Back At It!

So, I've been doing really well with going to the gym. The plan is that I get up and get Marli ready for school, drop her off and then make it to the gym with Pepper for yoga at 8am and step aerobics at 9am. Then, I get to go home, shower and make it back to pick her up at 10:45. I teach dance in the afternoons, so this seems to be working out! :)

I'm participating in a weightloss challenge that will be running for 12 weeks. My goal is to get back down to 125lbs., which is where my body feels the best and hangs out most of the time. So, here's to losing weight in 2012 and shedding the baby fat! My first weigh-in is this Friday and I'm hoping for about a 5lb loss from my first weigh-in last week. I've been tracking my nutrition and exercise in 411fit.com and it's a huge help!

A Little Bump

So, I've had to put getting into shape on the back burner due to a little bump appearing on my mid-section. It will continue to grow until November, when I'll deliver a little baby. :) Then, the workouts begin again in earnest!

Butt.....

So, I got a great compliment at the gym today! I've really be working hard on doing lunges, squats and lots of butt-lifting exercises. Well, I think it's paying off! The lady that runs the little daycare at the gym where I drop off Marli said, "your butt looks great, by the way!" I was like really???? She said that it looks nice and lifted and in the right place. Woo hoo! I'm very happy about this and she didn't even know that I'd been working on that specific area of my body. Yay! Small victories are great!

Seriously.....

Okay, need to get a little more serious. Ibis and I are going on vacation end of June to the Bahamas and Florida. Kinda need to step it up and lose 5 pounds so I don't feel like a heifer in my bathing suit. I feel great though right now and technically, I don't NEED to lose the weight, but I'd feel much more confident!

I had to take 2 weeks off from the gym due to a couple of jobs I was doing. Just didn't have time to go and I was straight up pooped! I've gone this week and last week; however, Marli has the sniffles so I can't go with her. Ugh! Oh well, it will happen!

Race for Autism

Yesterday, I ran a 5k with all the Bueno's supporting Tristan and Autism research. It was a blast! I am feeling it today, though! Ibis ran with me for the first 2 miles then he took off to finish 3 minutes before me. I have no hopes of keeping up with him since he's all legs and can run pretty fast. I did come in with a decent time for not having trained for this race. I came in at 30:28. That was three minutes slower than the last race I did back in October 2008 when I came in at 27 minutes and change. But, again, I wasn't really running this race to beat anything. It felt good to get out there and run for a good cause.

Alice Anne, in Maryland, happened to be running a 5k too at the same time. :) She came in at about the same time as me, too. Crazy! I wish we lived closer to each other so that we could run a race every month or so together. That would be so much fun. Ah, well. :( It's nice to have support even if that support is across the entire country.

Healthier Lifestyle

I'm going to commit to buying fresh veggies and fruits more often and really eating healthy foods. Ibis says that he needs to work on it too, so that will make it easier. I seem to grab whatever I can when I'm out and that usually involves some sort of deep fried goodie or chocolate concoction. Not so good for the booty. Since I gain my weight in my thighs and butt, I need to spend time making sure that part of my body is super toned. I'm going to the gym consistently, but it's my diet that really needs the overhaul.

My best friend, Alice Anne, has a blog that I've been reading and she's putting everything on there that she's been eating lately and her exercise log. It's really making feel a little more confident that I can truly change my lifestyle to reflect healthier choices in my eating habits. I will be going to the store this week to make sure that I have grab-n-go items that are healthy and delicious at the same time. Wish me luck!!!

Pound for Pound Challenge

So, I was watching The Biggest Loser tonight and I decided to make a pledge of losing 10 pounds in the pound for pound challenge. Because of my pledge, they'll donate 10 pounds of food to a local food bank. I thought that was cool, so I figured, why not? I shouldn't lose any more than 10 pounds, but I thought with all my new year's resolutions and healthier living, I'd aim high. If I lose 10 pounds, I'll be where I was when I got married almost 4 years ago. I was 115 lbs and felt great! Not that 125 lbs is too big, but I figured I'd try to get all the way back down to 115 before we begin trying for baby #2. :)

Consistency!

