It's 2 for 1 Day! Woot, woot!

OK, so here I am winding down on a great Friday evening and this is 2 for 1 day today on "Where's the Skinny".  What's that mean, you may ask.  Well folks, it is where I blog 2 days worth in 1 blog!  Sounds super exciting huh?  Yeah, I thought so too!  Can I get a "WOOT, WOOT!"?

So here goes...

Yesterday I was feeling very motivated after my Jillian Michael's 30-day shred workout the night before, that I decided to take my lunch hour and do some exercising.  I really needed the extra boost of energy to go with that!  So, I popped in the Leslie Sansone "Walk Off the Pounds" video and decided to do the 3 mile power walk.  So I did 3 miles in 45 minutes.  It felt really good and gave me the needed lift to finish out my work day.

M E came home from work and decided that she wanted to do a workout, so I put back on my workout clothes and proceeded to do another workout.  We ended up doing the 3 mile power walk followed by the 2.5 mile walk/jog workout.  We did 5.5 miles total.  So at the end of the day, I walked 8.5 miles.  I ended up burning a total of 3382 calories with an intake of 1350 calories.  I ended the day with a 2000 calorie deficit.  Go me! 

Honestly, I really did not think I was going to make it through the first 2 miles when I was working out with M E but she was really moving it.  I could not give up!  Yeah, I can be a little competitive sometimes.  Go figure...

So I woke up this morning and my legs were SOOOOO sore.  Yeah, was that only 8.5 miles I walked yesterday because I feel like I walked clear across the country?  OH...And I started taking creatine powder yesterday after Jillian's beating the night before!  I was hoping that would help some but I guess I have not had enough of it in my system yet to help.  At any rate...Yeah, I am rambling...

So I woke up this morning and my legs were SOOOOO sore....

Well, I believe that I have heard somewhere, from somebody, at sometime, that working out with sore muscles helps them.  So guess what M E and I did before we went to work today?  Yeah, you know it, you guessed right!  We did a workout - the 3 mile power walk again.  As if I thought I could not piss my muscles off any more than I have in the last 2 days, I decided to test them even more.  I struggled through the first mile, legs screaming at me at every kickback.  Mile 2 came up and the pace sped up - legs feeling warm and I can really feel the burn.  Mile 3 comes up - feeling invincible by now I grabbed the 8lb pound to add a little challenge to the walk!  Like I said in my last blog, per Leslie Sansone, "We don't do sissy exercises.  No sissies here!"  I felt good after that workout.  What a great way to start the day.

So after dinner tonight, M E and I decided that we have been doing a lot more cardio and have not been doing a lot of strength training.  We opted to go back to good old Tony Horton and popped in his Power 90 Sculpt 3 - 4  strength training video.  What a workout that was!  Lots of push-up and upper body weight training.  That really felt good since I think my legs would have literally gone on strike if I made them walk one more mile.  Tony did have some leg exercises with lunges and squats.  I believe I overheard some cussing coming from my lower limbs.  Not sure if it was directed at me or Tony, but I am sure I will know in the morning.  But hey...I feel great and tomorrow is group workout day!  WooHoo!  Bring it on!  Stay tuned...

Signing off...Lara

So, here I am, after a sad day and several workouts later...Today was a really long day.  I did my 2.5 mile walk/jog in 30 minutes this morning and then spent the rest of the day trying to make it through work.  My ferret, Niko, who I have had for 8 years started going downhill last night and got to the point this afternoon where he could hardly move and was breathing so heavy that you could hear him several feet away. 

I made an appointment with the vet at 4pm but Niko died in my arms while sitting in the waiting room waiting on the Dr.  We brought him back home and buried him.  Somehow, the house doesn't feel the same without him here. :(  He was such a great friend and so much fun. Always there to give me kisses and make me laugh.

This evening I fed into my depression eating and went for Mexican Food which I have not had in over 6 months.  I guess old habits die hard...It has always been my comfort food.  Well instead of making me feel "comforted" I felt guilty for ruining my whole day of GOOD eating with my cheese enchiladas and Spanish rice not to mention chips and queso.  So...I put on my workout clothes, tossed in the Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred DVD, and let her kick my ass for 20 minutes!  I also did another power mile with Leslie shortly after Jillian.  Wooo am I BEAT!

So far I have burned 2,926 calories and still have 2 hours of BURNING to go!  Hell yeah! Take that you cheesy bucket of yummy goodness!

M E and I have set a new goal...Lose 3 - 4 pounds a week through MORE exercise...so...stay tuned...

Signing Off...Lara

No Sissies Here!

OK so it has been forever since I last blogged.  My apologies.  I am so terrible to myself.  I get all wrapped up in work and then only have time to fit in Cristian, dinner, and my workout!  I am going to try to do better this week though.

So the past couple of weigh-in's I haven't gone down on the scale in fact I climbed a small hill, but my clothes are fitting loosey goosey so I am thinking all this weight lifting is building some muscle!

