is not cool. I really need to reign it in on the weekends. Sure, I can indulge a smidge, but I just need to be wise about it. For instance, I know I am going to an Italian place for dinner on Friday. I am going to eat pasta. Since I know this in advance I can help counter my meal by working out twice as much. I will be going to Zumba in the morning and doing Insanity before going to dinner. Same thing Saturday and Sunday- If I know I am going to be in a situation where I will be eating more cals, I just need to up the workouts to help balance the intake. This seems like it makes sense….we’ll see how it goes. (Surely it will be better than not working out at all on the weekends and eating desserts like it’s my last day on earth as has been the case the past forever.)

I’m just trying to stick with the plan: Eat less, Move more.

Randee: Week 8

Eating Plan: Weight Watchers Points Plus

Goal: Lose 50 Pounds

Weekly Weight Loss: -0.2

Total Weight Loss: -6.6 pounds

Exercise Goals: 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes each time

Weekly Exercise: 4 workouts. 1 x 45 minutes, 3 x 30 minutes

So another okay week. I’m happy to say that I have continued the work outs and even managed to not gain weight. (If you saw how many Girl Scout cookies are in my house, you would be impressed also….) I also had a girl’s night out at Bunco! So, while it wasn’t a horrible week, it certainly wasn’t a great week. I have been on Weight Watchers for so long, I can’t even think about how long it has been. And I’m  bored with it at this point. Stuck in a rut….

So this coming week, I am taking a new approach. I’m going Slow Carb. This is a low carb diet with several restrictions that you follow 6 days a week and then have a cheat day. I have heard that people have good results, so I’m trying it. I have been thinking of doing low carb for a while because as you get rid of all those carbs, you crave them less over time. And I could use that. Plus, this approach lets me have carbs once a week so I don’t have to say goodbye to Ice Cream and Chocolate forever.

I have done low carb before, but missed those carby foods, so I never stuck with it. I am hoping this different approach will help me stick it out longer. Now, I will still be weighing in at weight watchers and trying to keep track of some points. I want to choose healthy, low carb foods. Plus, I need to keep going with Weight Watchers in order for my benefits costs to not continue to increase at work!

Highlights from this week: Managed to lose a little with Girl Scout cookies all around me. Kept on my exercise plan.

Challenges for this week: Going Slow Carb! Need to say goodbye to those simple carbs and eat some nice healthy proteins and veggies. Will be trying some new low carb recipes for the whole family. And somehow I injured my back the other day and its still really sore- so a good workout is a challenge at the moment!! (A sign that I'm getting older?)