Seems no one is around today - hmmm. Very quiet around all the boards/blogs that I visit. Figures since I'm bored out of my gazoo today!

Did my terrible three last night and saw some great improvements from 3 weeks ago.

Wall Sit - went from 2:30 to 4:00 minutes
Plank - went from 2:00 to 3:00 minutes
Push-ups went from 25 (angled against a picnic table) to 40 girly push-ups. Then later on (after I'd worked out for a while) I tried "real" push-ups and did 6 - though I think I could do better than that if I tried them before I got tired. Next time I'll just start with the real ones as it would seem I've mastered the girly ones.

Did the activity challenge last night of exercising through commercials. Did it through a 1/2 hour show earlier on in the afternoon, then through the entire 2 hours of Biggest Loser. WOW - that's alot of commercial time. It was actually kind of fun - even if the kids did think I was a bit nuts. Certainly didn't need to keep the fire stoked last night :)

I'm bound and determined to see a loss tomorrow. The last 2 days in a row have showed a gain though so I'm quite apprehensive. At this rate I don't know how I'll be under 155 for my birthday in just over 2 weeks. And I wanted under 150 by the new year. Wonder if there's a limb I could have removed - hahhahaha. It has to be water retention, though I can't feel or see it. I started doing some reading again on the South Beach Diet today. I tried it a couple years ago and couldn't really stick to it, but even what I did do I lost some, and I wasn't in the frame of mind that I am now. I "think" my diet is OK, but maybe that's the problem and I need to try something new. Always such a guessing game. I personally know a couple people who have done it and had amazing results, long term too. There's just a few things I don't completely agree with and struggle with. Seems that certain foods (like potatoes) are completely forbidden and I know that I wouldn't give them up. But maybe if I just did the 2 week Phase 1 to give myself a little boot ... I don't know .....

I hate the scale - hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it!!! GRRRRRRR!!!! Did I mention that I hate it? It's evil & nasty. They should install one in every prison cell just to drive the inmates crazy. ERGH!

I KNOW that daily weighing results in fluctuations, I'm OK with that. It does NOT derail me. But sometimes they just plain don't make sense.

Yesterday I ran in the morning outside, did some strength moves in the afternoon during commercial breaks, then in the evening I did a Bodysculpt class, lifted some weights and ran again. I drank lots of water. I ate very cleanly. And what do I wake up to this morning ... a 2.4 gain from the day before. ARGH - I just want to bang my head against the wall. How on earth can that be? I just know it better be gone - and soon - because I just won't stand for this!!! :)

I did however pull out the measuring tape today because I thought if I'm doing all this work and not seeing any change on the scale I darn well better be seeing some on the tape. At least I have a teensy bit of good news there as I did see 1/2" off my waist, 1" from under my bust and 1 1/2" over my bust. Though zippo from my belly, hips or thighs - which is where I'd really prefer to lose it. Hopefully that will come next. This is over the last 3 weeks so I guess I should be happy.

They say muscle weighs more than fat and that when you're putting on muscle your weight may not change - but they also say you only really put on a couple pounds of muscle. If that's the case then I must not be losing much fat and just putting on muscle - which also doesn't make sense to me.

All this said ... I'm not going to stop doing what I'm doing. I love exercising. I love the way it makes me feel. I know that I'm getting so many benefits from it - better skin, better immunity, more energy, more positive attitude about life and all that other good stuff. Same with my diet, I know it's healthy and I can feel the benefits from the changes I've adopted and I love that. So quitting is NOT in my agenda, even if the scale never budges. That doesn't mean I can't get frustrated from time to time though.

WOW, it's been a week since I've posted. Guess I've been too busy exercising! I had a great week and am feeling great. Done alot more strength training than I have in a long time and it really does tighten everything up.

Had a great dinner tonight of teriyaki chicken (my own yummy homemade sauce), rice & oriental cabbage salad (again, a homemade dressing). Mmmmm. After my workout I'm having a glass of milk and that will complete another great OP day!

This weekend I'm finally going to get to that salmon recipe I mentioned a couple weeks ago too.

I'm happy that I had a loss this week, but it was more a few days ago - so fingers are crossed and determination is in place to have an even better loss next week. I really want to be under 150 by the end of this year. And I certainly want to be under 155 for my birthday which is in just over 3 weeks. So 3.4+ lbs in 22 days - should be doable but I have to stay focused, determined & active!