Did a workout this morning with Leslie Sansone walking off those pounds baby! Oh yeah!  It was a walk & kick 32 minute workout and it definitely had me sweating.  Power walking & kickboxing for 32 minutes will burn some calories let me tell you!  This evening, M E and I did another Leslie DVD, Walk & Jog, for another 32 minutes and that was an intense workout. Felt pretty good...at the end she said "We don't do sissy exercises here we work up a good sweat" and she was NOT joking.

So here is to you Leslie...NO sissies here!  Rock on!  Stay tuned...

Signing Off...Lara

Week 6 Weigh-In!

Week 6 is over and I am sad to report no weight loss this week.  I am trying not to be discouraged by that because I know it can be alot of things...so will wait till next week and see what happens.

Today I worked my butt off at the gym and plan to work really hard this week so next week that scale better WATCH OUT! 

We saw Wicked last night and it was just as fantastic as I remember it being the last time it blew through Dallas.  Cristian loved it. He kept singing along and tried to dance his monkey all over his lap.  He bought the winged monkey stuffy as a souvenir.  We had a run in with some crappy people who apparantly were hot and bothered that Cristian was sniffling during the 1st half of the show because he was so stuffed up he couldn't breathe and they left in huff because we were staying for the 2nd half and they were "tired of listening to him".  I could have slapped the wrinkles off

Week 5 - Weigh-in!

Week 5 has come and gone and I lost another 2 pounds! Woo me!  So I am down a total of 9.2 pounds.  Still not feeling real good...more to come...stay tuned...

Signing off...Lara

New Shoes - Sleeping Blues

So here I am on day who knows what, ha, but feeling pretty good.  Put on a pair of shorts today that I hadn't been able to comfortably fit in and what do you know...they were LOOSE!  Wooohoo, go me!

Hit the gym after buying some new cross training shoes. They are super comfy!  My other shoes were just falling apart.  I think some of my back issues might have been from working out in those shoes! Glad that is behind me, because I love my new ones!

Warmed up for 5 minutes on the glider at the gym before doing the sculpt strength training exercises.  Hit up some machines at 50 pounds, muscle woman ya know lol, and worked my back, legs, arms, and abs.  Some of the men looked at me like I was crazy but they stopped once they saw this chic could do it. Oh yeah! I might be rethinking that tomorrow when I wake up with sore muscles.  Better try that Creatine Powder I keep meaning to mix up...

I was going to take Cristian to the pool but apparently they had to close it due to someone having an "accident".  Reminds me of the commercial for "Grown Ups" when they all pee in the pool and the chemical turns the water dark blue...LOL!

So, I uploaded my data from my armband today and noticed that last night not only did I end up coughing stomach acid most of the night but i only managed to get 2 hours and 12 minutes of sleep.  The night before was less than that.  I have my dr appointment with my lapband idiot for a doctor on the 22nd.  My general practitioner thinks all my issues are being caused by a corroded lap band and so my lap band surgeon's reaction to that is..."Well we can fit you in the schedule in 9 days, how does 2:45pm sound to you?"  We shall see what happens...I can't go see the gastro specialist until they rule out the lapband being the problem.  All I know is that at night my lungs feel like they are filling with fluid and I cannot stop coughing and hacking stomach acid :(  I have been taking double doses of serious acid reflux meds (per the doc) but they haven't helped with the coughing up problem.

Off to bed...stay tuned...

Signing off...Lara

Week 4 - Weigh-in and Measurements!

Here I am at the end of Week 4.  Positive things to report!  I am officially DOWN 7.5 pounds in 4 weeks and a whopping 7.25 INCHES!  Woohoo go ME!

My apologies for not keeping up with my blog.  I have not been well in the health department lately.  Having some major lapband issues and acid reflux.  As an added bonus fluid keeps making it in the lungs. I have felt miserable!  I did get a report that my chest xray was clear which is music to an ex-smoker's ears!

My week of cooking is officially over as well and I have handed over the reigns to the kitchen to M E!  I do have to say I made some killer meals this past week including ham and potato skillet for breakfast on Sunday, Honey Lemon Schnitzel (can you say YUM?), Buffalo Chicken Skewers, Phyllo Chicken Pot Pie and some awesome veggie dishes!  Eating healthy has never been so much fun! I love our new healthy cookbooks.  Any "really bad for you" recipe has been all "healthed" out in the cookbooks without losing flavor!  Loving it!  Hoping M E makes the "Shrimp & Grits" recipe.  It was originally a Paula Dean recipe but the cookbook has a healthy version of it and it looks delicious!  She did make a chicken and squash meal tonight which was good but I have found that Thyme and me...we don't mix. :)

Oh, and we have gone kookoo for fruit!  Had cherries, peaches, apples, kiwi, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and bananas in the house the past 2 weeks.  We went parfait, smoothie, fruity dessert crazy! Stay tuned...

Signing Off...Lara