I've been going to the gym consistently about 4 times a week for the past month and a half or so. I'm very happy with the results. I feel like my stamina is getting much better, my flexibility is great and I feel like I'm toning up. Very happy! I've been taking yoga about 3 times a week and then I do some cardio on the eliptical and the treadmill. I also have been taking an awesome aerobics class that integrates Latin dancing into it. Super fun and a great cardio workout! I'm hanging strong at about 125 lbs. still, which I'm happy with because I've been eating quite a bit of apple pie lately! YUM! However, that will be stopping after the first of the year, so the workouts will continue to keep me on track as I modify my eating. Let's hear it for exercise!!!! Woo hoo!!! I feel like it's my time for myself when I can hop on the machines and read my book and just get absorbed into the workout and the book. There is a kids' club there at the gym, so I can drop off Marli and workout for a maximum of 2.5 hours at a time. It's great! Coco added me onto her gym membership, along with Annya and Geno. It's fun going with them. :)

Early Early Early....

I just typed out an entire entry and it got erased. Not fun. Here we go again:

For the past 2 weeks, I've been going to the gym about 2-3 times a week with my mom at 4:30 in the morning. I've really enjoyed it since I get to go back to bed after about an hour workout. I've been holding steady at 125 lbs. I'd like to be at 120, but I'm not complaining! Some people have noticed that I've lost some weight...always makes you feel good! I do need to work on my diet. It's those darn sweets! I have been tracking what I'm eating and I know how many calories I've been taking in per day. I'm trying to keep it to around 1500 calories a day. Then, I have my exercise and daily activity that helps to keep me slimmed down. It's working! I guess if sweets is my only vice in this life, there are worse things, huh? ;)

Early Bird

I made the decision and followed through with going to the gym with my mom on Wednesday morning at......wait for it.....4:15 AM. I know, I'm psycho. But, that's when my mom goes and when she can get me in for free. So, in order to save money and still keep my weight in check, I sucked it up and went. It felt really good, too. Very early, but good. I'll hopefully be going back tomorrow morning too. I have a show tonight, so we'll see how up to it I'm feeling after that. :)

Not too shabby!

I finished my TBLC competition in 9th place out of 29 ladies. :) I ended up losing 5.5 lbs. That was pretty much just from watching and tracking what I eat. I haven't really been walking or exercising much lately at all. Slacker! I would love to pick it up a bit more soon. Perhaps since Ibis is out of work, I'll be able to go running in the mornings. I just need to get out of bed!

Kickin' it into gear!

We went to the beach yesterday and I got a bit of a workout running on the sand. I went walking today and burned about 250 calories. I've been tracking my nutrition and it says I don't eat enough. Wow. I don't eat enough fat on a daily basis evidently. So, I'm trying to kick it up with almonds and guacamole and the other good fats out there. It's a bit of an eye-opener when you actually start tracking what you eat. Gives you a chance to see where you need to fill in the holes. Also, I've lost about 3 pounds since I've started this whole thing. But, I haven't been working out. That's pretty much been just with diet. So, now I need to get a bit more disciplined with the exercise and we'll see what happens!

Pretty Good

I did a fairly good job of working out this week! I went walking with Coco and Marli 3 days this week and we did the long figure 8 around Granite, so that's almost 3 miles of walking. Not too shabby. I'm hoping to do better this coming week. I'll be posting my weight, since I'm in a Biggest Loser-type contest with my friends on my mom's board. The pot for the winner is $261, so I'd love to win it! My goal is to get back down to 120 lbs. I'm currently at 130 on the dot. I weigh in next Friday and we'll see how I'm doing. I've come to realize that if I just cut out the sugar and exercise more, I have no problems losing lbs. So, that's what I'm gonna do!

Seminar work out

Last week, I was in Dallas for MK Seminar and it was amazing. I'm so excited to move up quickly once more into my free car again and then into directorship to lead women to excellence! I was able to work out in the hotel 2 of the nights I was there, so that was good and unexpected. I ran on the treadmill and did the eliptical for about 45 minutes each. Good times!

Onto this week.......

I haven't had a chance to breathe!! I did go walking on Tuesday with Coco and Marli. That felt good. It's been so stinkin' hot here!!! I haven't wanted to even fix my hair by blow drying it, let alone go out in the heat and sweat forever....but, that is a great way to lose weight!!! My sister has been in town this week, too so it's been a little hectic with our schedules filled up.

I will be so consistent!!

So, this past week, I didn't do much. I did some yoga and I went walking once. I'll do better this week.

Monday (yoga and 30 minutes walking)
Felt good to get out in the sunshine and walk and Marli always enjoys the walks. We get to see lots of cute dogs while we're out and she enjoys that.

Wednesday

Still Truckin' Along

Monday (30 minutes yoga)
Decided to just do my yoga today. It was good. Man, I need to work on my flexibility some more!!!!

