TWO HOURS!

I just went to the gym for two hours.

TWO HOURS!!!!

I don't think I've ever done that.

This morning, I got up early and took Lucky (aka hubby) to the train station for 6:30am. He's going for some extra training today for work in the big city. I came home and immediately re-tucked myself back into bed. I have been so tired lately. Not sure why. I could have slept until noon, but I didn't.  Instead I got out of bed yet again at 9:45am. I had planned to go to yoga this morning and although I wasn't really feeling like it, I was determined to follow through anyway.

Yoga was interesting. It wasn't like any other yoga class I've gone to. There were no sun salutations. There was no major savasana at the end. We did not use bolsters or straps or have blankets.  After all, this yoga class was at Goodlife, rather than a posh yoga studio.  At first, I wasn't sure about it, and I don't think I was the only one. One person left shortly after we started. Regardless though, I stuck to it, and still enjoyed it. The stretches are helpful for my hips and that's all that really matters. I will go again.

After yoga, instead of coming home, I decided to attend another class. A class called Sh'BAM!
I'm not sure about you, but I've never heard of Sh'BAM before. I first noticed it when looking on the gym's class exercise board. It's labelled as 'moderate' intensity so I thought I'd give it a try. Zumba is also labelled moderate.

Sh'BAM was great. I had a lot of fun and was pretty whipped when it was finished.  My first impression is that Sh'BAM is actually very similar to Zumba.  It's also a combo of dancing and aerobics combined, presented in a fun modern way. I think the only real difference between Zumba and Sh'BAM is the music. Now don't quote me, as I'm new to both, but Zumba seems more imbedded in salsa music with a few other songs thrown in, where Sh'BAM has more pop and hip hop music with a little bit of salsa. One is just as great as the other, which is why I'm surprised Sh'BAM isn't more popular. Each Zumba class I take is packed, where as today's Sha'BAM class there were only eight of us. It's kinda a shame. At the same time as I say that though I liked the fact the class wasn't packed so I had more space to dance! This girl has two left feet half the time, so I need my space!

Since my return home I have been updating this blog. I finally uploaded the remaining salad photos for my #100daysofSALAD challenge that I completed on November 1st. You can see them here. I also started a new tab for my next challenge - #100daysofSOUP. Stayed tuned for this. I'm pretty excited about it. It's a perfect challenge for this time of year. Feel free to join in on the fun!!! My hope is to make low fat vegetarian soups and share them with all of you (including WW PointsPlus points for my fellow weight watchers). I plan to start in mid-december when I return home from my vacation. I'd start it now,  but I fear I'd wouldn't be able to meet the challenge when in Jamaica. Now, I do realize that they likely will have soup at the resort, but the question is, would it be vegetarian? I'm not sure. After all, it's hard enough getting a vegetarian soup at Tim Hortons or Subway! As a result, to play it safe, I'll start when I return home. It should be fun.

Walking

Exercise Plans.... never rely on a horse to help you follow through!

My plan for Thursday (as stated in my last post) was to ride my horse Joelle for 30 minutes. That didn't happen. Joelle wasn't interested at all. I got on her and she wasn't doing anything I asked of her and ended up bucking her back legs out  twice. I ended up getting off her soon after and taking her to the round pen to get out all her excess energy on her own. Usually my girl is soooo good, but Thursday was an off day. I know she'll be much better next time.

As my 'plan' for Thursday didn't work out, I asked my hubby if he wanted to go for a walk with me in the evening. To my surprise he did, so we walked around the block which took us exactly 30 minutes. I love walking with my husband, but on Thursday night he automatically turned into a coach. It's like he couldn't help it. He's been sporty his whole life and the man is crazy competitive. He ended up walking a little bit in front of me instead of beside me in hopes it would encourage me to walk faster.

You see, hubby and I are exactly the same height and our legs are about exactly the same length. As a result I feel like my husband thinks I should be able to walk as fast as him. Well, I can't -- plain and simple. Not right now anyway. I know when he walked a tiny bit in front of me  he was only trying to help. I know he had good intentions. I know he was trying to motivate me to walk faster and push my limits, but it just upset me. All I ended up feeling was like I wasn't good enough. I felt like despite the fact I was getting my ass moving finally, it still wasn't good enough because in his eyes I wasn't going fast enough.  I know he didn't intend for me to feel this way and when I told him he said sorry and felt bad, but it hurt. When talking to him about it, he said he was just trying to be like those "biggest loser" coaches that I love on TV. I told him that doesn't work for me.

Yes, I love watching those crazy coaches on TV, but if  Gillian Michael was screaming in my face to go faster,  I know I'd have a hard time with it.  I'd probably scream back and tell her to F-off. For me my motivation (and pace) has to come from within. If not, I feel too pressured and eventually I end up giving up. The tasks just gets to be too overwhelming when pressure from others gets involved. I know it's all internal crap I have to work through, but for now, this is the way it is. I think hubby gets it now. I hope he does anyway. For now,  I just need him to be a supporter and a cheerleader, but not a coach. Thankfully he seems okay with that.

