Excuses Or Too Busy To Post

I've actually been pretty consistant with my workouts lately, but things have been a little hectic here and I just haven't been on the computer much.

My knitting blog is my main blog, and I do update that one usually every weekday, but even that suffered a bit last week.

My husband's brother turned 40 last week, and as a surprise, their mother flew up from Florida. So I had to get my house "company" ready. On top of that, February was "Make a Blanket Day" for Project Linus and I was trying to finish up a couple of blankets that I had just about finished to take with me.

So that's where I am. I did slow my workout routine down a bit over the last month. I was suffereing from a little burnout. I decided to cut down on how long and how often I workout and I just ate healthily, without tracking. I decided it was time to check to make sure I didn't do any damage doing that, and I didn't. I weighed in today at 154 lbs, which is what I weighed my last weigh in.

I find that to be a big relief. I was afraid that I was going to be spendig the rest of my life obsessing over my food and workouts just to maintain my weight. However, it looks like I have the ability to relax, just be aware of what I'm doing (ie: making healthy choices and keeping an eye on portions) and working out 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week. That's a very doable lifestyle for me.

Saying that, I've actually bumped it back up again this past week or so. The eating no so much (hey, birthday celebrations and company make a stridgent diet hard... but again, I'm trying to make healthy choices with a few strays here and there). I think I needed a little break from the complete focus that "loosing" takes and I'm ready to be focused again.

I will say that I'm back with Maya, too. I took a little break from her and I think we both needed a breather. Walking on the treadmill really doesn't work me as hard as she does and it's a lot less interesting. Taking the break from her as really "refreshed" me with her. I do find that her workouts are more interesting (and definitely more work) than just using the treadmill.

Next post: I'll talk about Supersize Me...

Ooops

Okay, I've been bad at posting this past week. I'm still sorta half assing my workouts, and the blog suffers from it.

I'm still working out, but I'm down to about 5 days a week for about 30 minutes (if I make it all the way thru). Not good. My eating isn't meticulous, either.

It'll come back. It always does. I have moments of focus, then I lose focus for a bit. That's why it's taken me this long to lose 60 lbs!

Part of it is that I'm completely enthralled with my current knitting project and I have problems putting it down to do something else (which is one of the reasons the meal planning is suffering too... I don't feel like cooking, I want to knit!)

However, I did something kind of fun yesterday. I put Maya in for 15 minutes on "Weight Loss", then I increased the workout to max difficulty. It was tough!!! and way beyond my endurance. I had to knock it back a couple of levels to finish (and this adjusted the length of the workout with each change: max increased how long the workout was, and decreasing it down took time off the workout. I don't agree with this. When I say I want a 15 minute workout, that doesn't mean 20 minutes).

Anyway, it was fun, as it gave me a completely different set of exercises than I've been doing. It also reminded me that I'm not nearly in good enough shape. I'm sort of sitting on my laurels congradulating myself for all my hard work in reducing my cholesterol and losing 20 lbs over the last 7 months, that I needed a little kick in the butt to remind myself that I'm far from being "healthy".

I am hoping that a new Yourself!Fitness is out soon. The music/enviroments and Maya's little catch phrases are getting a little tired (it's not like Halo, where even after playing a level hundreds of time you would hear the NPC's say something you hadn't heard before). She's still the best thing I've tried (and still beats the treadmill), but I'm ready for a change of scenery and some new comments.

Today's Positive Comment:
I actually enjoyed having my butt kicked by Maya. Pushing myself to work harder has become pleasurable

Miss placed my glasses

I admit it. I've completely lost focus. I'm so uninspired. I'm not motivated and I've gotten lazy with both my workout routine and some of my food choices. And I'm not happy about it.

This is something I always seem to do and something I should accept. I want to keep going, but I'm just not inspired. I can work hard enough to maintain my current weight and that's fine, but I want to keep losing, as it takes me so long in the first place.

I think it just takes so much focus for me to lose, that I get burned out. I'm definitely burned out. Even Maya doesn't seem to be cutting it for me right now. There's nothing left to unlock (and hasn't been since October) and as much as I hate to admit it, she's becoming a little repetative.

I was sort of expecting this. I knew once I got the news about my cholesterol, I would lose my drive. That's what was motivating me before and now I don't have that kind of motivation any longer.

So now I need to think about the next "motivation" to do the extra work to lose the next 20 pounds. Vanity doesn't cut it for me (I just don't care enough: which is why I don't remember the last time I had my hair cut) and I feel that I'm doing enough to stay healthy. Yes, the next 20 pounds will make me even healthier (I'm still at an unhealthy weight), but I'm not in the panic mode like I was when my cholesterol was so high.

So what's my next goal? Should I train for something like a 3 K? Should I promise myself a special trip? Should I learn a new activity? Sigh... maybe something will inspire me to work harder.

Today's Positive Comment:
I did my workout today even tho' I had no desire to (and I didn't put a whole lot of effort into it).

The New Healthy Me!

Well I finally called my doctor's office and the nurse called back with my results. I couldn't feel prouder of myself!

All my numbers are with in a healthy range.

My overall cholesterol went from 243 to 194. My LDL's went from 141 to 99!!! The HDL's went from 71 to 66, and that needs some work (actually don't want a drop on that one) and my triglycerites dropped a bit from 146 to 143.

I'm going to say that I'm very pleased. It's frustrating to not lose weight as fast as I would like, but the weight is only part of a much larger equation. The fact that my cholesterol become a problem while I was losing weight shows that there isn't just one part of being healthy that you can afford to concentrate on. It's the big picture. It's about eating healthy well balanced (and sensible) food and getting enough exersice. More exercise than you think you need.

Today's Positive Comment:
Well, duh, I believe that would be the 50 point drop in my cholesterol in 6 months!!!