I've had a sinus infection and bronchitis for almost a week now.  Needless to say, I haven't been doing much as far as exercise is concerned.  And since I haven't been headed to the gym with her, Mom hasn't really been going to the gym this week either.

 

Even with all of that though, Mom has maintained her weight, and I've lost several more pounds.  I could very well gain some of it back once I start eating normally again though.  I haven't been keeping track this week of what I've been eating, but I am sure that I have not been getting enough calories really.  That could account for quite a big portion of this loss.  We'll have to wait and see.

 

I'm hoping to be better enough to head back to the gym again by tomorrow.  I think I'm going to try to go, even if I don't manage to do too much.  I've got to get back in the habit, and the sooner the better.

 

More soon.

~Mindy

Well, Mom and I both met our initial goals by last week.  As of this week, we've both lost more than 10% of our overall long-term goal.  Not too shabby!  But we hadn't updated our goals to reflect something, so today we added a new goal each.  We intend to lose ten more pounds each by the end of March.  That gives us six weeks.  We may very well meet that goal before then, which would be great.  But we want to do it at least by that point.

 

Mom's still sick, so she isn't working out or really eating the way she normally does.  But she still managed to lose about 1/2 a pound this week.  Not too bad!  Especially considering that she lost 4 pounds last week.  This week, I've lost 4 pounds.  I'm feeling really good.  I've got so much more energy these days, and I'm really not finding it hard to stick to my plan anymore for the most part.  Do I have a cookie every now and then?  Sure I do.  But I make sure that I am not going over my calorie range when I do it.  That's the key.

 

I'm also working out more, and finding that I enjoy it.  It's not such a chore anymore.  I just wish that I could get to where I could work out for a much longer amount of time, or at a higher intensity.  Then I think I would really start to see a difference.

 

More soon!

~Mindy

Mom went back to the doctor today.  She's been fighting sinus stuff all week long, and it really escalated today.  The doctor said she's got an upper respiratory infection, a sinus infection, and she still has an infection in her kidneys.  Not a good combination.  When you combine all of that with her ongoing back pain, she is in really bad shape right now.  Needless to say, she hasn't been working out with me this week, and it doesn't look like she will be for at least several more days.

 

I've been trying to get my workouts in anyways though.  I haven't gone to the gym this week...instead, I've been doing some step aerobics in my living room while watching TV.  It's been a good change of pace for me, to do something other than just walking on the treadmill.

 

I'm planning to do some work on an elliptical trainer at the gym once Mom is feeling better and wants to go back.  I'll do some treadmill too.  But I think it is a good idea for me to add some variety to my workouts instead of just doing the same thing over and over again.  I don't want to get bored with my workouts and then just stop doing them all together.  I want to see results!

 

We'll weigh in again on Sunday morning.  Who knows what will happen with Mom's weight.  She could wind up losing quite a bit from lack of appetite, or she could gain some from not working out and not eating enough, or she could be about the same.  Only time will tell.  I have a feeling that I'm going to have a good week this week.  I just feel good, so I'm hoping that is an indication of what is going to happen.

 

More soon!

~Mindy

Yay!!!  I realized that yesterday, for the first time.  In fact, they are so loose that I can pull them up and down without unfastening them.  It has been a very, very long time since that has happened.  After I get home this evening, I'm going to see if I can get into some of the smaller clothes that I have, just for fun.  I've got so many clothes in my closet, from all different points in my life when I've been different sizes.  It'll be good to have to switch out the clothes that are too big.

 

~Mindy

So this week, Mom lost four pounds (!!!!!) and I lost another pound and a half.  Not too shabby.  Not at all.

 

I've managed to get to where I'm able to control my portion sizes really well, and I'm staying within my calorie range almost every day.  A couple of times I've gone a little over, mainly when eating out, but even then I haven't gone too far over.  So now, my new goal is to be sure that I'm eating the right things within that calorie range.

 

I think I mentioned before that I'm using sparkpeople.com to track my food intake each day.  I discovered this week that I could use it to track an awful lot more than just calories, fat, carbs, and protein.  It will track calcium, dietary fiber, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and just about anything else you want it to track.  So, I set it up to start tracking those things for me...and I discovered that I wasn't getting enough of most of those things in my diet.

 

In addition to making changes to the things that I eat, I'm also taking a multivitamin, a potassium supplement, and a combination of calcium, magnesium, and zinc.  Between those things, I'm now getting the recommended amounts of those things every day.  But I was still low on dietary fiber more often than not.  So, I've done a little research on where to get the dietary fiber from, and I'm starting to make some changes.

 

A lot of times, I'll make a pasta salad on the weekends and take it with me for my lunch during the week.  I am doing that again today, but I am using a multi-grain pasta that has 6 grams of dietary fiber per serving.  I'm also going to include some lentils in the pasta salad, for some added protein and fiber.  I've also bought some multi-grain tortillas, that I'll have for breakfast some days with turkey bacon or sausage and Egg Beaters, with low-fat cheese.  It's a low-fat, high-protein, high-fiber breakfast, and it's pretty easy!  Also, did you know that Yoplait makes a low calorie, fat free, high fiber yogurt?  It's called Fiber One, and each 4 oz. yogurt has 80 calories, 0 fat, 5 grams of dietary fiber, and 4 grams of protein.  I've bought those to take with me for snacks this week instead of the traditional Yoplait Light yogurts that I've been taking recently.