Should have used the duct tape yesterday because after I got home from class my mouth lost control :(. And .. I didn't get in the extra minutes I needed so I ended up 30 min short for my weekly goal of 350 minutes.

So ...... today I had a wonderful OP day and felt really good. I think I was being too restrictive yesterday and it left me feeling unsatisfied. Tonight I had a wonderful dinner with Herb & Lime Sole Fillet, Brown Rice & Chinese Cabbage Salad with red peppers. Mmmm, mmmm, good! On top of that I made a HUGE batch of cookies (I have a certain extended relative who is nagging me to come through on a promise to send him cookies so I need to stockpile - haha) and my son made a batch of cookies and I only had ONE! YEAH - that's one of my goals to limit treats to once a day.

Also, I decided that my first 30 min of exercise from this week gets added on to last weeks minutes and I still have to do 350 for this week - so total 380 this week. I've got 30 down and plan to get lots in this weekend.

I've set up my activity challenge for this week which is creating the following strength routine:

♥ 3 sets x 12 squats with bicep curls, pulse between sets
♥ Push-ups - first set to fatigue, stretch then 2 sets x 10
♥ Wall Sit - 1 set to fatigue
♥ 3 sets x 12 front & lateral raises combined
♥ 2 sets x 15 Calf Raises - rotating foot position between sets
♥ Plank - first one to fatigue, stretch then do 1 more minute
♥ 5 min abs of various crunches

Though I know myself and once I get started on this I'll probably add some more - like tricep moves, inner/outer thigh, etc. But this is my bare minimum and I will do it at least 3 times this week.

This day hasn't been the greatest so far, though I suppose it is far, far from the worst - so for that I will be greateful. I sure am glad this is a short week though. And DH came home last night after being away for a week so I'm happy about that too.

Did some shopping yesterday and got a couple little things for Christmas. Also cleared out the Halloween decorations, and just like Wal-mart, put up a couple Christmas ones - haha. Just a couple, I swear! Though I think it may be fun to take out a couple every day until the end of the month.

DD has her final volleyball tournament today. She's very glad that it's over. Was fun at first, but it's not her thing other than the fun of hanging with friends.

I'm determined to reach my weekly goal of 350 minutes of exercise per week so that means I have to put in a little extra this evening to get there. The rain is holding off and it's just windy right now so I wouldn't mind getting out for a good 'ol power walk.

Been OP so far today and going to stay that way if I have to duct tape my mouth shut to get there! There really is no excuse for not being OP. I just have to make it happen.

After the run today we did weights and I made sure to test my fitness level with push-ups. I was able to do 25 on an angle against the picnic table. I'll be sure to test them the same way at the end of this challenge.

I'm thinking the rest of the day will be pretty lazy - other than some housework. Came home from the run, soaked to the bone, and had a nice long bath. Now I'm about to watch a movie, relaxing on the couch in front of the fire with a cup of peppermint tea. Ahhhh....... Maybe I'll even get a nap out of the deal. :)

Just got home from dinner out with some friends to celebrate a birthday. It went pretty good. I did have some of an appetizer that I didn't plan on having, but I paid attention to have a reasonable portion and not just gobble it up. Then ... and this I'm REALLY proud of .... I cut my meal directly in half and only ate half. Had the rest boxed up which I brought home and gave to my MIL. It was a spicy breaded chicken burger and fries, so not healthy, but I had it in an OK portion. I'm actually glad that my MIL ate the rest because I was already satisfied and really didn't need the leftovers. And I actually feel very full still (a couple hours after eating). I'm so glad I didn't eat more or I would have felt horrible right now.

Also did the wall sit today and got 2 min 30 sec. I really wanted to do a bit more but I'll work on that over this challenge and I WILL improve. For some people this would be a really good time, but I know I have pretty strong legs, and probably even stronger will & determination. I'm quite competitive with myself that way. Didn't help that I did it with socks on and my feet were slipping away from me. But to be honest I don't think that made too much of a difference really.

Also attempted to do the push-ups but my dog and one of MILs decided I looked like I was having too much fun without them and so they started to run around and roll underneath me. I got to 12 but had to keep pausing to wait until they ran out from under me and then they started licking my face and I couldn't stop laughing. So I abandoned that for now and will do it another time when I don't have little rodents underfoot. Figured under the current circumstances there was no use trying the plank either. :)