Tuesday (22 minutes running)
Ran down Anza and up Chase again. Felt good and it was good weather. Hope to keep up the running this week. It's been nice having Ibis home so I can just roll out of bed and go running without taking Marli anywhere. He (thankfully!) will be back at work either at the end of this week or definitely Monday. Yay!

Wednesday (25 minutes running)
I took a run in the late afternoon...of course I did....I wanted it to be super hot! Well, it was and I felt a little drained. I think I do better running in the mornings! Still, I muddled through it and as a reward for running in that heat, I jumped in the pool when I got home. Ah, refreshing!

Good Running Week

Monday (25 minutes running)
I was able to get out in the morning and run down Anza and then East on Chase. It's a nice route and I will be expanding it as I get my stamina back up where it should be.

Tuesday (25 minutes running)
Since Ibis has been home and out of work for a week, I was again able to get out and do the same route today as yesterday. I did feel a couple of raindrops on my head, but I love it when it rains and I can be out in it. When I was little, every time it used to rain, I would put on grungy clothes and go outside to play in the rain. It's amazing that I never really got sick because of it! Anyway, the run felt good and I hope to run a little longer later in the week.

Friday (20 minutes running)
I ran the same route up Anza and down Chase and back. On the way back, I spotted a property for sale that just went on the market. So, I stopped and called and then returned with Ibis and Marli to check it out with a realtor. It looked pretty good, but a little out of our price range. Cest la vie.

ugh!

Monday (20 minutes running)
I actually got out and ran this evening when Ibis got home from work. It felt really good. I ran a bit uphill and my calves are hurtin'! Looking to run a bit more this week still....

Friday (25 minutes running)
I've been sick for the past week and a half. I had to record the Star Spangled Banner on Wednesday night with laryngitis. That was fun. But, it went okay and I think I turned in an okay audition cd. Anyway, since Ibis is unemployed AGAIN he was able to be with Marli while I went running this morning. I did a nice run; not too long or fast since I'm battling a cold. But, it did feel good to get out there and exercise. I'll be running tomorrow, too.

Saturday (30 minutes running)

Skipped a week!

Due to unforseen events in the Bueno household, I was unable to run or walk at all last week. But, this week:

Monday (30 minutes walking)
I walked with Marli around Kennedy Park at a really fast pace. It felt good and I hope to keep this up with running, too, throughout the week. I'm also making a commitment to eat a little better and make sure that I'm not eating too many sweets.

Tuesday (3 dance classes)
I didn't work out, but I did teach 3 ballroom dance classes and I was dancing right along with the kids, so it sure felt like a workout!

Wednesday (30 minutes walking)
Did the same walk as Monday. Felt really good. I'm really walking fast on these walks. The stroller propels me and I walk faster with it than without it. Also, I'm down 2 lbs! Yay! I'm just adjusting my diet and making sure that I'm eating things in the proper proportion. It's working I guess.

Saturday (30 minutes walking/running)
Well, this week was just about walking. I wasn't able to have Coco watch Marli while I ran and since I don't have a jogging stroller, I had to settle for walking. But, I'm walking VERY quickly and I can feel the burn at the end of the walk. :o) I will strive to run next week, though. I'll try to run after Ibis gets home....it's light out for quite a while, so it should work.

Another Week Another Run

Tuesday (20 minutes running)
I ran around Kennedy Park today and took an additional couple of blocks past the Bueno's before I headed back. It wasn't too hot when I ran and it felt really good, like I could have kept going for a lot longer. Unfortunately, I didn't want to push myself, so I left it at 20 minutes (approximately 2 miles) and I'll do more tomorrow. Feeling good and energized!

Wednesday (30 minutes running/20 minutes walking)
Did a bit of a longer run today and then walked the rest of the way with Coco and Marli. It was very nice to be out with the weather cool in the mornings.

Thursday (30 minutes running/20 minutes walking)
I did the same route as yesterday. This time, we had a friend and her dog join us. That was nice to be able to get to know someone better. Very nice run and it was still cloudy and cool, so it was PERFECT running weather. Didn't sweat too much. :o)

Saturday (30 minutes running)
I actually got up and went running this morning. I ran around the block past Kennedy Park and then went down Verdin and looped around down Trenton and then back to the Bueno's. It was a great run! Not too long or far, but I was really feeling good and I know that the three runs during the week helped. Hoping to do even better next week!