Now... Yesterday and today, I also went for walks. This time I was alone walking while on my break at work.

Friday - 46 min (notice I said 46 not 45? -- every min counts!)
Today - 30 min

I'm not going to lie. I'm tired. You'd think exercise would energize me, but so far all I want to do is go to bed. lol... Sad, eh? I guess it doesn't help I'm also working 12 hour shifts and woke up at 5:15am both days. The good news is that my hips aren't as bad as I thought they might be. They are sore, but with stretching and the application of my anti inflammatory spray, I am feeling okay.  This I am thankful for.

Tomorrow I plan to walk again when on my break at work and then depending on the weather (it's calling for rain right now) and how exhausted I am from working and walking, I'll go and see Joelle and attempt to ride her again. More days than not now, I want to do something to get my butt moving. So stay tuned to tomorrows WI, and next weeks exercise goals!

Let the count down begin!!

We did it. Hubby and I just booked our trip to Jamaica. We'll be there for 10 days at the beginning of December! I can't wait!

Booking our trip has me even more motivated to lose more weight. After all, going on this trip is one of the reasons why I started this journey again. 

So far I have lost 12.5 pounds. It's not a lot considering I started in mid-August, but it's something and I'm proud of it. My goal is now to double my weight loss before we leave. That should be totally doable. I just must move my butt more. 

Moving always seems to be my problem. 

So far I haven't been that successful. Monday and Tuesday I had 14 hour workdays and basically came home very tired. I ate a snack, did my stretches and went to bed right away both nights. 

Today was different. I had the day off. I could have exercised. I thought about it, but didn't do anything about it. Instead I vegetated on the couch in the morning, did a tiny bit of house work in the afternoon and then hubby and I went out and booked our trip in the evening. I kinda feel guilty about not working out so far this week, so my goals for the next few days are these. 

Thursday - 30 min horseback ride

Friday - at least a 30 min walk on my break at work. 

Saturday - another 30 min walk at work.

Sunday - horseback ride after work - 30 min. 

Now that I have written my plan out I feel better. I mean, honestly that's not a lot considering the amount of exercise others do. I totally can do it and now that I have let you all know, I have to. This brings me to a great idea..... moving forward to help myself be more accountable I think each Sunday  I will not only WI, but I will also list my exercise goals for the week. That's got to help, right? 

I don't know why I struggle so much with exercise. I so wish I was one of those people who enjoyed it. Maybe after pushing myself to do it more often, one day I will. Fingers crossed, and toes too! For now, I have a plan for the week and it's time to execute it!! I can do it. 

Measuring Spoons and More

Yesterday, I did something different when making my salad. I actually brought out my measuring spoons! I measured my salad dressing and my nuts that went into my salad. I even noted how many points my egg and croutons would be.

I hate tracking. I've done it sooooo many times and yes, although it works in the short-term, it never works long-term for me. I guess that is why I have resisted it so much this time. I want to do something different this time. Something that will last. I'm trying to be more mindful this time (eat when I'm only hungry). I'm trying to pick better choices (apples instead of chocolate), I'm even doing the half portion thing. These have been big changes for me folks. Big changes, and I guess that is why when I saw a 1.5+ gain on the scale on sunday, I had a bit of a melt down.  I so wish weight loss could happen without tracking.

I know those who wrote comments are right though. A 1.5+ gain isn't so bad when on TOM. I'd say the same thing to any of you if you wrote what I did. So instead of focusing on the scale, I need to continue doing what I'm doing and the weight will come off. I have to have faith that it will. If it still doesn't, then I have to start tracking even if I don't want to and stop whining about it.

Today, I joined a group on Facebook (that is part of a larger group) that is doing a 5 day kick start challenge on clean eating. I feel like I've been eating cleaner than I ever have, so I joined.  I'm hoping it will help keep me even more accountable this week so I can finally see a sustaining loss on the scale.

As for the exercise thing. I have yet to do any.  I won't even tell you how many hours I slept yesterday -- crazy. Today, I don't feel like doing anything either. I have NO energy at all. It's been a "the house is a mess, and I don't give a rats" kinda day so far for Lucky and I. We've been couch potatoes watching two movies on our "weekend", but hopefully I can force myself out of the house for a walk later.  After all one of my goals this week is to get my behind moving more and  if I'm too lazy for a walk, this weight will never come off!

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Update

I just came back from a hour long walk! I decided to buy corn on the cob for dinner and instead of driving to the market, I walked 35 min there and back! 

Operation #getbuttmoving has started!!