Work out mania

So I finally decided a couple of days ago that I needed to start working out and start shedding more pounds. So for the past almost week now I have been getting up in the morning and power walking on the tredmil. I started off slower and was doing about a mile and a half and now I am up to 2 miles every morning. I finally decided to try one of the programs that my tredmil has on it. You know where you have to punch in your weight you pick a program that you think will be good for you. So thats what I did. WOW I didn't know how many calories I was actually burning! The program I chose was a Cardiovascular fat burner. I walked for about 35 minutes and this program had me walking up hill and at a steady pace. It was a GREAT feeling! I actually burned almost 300 calories this morning! So here I am thinking ok I have been eating well, I have been exercising, maybe I lost a little weight? WRONG! I gained 0.6lbs! I know I know most of you are probably thinking "why is she complaing she didn't even gain a pound." I just feel like some pounds should have been lost. But just when I was getting down...my sister, Rachel, reminded me that I haven't worked out in a long time, my body isn't used to the exercise so most likely my muscles are retaining water and my body is starting to tone a little bit. The only reason she said the word 'tone" is because I told her that I went shopping yesterday to buy some new clothes (my older clothes are starting to look a little baggy) and I have dropped another size (this will be my second size dropped since my surgery). Its a great feeling, I just wish the numbers on the scale would go down as well.

I know that if I keep up with my exercise regimen my body will become more used to it and hopefully the pounds will start dropping.

I know that I said I would be writing once a week usually every friday, however due to the New Year rolling in I will be up in CT visiting friends so I thought I would write today before I leave. My current weight today is 232.8lbs a total weight loss of 47lbs. It is still very exciting to me because I haven't been this weight in probably 2 or 3 years. Its such a good feeling to be able to buy clothes that are smaller than what you have been wearing and actually seeing your body start to appear again.

 I hope everyone has a great New Years and I will be sure to let you all know how the work outs go!! Oh by the way below you will find some pictures that were taken today by my sister Rachel (through Skype actually) Unfortunately I don't have pictures from my heaviest weight except for my nursing photo that is up. So I decided that I would start taking full length photos from now on so that we can all see the results!


Current Weight 232.0lbs. 12/29/10

 

Side View 12/29/10



Day 2 Christmas Eve Work Out (Friday)

The morning has started out pretty good. I woke up and decided I am definitely going to get into the swing of things. My parents have a small gym setting in the basement. It consists of a tredmil, spinning bike, and an eliptacal machine (which I hate!). I decided that I am going to start off slow and just start by speed walking on the tredmil for about 30min. The 30min. flew by, and before I knew it I had walked 1.61miles. I know I know it doesn't sound like much but for someone who hasn't done too much exercise I think thats a pretty good start. I was able to burn 127.2 calories. I remember when I first had my surgery done I started walking on the tredmil and I was walking at a slower rate and I would only walk about 1.30 miles if even that. Today I felt like I was able to walk at a faster rate. I usually cover the top of the tredmil wtih a towel so that I am not constantly looking at the time. So I turend on a movie and just started walking (I was watching Grumpy Old Men). I was very surprised when I was finished working out that I had been walking at a faster rate than previous times I had walked on the tredmil and I had gone further in distance. It was a great feeling!

After my work out I decided to have my usual breakfast which consists of a protein shake and a 20oz bottle of Diet iced tea (which has no calories, no fat, no carbs, but a GREAT flavor). The protien shake is very good as well. It is called Premier and I get it from Costco. I like it because it actually tastes like chocolate milk and it doesn't have a bad after taste. Its not too thick and its not chalky at all. It has a lot of protein which is mainly what my diet consists of. My goals for each day include:
                                                70-80grams of Protein
                                                30-50 grams of Carbohydrates
                                                20-30grams of Fat
                                                50-60oz. of Fluid
                                                700-900 calories per day
I know it might sound a little drastic but I actually really enjoy the diet regimen. I also enjoy this because I can cook with the foods that I enjoy and not have to stick to certain diet foods like most diet programs. As long as I am within these ranges I can make the foods I like to eat. I also tend to stay away from starchy foods such as rice, pasta, potatos, bread, etc. I have to limit my fruit intake as well due to the high carbohydrate levels.

