My January/February 2005 Journal

I had dial-up problems last week, so I wasn't able to update the site for Fri., Dec. 31, 2004. It's just as well. I had gained 3.5 lbs. over Christmas! Holy crap! I took it all in stride, though. The break was worth it. I also learned that I actually like to eat well most of the time. I feel so much better in general that it's worth depriving myself of the yummy, bad-for-me things most of the week. I always have Fridays to splurge. ;o)

I made myself a new journal. I made food journal pages, a calendar, and a stats chart on the computer, printed them, and put it all in an old binder I had. My wall calendar was too cluttered with keeping track of my workouts and points there, then having a separate food journal, so I consolidated it all into one binder. I can print out new calendars, more journal pages, etc. as needed. It's working nicely so far to have everything in one place and easy to see/read.

I stayed the same this week. Not too surprised considering AF has been kicking my (firm) ass all week! I'm asking for some more FIRM workouts (Super Cardio Mix & BSS1--Cardio Sculpt, Body Sculpt, & Ab Sculpt) from my family for my birthday. I'm also buying a couple of FIRM videos (Calorie Killer & Super Body Sculpt) from someone on the FIRM boards who was selling hers. It'll be nice to add some more variety to my workouts. The weather has been awful here the past two weeks and I'm getting cabin fever. I could really go for a nice, warm day where the kids and I can go outside for a walk or to play. Hopefully soon. Onward!

Lost one pound this week! My scale tried to trick me, though, and got my hope up by saying I'd lost 2 lbs. the first time I stepped on it. But, all the other times I stepped on the scale it showed only a one pound loss, so I had to go with that. I have to admit that I've been cheating just a *tiny* bit by eating too many animal crackers at night. That's easy enough to remedy, I suppose. Been trying to pay extra attention to how many carbs I eat, but it's tough to do. Takes a lot of planning. But, I'm determined, so I'm going to make it work!

I'm changing it as follows and will sub Calorie Killer for Max. Cardio Burn and Super Body Sculpt for Total Sculpt when I feel like it. Or, I may change my rotation altogether in a couple of weeks.

I'm thinking of trying a rotation from the FIRM site, but I just don't have enough workouts yet to be able to substitute them like I should. I'm still learning about video rotations. I got to chat with a bunch of FIRMies and a FIRM instructor the other night and they answered some questions I had. It was fun if not chaotic trying to keep up with that fast-moving chat room! Have a fit week!

Fri., Jan. 28, 2005
Had a good week! Lost 1 lb. and a quarter-inch in the bust (where I don't need to lose it, but hey, I can't complain!). The change in my FIRM rotation seems to have been good and I've been trying to eat well. I'm considering counting calories for a fews days to see how many I actually eat. Will be interesting.

MIL fixed my Calorie Killer video and I tried it on Monday. I also tried the other new one on Saturday. They are both good, but it takes time to get the hang of a new workout.

Going to try my hand at making some yummy, good for me, beef jerky in the food dehydrator. Hope it turns out b/c I need a non-carb. snack some days.

Fri., Feb. 4, 2005
Poo! Didn't lose this week. No change in inches either. Maybe my body is building muscle and that's why no weight loss. I'd be fine with that if the measuring tape showed some inches melting away. Grrr! It's frustrating with only 4 lbs. to go. I admit that I had an extra high-point day last Sat. due to a Pampered Chef party (Tiramisu Brownies are AWESOME!!), but that should've been enough time to recover from it. I'm also exploring the possibility that I'm not eating ENOUGH. I'm trying Fitday.com and logging my food in there to see how many calories I average. So far, it's ranging from 1050 to 1350, which may not be quite enough with all the weight training, etc. I'm doing. The thought of adding more calories/points is really scary, though! I'm not quite convinced yet that I need to do that. I don't feel hungry and feel like I'm eating plenty. I'm definitely burning a lot more calories than I'm taking in. Maybe my body just needs to adjust from losing the past couple of weeks. Mostly, I just wanna see those inches going AWAY!!

I'm continuing for at least another week with my current FIRM rotation and then will consider a change for the next 4 weeks.

Monday is my 31st birthday. My parents are coming to visit this weekend, so we'll see if I can hang in there with the eating while they are here. Won't hold my breath for a loss next Fri. :o? It'll be OK. I'm in this for the long haul!

Oh, the beef jerky turned out great! I also made fruit leather and that is yummy too! Need to make more of both. I'm considering buying my own food dehydrator. I also need a new scale. The cover of my crappy one is broken and it'll fall off making it impossible to tell my weight. Birthday gifts, right?!

Fri., Feb. 11, 2004
No loss again this week. Didn't really expect it as AF was here and I ate badly last weekend. I didn't gain, though, so that's something! I am still experimenting with the amount of calories I'm eating. I consistently ate around 1200 each day this past week. I will continue to do that next week and see if I have a loss. I think I may have put my body into starvation mode by not eating enough. I'm finding that 1200 calories is around 20 WW points, but it really depends on what I eat. On Ash Wed., I didn't eat meat, so I made it up to 24 pts. before I got to 1200 calories. That was definitely a carb-loaded day!

I got a new scale! I bought a Health O Meter from Wal-Mart that has a save feature and will figure BMI. It's digital and seems to work well so far. I'm liking it!

My parents got me some FIRM DVDs for my birthday, but they were for the BSS3 and not the BSS1 DVDs I asked for. :o( So, Mom is returning them and gave me the money. I ordered the ones I wanted off the FIRM site for CHEAP! The downside is that it can take 4-6 weeks before I'll receive them.

I'm thinking of starting a new rotation for the abs and hips, but I think I'll wait until I have a few more workouts to use. Otherwise, I'll be doing the same ones constantly! The Abs & Hips rotation alternates cardio + sculpt workouts with straight cardio workouts to burn more fat. I'm curious to see if it works!

Fri., Feb. 18, 2005
Lost a half pound this week! Yippee! I think increasing my calories is helping. I think I will try shooting for 1300 calories each day next week and see what happens.

I bought the PC version of Fitday http://www.fitday.com so now I don't have to keep track of my calories online, which is really nice since we have dial-up. It was only $20 and you can download it to your computer instead of waiting for a disk to be mailed to you. It's easy to use and you can keep track of all kinds of things--nutrition, water, workouts, weight, moods, everything.

Going to a baby shower and to visit my parents this weekend. I imagine we'll celebrate my birthday by going out to dinner one night. This will be a high calorie weekend, but I'm going to enjoy it!