Update and a Link

Life has been hectic and crazy and stressful the past few days. My uncle's MIL said she couldn't alter the dress since, at this point, I can't even get it on. So I called my bff and told her about it, and we've spent all weekend trying to figure out a way to make the dress work. I told her that I should've told her back when i found out the biggest it came in was a 12 that i didn't think I could do it (instead of being overly optimistic) and she said that it had been unfair of her to pick a dress that everyone couldn't already fit into. So we're sharing the blame for the situation that we now find ourselves in. Luckily, we may have found a solution: one of the girls is having her dress altered from an 8 to a 0, so there will be extra fabric from her dress that we can use to add matching inserts into mine. So I'm just waiting for K to ship the fabric from the other dress, and then we'll see what happens.
On a side note, a friend of mine from high school is celebrating the 100th post on her blog, Gluten Free Gidget by having a giveaway! Check it out!

Thursday Weigh-In...

Well, I lost 2.0 pounds this week! Not as great as last week, but not too shabby. Especially considering that i didn't do anything but crunches on Saturday and I had that meal at Ruby Tuesday in Tally.
I changed things up today by doing yoga this morning. I'm so sick of Level One of the "30 Day Shred" but I'm having pain in my back and right knee when I do the jumping jacks and jump rope. I still haven't had a chance to watch Level Two to see what I need to do for it. I'm going to do the shred later, because I feel it's important for me to stick with it. I just couldn't bear the thought of doing it when i woke up at 5:25 this morning.
This evening we're having my daughter's birthday party (a month early, because July is going to be a crazy month with the wedding and class). So I've been busy cleaning and getting ready for that...hey, it's burning calories :-) Now I just need to avoid the cupcakes and ice cream later!

My trip to Tallahassee for class really threw me off, exercise-wise anyway. I woke up @ 6:00 EST (so my body was telling me it was 5:00...yuck!) after not sleeping well in a hotel room with my parents and daughter. I was going to do my "B.L.: Weight Loss Yoga" dvd but everyone else was sleeping, so I just did crunches until my belly burned. I managed to eat sensibly all day (only because I had brought my own food and didn't cave into the Krispy Kreme donuts the instructor brought us for breakfast!). For supper that night, we met my friend, C, @ Ruby Tuesday. I got the chicken quesadilla off the appetizer menu (just tortilla, chicken, and cheese--no pico de gillo, sour cream, etc). Not exactly super healthy, but at least it had fewer calories than the big hamburger and fries I was wishing I had ordered :-) And I didn't even cave into C's offer of some of his fries (and I'm a potato fanatic--I use a good many of my "splurge day" points on Sonic tater tots). Anyway, we didn't leave Tally til about 6:30 EST, and arrived home around 8:15 CST. Needless to say, I was exhausted--I've never driven that far alone before, so I was mentally and physically drained!). So I didn't do my "30 Day Shred" at all on Saturday. In fact, as soon as I got my daughter somewhat clean, teeth brushed, and in bed, I headed to bed (I was sound asleep by 9:15 that night lol). I had the best of intentions of doing the Shred twice yesterday, but it didn't happen.
This morning I planned to start Level Two. I was able to follow along on the warmup, but once she moved into the exercises I got lost and had no idea what I was doing. So I am planning on watching Level Two sometime in the next couple of days, and then I will move up. Right now I am swamped with a paper for my Tuesday evening class, and finalizing plans for my daughter's birthday party Thursday (her actual b-day is 7/4, but I thought more people would be in town now since school isn't out yet--but so far only one kid is coming :-( sadness)...I'm definitely going to get in the Shred every day, and I need to get in another 30 mintues at least every other day, but this week is just going to be crazy. Must. Stay. Focused.
Time to get back to my paper...

Sinuses are the enemy...

It's hard to work out when you can only breathe through one side of your nose, and your throat is scratchy so it hurts to breathe through your mouth. I did the Shred this AM, but wasn't able to keep up very well :-( But at least I tried and didn't just sleep in (like I wanted to)! I'm taking my yoga dvd and mat with me to Tallahassee & I'm going to try to do it tonight and in the morning. Then I'll do the Shred when I get home tomorrow night.
Tomorrow should be challenging for me, food-wise. Class begins at 8:00 AM, and we don't get a lunch break til 11:45. I usually eat six small meals/snacks a day, and this schedule is totally throwing me for a loop. Plus, I had to plan out my food for today & tomorrow so I would know what I have to take with me. While we're in Tally, we're meeting one of my friends for supper after my class gets out. I'm picky, so it will be hard to find something at whatever restaurant we go to that isn't terrible for me. I figure I can always get some kind of grilled chicken...
I'll admit that I was hoping for better results at my weigh-in yesterday. Afterall, the Shred can help you lose up to 20lbs in 30 days. I guess the key phrase is "up to", but still...everyone else thinks my 3.2 pounds was great, so i guess I just need to get over it and keep it up!

And the results are in...

So I lost a total of 3.2 pounds with the first 7 days of the "30 Day Shred". I lost 1" from my waist, 1.5" from my hips, and 0.5" from my bust. Good, but I'm realizing that I really shouldn't have procrastinated with my weight loss. We're going to see if my mother's sister-in-law's mother (confusing!) can alter the dress up to a 14. We'll see...
I'm coming down with a sinus infection or cold or something, so that's not good! I have class all day Saturday in Tallahassee, so I really can't get sick. Plus, if I'm running a fever I won't be able to work out.
Well, I'm going to have a Lean Cuisine for dinner, and after my food settles I'll do yoga and pack for Tally!

Day 7!

Wow! I can't believe I've stuck with the "30 Day Shred for a whole week! That's right folks--this morning I completed Day 7! I still have trouble with the jumping jack/jump rope combo :-( But I'm getting stronger with the weights!
I've done "The Biggest Loser: Weight Loss Yoga" the past two evenings. I've just been so stressed--my daughter's been misbehaving (I think it's the excitement of kindergarten being nearly over!) and I've felt like raiding the pantry. Instead, I did yoga, and it calmed my nerves enough that I made healthy food choices! Yay! So yoga is my new best friend :-)
Tomorrow: weigh and measure day! I'm actually not dreading getting on the scale for once. Can't wait to report what a week of the shred has done for me!

6 days down...

...24 to go! Today I did awesome with the strength training portions of the "Shred"! On two of the exercises that involve legs & arms, I had been unable to keep my arms going the entire time. But today, I was able to on both! Yay! So that is already a pretty big improvement in just a short amount of time. I'm still struggling with the first two minutes of cardio--that involves 30 seconds of jumping jacks, 30 seconds of "jump rope", then another 30 seconds of each. I can do the first minute just fine, but the second minute i usually end up just jogging in place because my jumping jacks and jump rope moves end up just being really floppy and sloppy. So I am hoping I can get to the point where I can do the full two minutes without having to just jog to keep moving.
I'm contemplating moving up to Level Two after ten days is up, and then move up to Level Three for the last ten days. I guess I will see how things are looking when i weigh & measure myself on Thursday!
I have class tonight from 7-9, so I am thinking of eating an early dinner (like @ 4:00) and then around 6:00, go ahead and do the weight loss yoga again. If I'm going to even think about getting into that dress, I need to work out twice a day, every day...
Even after the wedding, I'm going to keep it up. My goal is to be down to 140lbs by the time I graduate with my MLIS--which gives me until August of 2010. Since that's over a year away, it's completely doable. I'll just have to figure out how to maintain it once I get to it!