Disney was a BLAST!

Well, well, well.....what can I say? I was so shocked that I enjoyed Disney so much (almost more so that the 5 year old we took for her BIG BDAY!). It was totally fun for this big kid & we didn't miss one single thing on our "to do" list. Magic Kingdom for the first 2 days & EPCOT on the final rainy day. Which wound up being no big deal since we spent the majority of our time in The Land & the "seas" area (Carmen Ana's fave) for the Nemo ride. She was so freaked out excited over the Nemo ride. It is just so much more enjoyable going to Disney with children. At least the way I see it, because it's like you get to experience it all over for the first time through their eyes. Magic Kingdom days were spent doing all the "scheduled" stuff (parades, shows & fireworks, etc.) on the first day, and nothing but rides and what Carmen Ana wanted to do on the second day. It was so great to do it this way. NO craziness. We (the adults) loved the fireworks!!! They were pretty exciting, I must admit going off over Cinderellas Castle and the SpectoMagic parade right on Main St. where we had our seats was so cool and I got my TURKEY LEG!! Smilebox at the end of this blog entry will be of our Disney trip. And I have to say, if you are taking a child for not only their first trip to DisneyWorld but also for their birthday, they roll out the ROYAL treatment! She was so freaked out everytime a castmember said "Happy Birthday Princess Carmen" & she'd come over to us and say "How do THEY know my name?", forgetting she was wearing her special buttons on her princess dress that let the castmembers know they had a first-timer & a birthday girl to boot! Other than the Nemo ride at EPCOT, her absolute favorite part was meeting Princess Tatiana (her fave from The Princess and The Frog) and Prince Naveen.Got back into the swing of things this week after my short mini Va~Ca to Disney & my workouts were kick BUTT! Especially Friday, when I really did get PUSHED on the eliptical after an already pretty grueling 40-min workout. I thought my legs were not going to continue. They felt like jelly. Thursday was fun because I got to do what I have been wanting to do for 3 weeks & that is BOXING! That was a blast! I didn't have the soreness or stiffness that my trainer told me to anticipate having (a bonus). Wednesday was nothing but cardio & pushing through intervals on every machine (7-8 mins on the bike, 10+ on the treadmill and my trainers favorite to burn those fat & calories 10+ on THE ELIPTICAL).I was supposed to be keeping my food journal better this past week. It was my project that I was going to work on. Well I'll admit I fell down on that one. Not such a great job with the food journal. Which is why I'm making it my "to do" this week, again. Wish me luck, keep me in your prayers & at least I've got this working out thing down now. The food thing is what I have to focus my attention on.

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Feeling "THE BURN"!

Yeah I knew it would be like this. Feeling the burn, or the stiffness or the soreness, whatever you want to call it, I was feeling "IT" this week!
Started my workouts with the personal trainer & it's great.
Monday-was a light session. Started on the stationary bike, went to the treadmill, tossed the 9lb. medicine ball back & forth and did some push ups off the wall. I thought "this is it"? Nice, easy start. Boy....then came Wed.
Wednesday-started off on the treadmill. Did some squats with the ball & worked my arms (this is where my thighs started to be sore on Thurs from all these squats on Wed), backward eliptical made me feel uncoordinated, but was great. Then lift ups & pull ups with the bands & something I'm going to refer to as "hop ups" with the 9lb. ball again to end things. The hop ups were a joke for me because I was forgetting to breathe.
Friday-YIKEY CRIKEY! Started on the eliptical & then did intervals of taking the RPMs to 80, back down to 45, then up to 80 again & so forth for 7 mins. Then I got down on a yoga mat & had to lift an exercise ball (squeezing between my feet and lifting the ball up off of the floor) with my non-existent abdominal muscles. Holy Cow! This was by far the hardest for me this week. My abdominals will need the most work. I then got to switch to something my trainer told me was my strength and that is my upper body. I was pleased to hear that he thought I had a strength, haha. I did modified push ups, kick outs & ups, then got up & worked my arms with the 10lb. ball.
I am going to take some good tips I got this week for post workout snacks, see what works after weigh in this week. I know about having something with some good protein in it & poss. a little bit of carb to put back a little sugar. Not a lot, though. I was even shot down when I thought that cereal & milk would make a good "late snack" idea? Nope, I was told protein+protein, and some fruit. I ate a weird combo after my workout Wednesday night. Some lean pork, a 2% cheese stick. Then a few hrs later another 2% cheese stick along with a piece of fruit which = a cutie clementine for me. Sounds odd....but it did work great! I have to keep my food journal for everything I'm eating with me. My goal is to write it all down & be accountable for it this week.

To work on this week: Food Journal
Will report how I did next week

Getting started

I'm very excited today. I got the call Tuesday to let me know which group I was placed in (for the study). I'm in the control group. I really wasn't bummed out, which I thought I might be. I'm just looking forward to what this next week brings. I already have 3 scheduled sessions with my personal trainer set up for Monday, Wednesday & Friday. So shewwwwwww.....I'll be a sore pup next week, but it'll be kinda cool to see what they'll have me doing?
Go for my second "official" study visit today which I'm sure they'll now have us start keeping the food journal & offer tips for healthier eating. Other than that, don't know what we'll be discussing or doing? I'll get measured & weighed at every visit and I think the same general series of questions is asked of you. The nutritionist helps you figure out what works for you, food wise VS. what doesn't. This will be interesting, the first month to see how I do this on my own. I hope I make good decisions for my 1000-1500 cal a day diet.
Keep hoping & praying for me! This is for the long haul!!

How this will go

Ok everybody, this is going to be a very informal blog basically all about how I will go about loosing weight this year. I hope to post a pic monthly of myself. It makes me accountable. And the #1 reason I am starting this blog is because if I have to be held to some level of accountability I KNOW I WILL DO THIS!
I also hope to post my monthly weigh in amount (NO! I will NOT be ashamed!!). Shame & fear, in some respects, is what got me to where I am today. I will share my ups & downs. My sense of humor can be quite absurd at times, I make no apologies for it. It's how I deal.
And when I say share, I will share just as much as I feel like.
Some days may be silly (just what I ate), some days may be joyous (I LOST 5 LBS! or did great with some new cardio!), some days may be just me rambling (you'll have to pick & choose which days those are for yourself).
And if you haven't already figured out by now, I type like I talk. Should make for an interesting read, no?
This week, on my plate: I find out once & for all about which group I fall into: BIB or control group. If I'm in control group, my work outs should start like next Monday with my trainer. BIB group, you'll have to read here to find out.
I really can't wait for my workouts to start! I even treated myself to a new IPod Touch (something I never do, I can't see spending that much money sometimes at a whack?) for my music to work out to.
YEH! I'm excited.

To work on this week: Fitness
Will report how I did next week.