New Year, New Me?

I hate diets, I hate exercising. There - I said it. However, I seem to have failed a bit in the sense of keeping off the weight that I lost. Last year, I lost 40 pounds. WOO-HOO! Unfortunately, I gained 25 of it back...BUT! At least I weigh less this year than I did last year, right? :)

So, here we go again. Started South Beach on Monday, January 3. Stepped on the scale that morning: 239.0

January 4: 236.4. WOO-HOO!
January 5: 234.8. WOO-HOO!

So in 3 days, almost 5 pounds. Not bad. Goal this year is to see 175. And then knit me a new sweater...one that fits.

Speaking of sweaters, I cast on and finished the lovely Althea sweater by Snowden Becker, which is a top-down sweater with a beautiful yoke design. Cast on the XL on September 5. completed the yoke and moved on into the boring rib design. Tried it on, just to see. FAIL. Too big. But luckily, the yoke schematics were the same for the L, so I just had to rip out the ribbing and could keep the yoke. Wishful thinking.

Finished the sweater over New Year's, blocked it Monday night, wore it and HATED it on Tuesday. Why? TOO BIG. Took it to knit night last night and my guru Lynne (hi Lynne!) examined it. Basically, my needle size was too big. Why? Did Stacey do a gauge? Of course not! Grrrrrrrrrrr. So the Althea now needs to be frogged in it's entirety - there is not one bit of it that can be salvaged. Fortunately, yarn is different from fabric: when you cut fabric, if you mess up, you're in trouble. With knitting, you can just rip it back and start all over AGAIN. Grrrrrr....

Progress!!

So in the last two months since I decided to Change the Cursed Green Sweater (that's me, by the way), I have lost:

• 25 pounds
• 2 inches in my bust
• 3 1/2 inches in my waist
• 2 1/2 inches in my hips
• 2 1/2 inches in my arms
• 3 inches in my thighs
• TOTAL = 13 1/2 inches lost!!!!

I am halfway to my "published" goal of losing 50 pounds this year, and well on my way to my secret goal (I'm not telling you yet - I don't want to jinx it!!)!

I got to go shopping on Saturday, because my pants were too big for me. What an AWESOME feeling to know that the size I was wearing were TOO big and that I could try on the next size down with no fear!! :)

Thanks so much to my extremely supportive family and friends. See you next month for the weigh-in! :)

Get Going Again

The nice thing about screwing up on a diet is that you can start over again. Started up on South Beach last Sunday the 3rd and in two weeks... I've already lost 10 pounds!!! Now if only could get going on the exercise portion!!

Day Three

But first let's rewind:

Day Two: followed the diet, rode the bike for 30 minutes (5 miles), because all of the treadmills were in use. Perhaps it's a good idea to shake up the routine so I don't get bored. Then came back to the house and did 100 of the Madonna side-to-side abs and 30 of the arms. Wow - I hurt today!

Day Three: followed the diet, even with my colleague talking about cookies and chips, etc. (grrrr...) Went to knitting group and had a Bangkok green tea misto with non-fat milk and sugar-free vanilla (yum!). I had pretty much talked myself out of working out tonight - after all, I had worked out on Sunday and Monday. Surely I deserved a break! But DH was so incredibly sweet and washed my workout clothes and had the front room cleared so that I could do my exercise tape for 20 minutes. And why is it that those 20 minutes FLEW by and when I'm on the treadmill or bike, it seems like forever??!!

OK - off to do my Madonna abs and arms and then to bed. Got an early day at work tomorrow and I'll need to do battle with the pastries at the morning meeting.

A Change Will Do You Good

Five weeks to my birthday...time to change the cursed green sweater!

Current stats:

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 250

Bust: 45

Waist: 49 1/2

Hips: 54 1/2

Right Arm: 14 1/2

Left Arm: 15

Right Thigh: 32 1/2

Left Thigh: 32

EEEK!!! When I met DH, I weighed 145 and had a 32" waist!! Of course, it's been eleven years and two DDs later...

So off to the gym I went.

Treadmill: 30 minutes

Distance: 1.66 miles

Speed: 3.25 miles per hour

Calories Burned: 252

Heartrate: high 170's

Many thanks to Led Zeppelin, Linkin Park, Madonna, Melissa Etheridge, and Michelle Branch for helping me with my workout!

Starting South Beach diet tomorrow morning. First two weeks: no fruit, carbs, sugars. After that, I can reintroduce some fruit and whole wheat/multi-grain.

Will record daily intake and exercise. Off to bed, but will drink one more bottle of water and do my 100 Madonna abs and 40 arms first.

Here's a few pics to inspire me...new pics to come in five weeks.

Wish me luck on my journey!!