Days 3-7

I have quite a bit to report since I have been negligent in my blogging duties. (Sorry Camilla!) But I have good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news.

I am scheduled to go to the gym 6 days a week. 3 days are short days of only 20 minutes cardio. 3 days are longer with about 45 minutes of weight training alternating upper and lower body workouts. That's a lot of time at the gym if you factor in my steam room time, showering and getting dressed, and dropping off and picking up the kids. But that's okay. I went to the gym a total of 6 days this week. That's good news. The bad news is for Saturday, Day 6, I gave up on eating well. I made that my free day when it came to eating because I went to bed so late and got up so late. It wasn't until about noon I finally ate my first meal. That ruined the rest of the day for me. In itself, that would have been okay. But my free day extended to Sunday too. That's no good. I had 2 full days of pretty crappy eating. Not as bad as it was the first time I tried this challenge at the beginning of the year. But bad enough that Tums were always nearby.

Now that the bad news is over with, I have a ton of great things to report. Even on my free eating days, I still got full much faster than I used to. It didn't take much food to make me feel full. I also still wanted things like salad and whole wheat sandwiches. So I am easily making better choices even on days I don't have a specific meal plan set up.

I haven't been reporting my weight each day because I haven't been weighing myself each day. I actually think that it's messing a little with my positive thinking. Even though, logically, I know I will probably gain a little weight first before it all starts to fall off, it doesn't help me to see it. But I weighed myself this afternoon- after I had eaten 2 full meals and drank tons of water. I weighed in at a whopping 230.4 lbs. Now, to the average person, that's a lot. To me, that's wonderful! I must be under 230 lbs in the morning and that was my goal by the end of this week.

Disregarding my weight, I have noticed a big difference in my pants. I pulled my size 20 jeans out of the dryer and put them on. I didn't have to unbutton or unzip them to get them on easily- right out of the dryer. By the end of the day, they were too big for me and I had to change pants when I went out. That's where I'm noticing the biggest differences.

I notice, also, that I feel stronger than I did previously. The weight training I have been doing pushes me to lift, push and hold heavier weights than I would otherwise try. Each time I do an exercise I had previously had a hard time with, I'm able to blow right through it wishing I would have tried more weight. My cardio has improved so much that the last time I did it, I actually had to jog and then subsequently run to hit my level 9 and level 10 intensities. That is a HUMONGOUS change from before. I take such small strides and walk incredibly slowly. Anything more than that automatically used to get my heart pumping quicker and starting a sweat. Now, it takes me pushing myself to get to that point.

It's making me more and more excited to do this. The best part about all this, is Pasquale has been going to the gym and pushing himself as well. He's not following the same workout plan as I am, but we are doing something that we can talk about with each other. And since I'm making all the meals, he just eats what I eat. So, in essence, he's doing the challenge with a slightly different workout program. The gym is something that I've come to look forward to each day now. It helps that Sophia looks forward to playing there as well.

Eating has been the thing I've struggled with the most. I don't have cravings anymore- as long as I wake up early and eat a good breakfast before I start to get hungry. As long as I eat fulfilling meals every 2-3 hours, I have no problems with cravings. The one thing I'm having a little bit of a problem with is getting all 6 meals in. I don't want to eat 2 hours before bedtime, so sometimes I leave off meal #6.

I vow each night that I will attack the next day with new tenacity and be able to report that I did my workout and ate according to my meal plan. It's been a long week, but 1/12th of the challenge is officially over. I can do this. And if I can do this, anyone can!

Till tomorrow!