 

With these changes, in addition to the changes that I've already made, I think I'm taking the right steps towards becoming really, really healthy, not just towards losing weight.  Yes, losing weight is one goal...but it is only part of the process.  I want to change my life, not just how I look!  And now I'm going to be able to do it.  These are just small changes, but they are going to make a big difference.

 

More soon!

~Mindy

Well, Mom and I weighed in again this morning, and we've lost another 2 pounds, combined.  That brings our total weight loss up to a combined total of 22 pounds, and we're both at more than 10 pounds!  Not too bad.  We've both been feeling a little bit of disappointment lately, with seeing such small numbers each week since the first week.  I reminded Mom though, that we're not working out at anywhere near the level of the contestants on the show are, so we can't expect to see numbers like they do each week!  It would be unreasonable to expect that of ourselves, and we would be setting ourselves up for failure.  We have to keep looking at the positives.

 

We've lost a combined total of 22 pounds.  We've both lost more than 10 pounds...which is more than an average of 2.5 pounds a week.  Not too shabby.  We're eating better.  We're learning good habits.  We're working out.  We're both getting stronger and gaining endurance in our workouts.  We're fitting into our clothes better.  These are all good things, and there is no reason whatsoever that we should feel bad about our progress!

 

Now if we can only both believe that.  It's easier to say it than it is to really, truly feel that way deep down.  But we're working on it.

 

More soon.

 

~Mindy

Well, a lot has been going on lately.  I was a little frustrated last week with gaining back a 1/2 pound that I had previously lost, but I know that is part of how it all goes.  Mom's back has still been giving her a lot of problems, but she had an MRI earlier this week, and the doctor said she does not need surgery at this point!  Yay!  That is very good news.  He has referred her to the Texas Back Institute, and she has an appointment with them on Monday morning.  She may be going through some physical therapy, some pain management, and maybe some other things.  Hopefully, they will be able to help her out quite a bit.  I hate seeing her in so much pain.

 

My little brother (and Mom's youngest son) is home for a brief stay from Iraq.  He serves in the Army National Guard, and we haven't seen him since May of last year.  It is really good to spend some time with him while we can, because he'll be going back in a week.

 

Mom and I went and worked out together again today...and we both are feeling really good about it!  I think we are finally starting to see some pay-off from all of the workouts.  We both kept up a pretty decent pace on the treadmill the whole time we were on it, and we both walked for longer than we have been!  Not only that, but we felt like we were walking slower than we usually do, even though we were going our normal pace.  That is an excellent sign.  We worked out together yesterday evening, and we've got plans to work out together again tomorrow.  Week nights give us a few more complications than on the weekends, so we aren't getting to do it every day, but we have been working out about as often as our plan.  We're now talking about trying to bump our workouts up some...not only in intensity like today, but in frequency.  We want this to become a habit, not a chore.

 

I've been doing a lot more walking around on campus than I typically have in previous semesters.  I figure that on a typical class day, I'm walking between a half a mile and a mile, just getting around between classes and work.  At this point, I'm trying to make myself take the stairs too, as long as it is only 1 or 2 flights.  I have one class that is on the fourth floor, and I hope to be taking the stairs for that class by the end of the semester.

 

The indoor pool up at my school has just reopened (they were doing some construction), so Mom and I are planning on adding some water work to our workouts on the weekends.  I've just got to find out all of the details, and then we're going to get started with that, likely by next weekend.

 

Well, that's all for now.  Thanks again to everyone for your support, and y'all keep up the good work too!  Tomorrow is another weigh-in day for us, so I'll post the results once I've got them.

 

~Mindy

Well, this week wasn't as *WOW* as last week.  It seems that Mom's scale had a bad battery in it, so we aren't entirely sure how accurate her previous weigh-ins are.  But she has a new battery in it, and the weight from today is the correct weight.  We do know that she has lost weight, because she was able to get into some jeans this week that she hasn't been able to wear in a long time!  So that is a good sign.  I only lost a pound this week, which is somewhat frustrating.  But oh well...a pound is a pound, so I will take it.

 

Mom is still having a lot of pain in her back, but we are trying to work out together in spite of it.  We still haven't managed to have our workouts as often as we are planning, but we are getting closer to that goal.  I twisted my ankle in the middle of the week, which put me a little behind where I would like to be.  I've got an ankle brace that I am going to try to wear most of the time, and hopefully that will give me the extra support that I need.

 

Food-wise, I think we are both doing really well.  This week, I met my water and calorie goals every day.  I've remembered to pack my lunch, snacks, and water to take with me to campus every day, and have been eating breakfast and dinner.  Mom has been finding healthy alternatives, even on the days that she forgets to take a lunch with her.  She's discovered a few fast food places that serve healthy options near her, and that have websites with all of the nutritional content posted with easy access.