I usually like to plan out my meal for the day in the morning because it keeps me focused and on point during the day so that I don't snack on things I am not supposed to.  It also helps me so that when its time for lunch or dinner I already know what to prepare and I won't grab anything extra out of the fridge.

So today my lunch will consist of chilled shrimp with a splash of lemon and some cocktail sauce for dipping (I use the cocktail sauce in moderation because it tends to be higher in carbohydrates). For a snack I will do a string cheese light (very low in fat and a good amount of protein). For dinner, Bryan makes a wonderful chicken marsala. I know your thinking what is she thinking that has so much fat in the sauce. However, Bryan makes it so that its very low fat and high in protein. It consists of boneless/skinless chicken breast, fresh white mushrooms, and a fat free chicken broth with makes up the sauce with a small amount of cornstarch added to thicken the sauce a bit. Most of the time you serve chicken marsala over pasta. Because I do not eat pasta so I make zucchini or other veggies to take place of the pasta. It probably doesn't sound as good as pasta, but I prefer the vegetables. DELICIOUS!! For dessert I do a fat free/sugar free chocolate pudding. Even though the pudding is not carbohydrate free its a lot better than eating a candy bar or something thats even worse for me. I usually make sure that I have enough carbohydrates left during my day so that I can have my chocolate pudding for dessert. I also make it with skim milk. It satisfys that chocolate craving that every female gets!

I decided that I am going to write 1 blog per week. I will make sure that I weigh myself once a week (I can't weigh  myself everyday because I will drive myself crazy) But once a week I will go through any struggles I am dealing with and how the exercise and dieting is coming along. Once again I would love any helpful tips that you can all provide. Thank you for being so supportive and I will write again in a week!
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Day 1 Getting Started...



Me at 279lbs...I am the one on the very Left side...

 Hi there!

My name is Michelle and I am very new to blogging. I decided that this blog is going to be dedicated to a healthier lifestyle for myself. Let me share a couple of things with everyone...

I just graduated nursing school as an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) and I am currently working towards my RN/BSN (Registered Nursed with a Bachelor of Science Nursing degree). I have always known that I wanted to become a nurse. I guess you can say my inspiration to become a nurse came from my mom who has been an RN for the past 30 years. I used to see how patients would light up every time they saw my mom even for the littlest thing. She has truely been my inspiration to become a nurse. She always tells me whenever I see a patient always wear a smile and your care will go further. She is right.

My sister, Rachel, actually blogs as well, so you can say that I got the idea of blogging from her. Although her blog is about cooking and mine will be about my journy and passion to lose weight and trying to live a healthier lifestyle. I am going to post pictures along my journey and I would love it if anyone had any extra helpful tips to please share them with me. I am also going to share with you my daily diet and exercise regimen. I feel it really helps to write everything down that I am doing so that I can be accountable for my actions.

I am actually starting this blog a little later than expected. October 6, 2010 was the start of a new life for me. That day I underwent the lap band surgery and told myself that from this day forward I want to live a happy and healthy lifestyle. My starting weight throughout this procedure was 279lbs. So far I have lost 46lbs and my current weight is 233lbs. I have a long way to go and that is the whole purpose for this blog. I want to lose the maximum amount of weight possible and I want to be able to keep this weight off for the rest of my life. I should aslo mention that I am 24 years old and have a lot to look forward to in the near future.

My boyfriend Bryan and I at the Turkey Trot 2010 5 Mile walk...me after loosing 35lbs...

I have a great support system which include my parents and my sister and also my boyfriend, Bryan, of almost 5 years. And with help from everyone, I truely believe that I can shed the pounds and be able to live a healthy lifestyle. So lets get started and before anything begins I already want to send out a big THANK YOU to everyone who is going to be following me on my journy to a new life!!