Weight Loss Challenge 2; Week 3, 4, 5

The first two weeks of my "new" challenge were wonderful.  I was motivated, excited, eating healthy.  I came home from work the second Friday, and after I exercised I instantly became very sick.  High fever, throat swollen, I couldn't talk, chills that lasted for hours;  yep, I caught Strep Throat.  For five days I was MISERABLE.  I couldn't talk, swallow, sleep, or eat unless it was something that was soft or made of ice.  To try and keep myself from putting weight on, I looked for healthier food.  Instead of buying ice cream bars, I found some really good Dreyer's fruit bars that had no sugar, were low on calories, and are simply divine!

Surprisingly, I lost almost three pounds during that 5 day stretch.  Week three was a bust in regards to exercising.  I simply wasn't healthy enough and I knew if I pushed it I would later regret it.

Well, that week off from exercising DID NOT HELP MY CAUSE.  Week four was a COMPLETE AND TOTAL BUST!  My motivation was gone, I wasn't eating healthy, I was worried.  I gained the three pounds back very quickly and decided to simply act like I'd never lost that weight to begin with!

At the end of week four I had still met my goal for the month of January.  I'm shooting for 5 pounds a month, and I'd lost six.  I was still bummed though because after being sick the idea of exercising wasn't appealing AT ALL.

Going into week 5 I knew I needed to do something drastic.  I was trying to find a way to get my motivation back.  I remembered a DVD I used all summer long, The Firm.  Before week 5 I'd been doing a 20 minute aerobics routine to work my way into using The Firm again.  I decided it was time to jump in with both feet.  I'm using the "express" 35 minute workout during the week, which combines circuit training with aerobics and burns A LOT more calories.

I started the DVD on Tuesday, and have lost 3.6 pounds this week!!!  My motivation has returned, and I am so excited about this.  I'm almost back at the weight I was when my first challenge ended.  I have 1.6 pounds until I'm back at that weight and then the skies the limit!!  I have about 30 pounds that I still really want to loose.  I'm finding that exercising right after I get home from work each night is best for me.  I get dinner ready, put it in the oven and exercise while it's cooking.

After I run all my Saturday errands, and clean the house, I'm going to do the entire "Firm" DVD, which is 55 minutes long.  Saturday is the only day I truly have time for it, and I'm actually excited to do it again.  My body doesn't feel like it's going to fall apart like it did earlier in the week when I first started 'The Firm", and it's to the point where my muscles are remembering again that I used to do this all the time!

Here's to week six;  I think it's going to be great!

Weight Loss Challenge 2....Week 1 & 2

Well, in week one I started off needing to loose 11 pounds to get me back down to where I was when my first challenge ended.  Yikes!

I began doing the same things I did last time.  I figure they worked before, why not use the same tools again?

Week one was great.  Getting back into exercising wasn't easy, but I found that I still loved it.  I decided that instead of exercising after dinner, I tried exercising right when I got home from work; 5pm...20 minutes later I was done and my evening was over.

I was only shooting for about 1.5 pounds down.  I ended up loosing 3.6lbs!  I was excited and ready to move onto week two.

I weigh myself daily, but the day that "counts" for me is Friday morning.  Last Monday when I stepped on the scale, I about died....I had PUT ON A POUND!  What the heck?!  So I spent this week trying to loose that pound.  A little came off here, a little there, and then on Wednesday I had a great loss:  1.2lbs!  Finally.  Thursday a little came off and then this morning I almost fell off the scale:  2.2lbs down for a total of 6.8lbs in only two weeks!!

After exercising today, I now have a fever, sore throat, and a horrible case of the chills.  Fun, fun.  Oh, and I'm a little nauseous when I stand up!

Since I've set my weekly goal for between 1- 1.5lbs down, I'm way ahead.  I could very well hit the 10lb mark this month.  That would be awesome....but I'm not going to get all excited about it.

Have a great week everyone!

ThePianoGuys

It's been a long time since I've found something that I thought was truly awesome.  That has all changed.

A few weeks ago, I posted about a Star Wars parody called "Cello Wars".  If you didn't catch it, click here to watch the video.