 

I'm experimenting with the calorie counter on Sparkpeople.com to see which of my traditional meals I can make and what they will do to my numbers for the day.  I'm discovering that most of what I eat really isn't all that bad, it's just that I tend to eat to much of it at once.  But since I've been eating snacks throughout the day, I'm not as hungry at meal time, so I can't eat that much anyways.  I am doing better than I typically do with portion control.  Hopefully I will manage to continue that.

 

More soon.  Keep up the good work you all are doing too!  And thank you all for your encouragement.

 

~Mindy

Today was my first day back to school for the semester.  I packed my water, snacks, and lunch to take with me, so food was not an issue today.  I worked at my part time job in the morning, went to class, worked at my job again this afternoon for a few hours, and then met Mom at the gym on campus to work out.  I did about a 45 minute workout with weights and cardio.  Then I stopped at Subway to pick up my dinner and headed home.  It was a good day...a productive day...but an exhausting one.  And the whole week is going to be like this.

 

Mom's back is not doing so well.  She did join me at the gym this evening for a little while, but she was in so much pain that she wasn't able to do as intense a workout as she would have liked, nor as long as she would have wanted.  I don't know how well she is going to be able to do with this.  Hopefully she can keep coming at least some.

 

~Mindy

Well, we are a week in to our new lifestyles, and so far, so good!  Mom has managed to lose a total of 9.5 pounds and I have managed to lose 8.5 pounds.  We weren't able to work out together the way that we had hoped, due to some medical issues with Mom.  She is continuing to have back pain that is often severe.  She went back to the doctor earlier in the week, and they did some x-rays...and it turns out that she has several discs in her spine that are rapidly deteriorating.  Right now, they are just treating it with pain meds and the like, but eventually she may need disc replacement surgery.  Exercise will be good for her though, so we are planning to work out together this week as we have planned to do.

 

I'm starting back to school tomorrow, and starting a job on campus as well.  This first week will likely be stressful, just getting the schedule down.  But I'm planning to combat the stress by packing a lunch, water, and snacks to take with me to campus each day, and working out before going home at least a few days.  Hopefully that will help.  I just need to do some pre-planning, so that I have everything I need for my lunches all ready to go.

 

I've added a new list with our weights, where we can track our progress as we go.  I'm pleased to see that we've both lost close to our short term goal amount within the first week, and without including as much exercise as we planned to include.  Hopefully with adding more exercise, we can keep it up.

 

I've stuck within my calorie goal range every day but one, and that is even with eating out on multiple occasions!  The one day that I went over my calorie range, it was only by about 100 calories.  Not too bad.  I've had at least 64 oz of water every day since starting.  I just have to keep it up.  But I'm already starting to notice that my body is adjusting to the eating schedule that I've set for it.  I start to get a little bit hungry right around the time that I will be eating a snack or a meal.  My meals have sometimes been more food than I can actually eat.  It's a good feeling to know that I can have that much, but I don't necessarily need that much.  I'm trying to plan my meals to have a serving of protein, a small serving of carbohydrates, and two servings of fruits or vegetables.  So far, so good.

 

Thanks to everyone for all of the encouragement!  We're working on it!

 

~Mindy

Well, today Mom and I are getting started.  We've been discussing this for a few days, figuring out how we are going to go about losing all of this weight.  Between the two of us, we've got a LOT to lose.  One of the hardest things for me is portion control...only eating the amount of food that I should eat.

 

I have a bad tendency to only eat about two times a day, and then when I do eat, I typically go way overboard.  So I am going to try to eat 3 meals and a snack or two a day.  That way, I'll eat less at a time, and likely less overall.  And I know from past experience that I have to keep track of what I put into my mouth.  If I don't write it down somewhere, I can tell myself that it didn't count.  The problem is that it does count!  So I've started tracking my food consumption on Sparkpeople.com.  They keep track for me of the calories, fat, carbs, and protein in the things that I eat for me, so all I have to remember to do is get online and enter the information.

 

One of Mom's biggest problems is that she works very long hours pretty often.  Sometimes, she skips lunch because she gets so busy and doesn't want to take the time to go get lunch.  And then by the time she gets home from work in the evenings, she is exhausted and doesn't want to work out or cook something to eat.  She often winds up getting take out and plopping down on the couch.  She is going to the store today to buy some things she can take with her this week so that she will have a lunch with her and ready to eat, eliminating that excuse.  And we are going to the gym at my university together either Monday or Tuesday evening when she gets off work.  She is going to get a membership there so that we can go together and work out after she gets off work at least a couple of nights a week and on the weekends.  She can use the gym at her apartment complex for free also, so if there are times that we can't get together for whatever reason, she is still going to be able to go and workout.

 

So far, today has been a pretty good day for me.  I've eaten two meals and a snack, and had 6 glasses of water.  I've got another snack planned, as well as dinner, and I'm about to do some step aerobics in my house.  Mom has not done so well so far today though.  She had breakfast, but hasn't eaten since then.  After talking to her this afternoon, she is now getting some lunch prepared.

 

So...that's how it is going so far.  I'm sure that we'll have plenty of ups and downs along the way, but hopefully we can get the ball rolling quickly this week, and really get ourselves on the path to being much healthier.

 

Mindy