ReComputing!

Good morning!

This week I have the car, so I decided to clock my biking route to see just how far I really went last week. Of course I had overestimated, but not by much. It was a total of 1.5 miles from the school to the gym, not 2 like I had originally thought.

So take last week's tally and deduct a mile of biking from it. I still think I did pretty awesome for a fat chick!

I'm now into week five and things are going well, though I think I need to tweak my program a bit. Not so much the gym part, but the eating part. My weight has been maintaining, and thanks to Mother Nature, I am now getting rid of a lot of bloating, so that might be a part of the reason I didn't lose anything. Maybe next week I'll lose, though that's not the only goal.

Portion control is a big issue, and I've tried to switch to having most of my meals on a small plate (about 6") instead of a big one (about 12"). I'm less inclined to overfill it (less inclined my foot- it's darn near impossible to overfill it!) and it allows me to check myself for hunger if I go for helping #2. If I still feel hungry I'll have a little more (1/2 a plate), but that's it. Unfortunately I forget to use the smaller plate a lot, and I wind up eating too much. This includes going out to eat as well- I order too much because I'm way too hungry, then I eat everything, instead of halving it and putting the rest away. This is another thing I'm working on- just because I'm out doesn't mean I should pig out! Besides, halving it means I get to have two great meals instead of one!

One thing I did do that was really smart was I went out the day after Easter and bought myself some of those fun size candy bars at half off. Now don't you look at me like that- I did it for a good reason! I told you from the beginning that I wasn't going to give up having goodies, just cutting way, way, way down on them. And those fun sizes might be a bite or two- but it gives me just a taste of chocolate that I love, but not so much that I have to eat an entire full-size candy bar.

Seriously- have you ever tried to take one bite of a full-sized bar and put it away? I can't do it. It's worse than potato chips- and I can't just take a handful of those either. At least this way there's some degree of portion control. And I'll only allow myself one a day- if that. I put them away where neither I nor the kids can see, and try to forget about them until I get a craving.

As for the gym, I'm still doing the 30 reps on each machine and three times that many in intervals on the 'crunch' machine to make my core stronger. I've stopped using the 30 pound weights and have upped them to 50 for the arm machines, and the crunch now is set at 110 pounds for both front and back crunches. It was 90. And I'm starting to really feel it now! The leg press (when I'm not biking) was set at 110 pounds, but I think I can now handle 130 pounds. So I'll be doing that next time.

I'll keep doing things at this rate until I can do 30 reps without stopping (for my arms), then I'll increase the reps to 40 before I go any further. Remember now, I'm not trying to bulge up, I want to tone and shape- and doing slow reps at lighter weights is better for doing that. Arnold Schwartzenegger I ain't!

The focus this week will be better menu choices and portion control. I might even ask the kids to remind me not to have a second helping at dinner (to which they will gleefully agree to- they love to tell me what to do), just so I can stay on track. That's how desperately I want this! :)

God Bless, and may your days be filled with God's blessings!