(I'm now assuming that you have either previously watched the video, or just watched it.)

After watching that, I "liked" their Facebook page, and that's when I was opened up to the world of ThePianoGuys.  They live in St. George, Utah, and all of their videos are made in different parts of the state.  Each week they post new videos to YouTube, sharing their INCREDIBLE talents with the world.

I'm a huge music fan, and this group is simply AMAZING!  They write their own arrangements of songs that most people have heard of before, but add their own flare.  The following is a wonderful example:

Their video for this week popped up on Facebook a few days ago.  It's the song "Paradise" by Coldplay.  I must admit, I'm not up to date with popular music today.  I think most of it sucks anyway.  However, when I heard ThePianoGuys version of this song, I had to find the original.  With over 24 million views of the actual music video, I'm guessing this must be a popular song.  Here is the original.




Ok, now ThePianoGuys version


Seriously?  Are you kidding me?  How absolutely mind blowing is this cover?!?  The piano, cello, the amazing singer....the location!  Holy moly!

Since I'm so in love with these guys, here's another clip.



Don't even get me started on how incredible THIS video is!!!  Using only the instruments and objects in the room, they created this amazing piece.  I am beyond jealous of their talent, but so excited that they share it with us!

Anyway, needless to say, I'll be purchasing their album in the very near future.  I've been glued to YouTube for the past two days, watching all their videos and learning all about them.  Even Brandon and Nick enjoy them.  Their videos are so fun to watch, but even without them, the music stands on its own and is breathtaking.

Thank goodness there are people in the world who still create incredible music!

Weight Loss Challenge....Take 2

Well, project "maintain weight" went well....until Thanksgiving.  Then everything fell apart.  In the past month, I've gained (I'm gulping VERY HARD RIGHT NOW) 10 pounds!

Realizing that I won't be able to to fit into my work clothes come Tuesday when vacation is over, I became motivated by anger, and frustration.  The time has come to once again seriously get back on track, or I will quickly find myself at the weight I started at last June!

I've spent the last few days rereading my blog entries, and remembering all that I did to be successful when I lost weight over the summer.  The biggest problem I've had is finding the time to exercise since school started.  I've been swamped, and exhausted.  Well, I can't use those as excuses anymore.  Even if it's just for 20 minutes every other night, I WILL exercise.  If I can do that, and get back on the healthier eating track, I should be able to loose these 10 pounds in the next two months or so.

I'm thinking slowly again; over the summer I lost almost 10 pounds each month.  I know that won't happen now because I won't be exercising as much.  Shooting for 5 pounds a month is a reasonable goal, and what I'm going to start with.

I went grocery shopping today and I've stocked my fridge and cabinets with all the foods I ate over the summer that were so wonderful.  I ate a red bell pepper the other day and couldn't believe how much I'd missed it!!!

So here's to the next chapter in the weight loss challenge.  Every one is allowed to "fall off the wagon".  I've not only fallen off, but I can't even see the wagon in the distance anymore....it left me behind!  I'm now running to catch up to it, and I will try this again.

Here's to 2012, loosing 40 pounds, AND DOING BETTER AT KEEPING IT OFF!!

Star Wars Saturday.....on Sunday

Wow, I haven't done this in so long, I've almost forgotton how blogging works!

This morning, on Facebook, my cousin's son, (my first cousin?) posted this to his account.  We ALL know what a huge fan I am of Star Wars, so how could I resist?  I HAD to post this!




Okay, why do I think this is blog worthy?  First of all, hearing just the cello play The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme), The Star Wars Main Title, and Duel of The Fates was a wonderful twist to the usual versions.  There were some nice added rhythms that made it fun to listen to.

But let's face it:  what a unique idea!  And for once, the Darth Vader costume looked real.  Most of the time on a YouTube video the costume looks like someone made it; this one, not so much. 

For me, the video just didn't look stupid.  Parodies often are.  I thought everything that was done added to the cleverness.  And what a fun way to promote learning how to play a musical instrument!  But that is just my opinion, and I am, after all, obssessed with Star Wars!

What did you think?