Weight Loss Journey Week 13 and 14

Week 13 (June 11) weight loss - .8 pounds

Week 14 (June 18) weight loss - .4 pounds

Total weight loss -1.2 pounds.

At least it wasn't a gain - because .....

I've been in a mood where I haven't been very motivated. I've had a bit of depression and anxiety. I haven't eaten the best or exercised as much. The weather was a lot cooler last week and I just wanted to hibernate in front of the TV. Argh! I hate when I feel like that.

But, I won't give up.

I'm feeling better again and motivated. 

I've been terrible at walking. A neighbor who I haven't met before came over a couple of weeks ago and showed interest in walking with me. She's seen me walk and wanted to join in. She's much older than me - probably in her 70's. This has put a snag on my motivation to walk. When I'm ready, I like to put my music in and move. I don't want to slow down or have to coordinate my walks because my schedule is all over the place. The pressures of having someone walk with me or watching me go on a walk and not taking the time to invite her has made me dread going on a walk. 

I don't know why it's affected me this way, but I just wasn't motivated to go on walks anymore. That was my first down fall. 

With the weather being so cool, I didn't want to go swimming because the water in the swimming pool isn't that warm. It's great on a hot day - but brrrrr on a cooler day.

Then my eating has gotten out of control and I was reaching for snacks, chips, ice cream and stuff like that.

Luckily for me when I was making all those bad choices, I did try to make myself move and get my steps in. I think that was my only saving grace to have any weight loss at all. 

I've been feeling sluggish, bloated and just blah. 

I'm not going to post my nutrition because it was bad. 

I did go on the "Nature Path" walk last Friday.

I did NOT go on the Boise Spark Team walk on Saturday.

I did go on a long walk Sunday evening. I could tell that my body was starting to get weak again. 

I've been hit and miss on riding my exercise bike. 

Yesterday I went swimming and felt a boast to my mood. I also worked in my yard, trimmed and mowed it. I had over 15,000 steps in and it felt great.

Today I had a super easy work day only 3 hours. Since I was in Boise, I took an hour walk on the nature path. Came home and went swimming. I plan to go swimming (treading water) again at the evening open swim.

I've feeling better, motivated and not so blah and bloated. I feel like I'm back on track. I did read an article on Spark People about why we quit. One point was being a perfectionist and not allowing ourselves to fail and not be perfect. That really hit home for me. I've had some off days - but it's OK - I don't have to be perfect all the time. I just have to keep going. 

I laughed when I saw this quote - it now hangs proudly on my fridge. 

Beautiful Flower Gardens 2016

Welcome to my garden 2016

Front Door 

The berm on the side of my house/property looking from the sidewalk to the back yard. This year I planted yellow Marigolds and red Geraniums. 

 Looking from the back gate to the sidewalk on the same berm. 

 Inside the back gate to the back yard. I added Petunia's with the yellow Marigolds and a few red Geraniums. 

 The kidney shaped berm off of the patio coming in from the gate. 

 Flower bed by my detached garage. Red Geraniums, red roses, Daisies will be blooming soon. The Iris' are finished blooming but they were a lovely blue. 

 Red Geraniums on the side of my patio. 

 This is a continuous flower bed that rounds from the patio above to the fence. More red Geraniums. 

 The Patio.

It's really beautiful this year.

I didn't plant any vegetables - I'll just shop at farmers markets this year for fresh veggies.

I added 36 new bags of bark to the flower beds this year.

I really love the yellow Marigolds and red Geranium look this year. It will look even more lovely when everything fills in. 

I sure love my secret garden!

Meridian Symphony Free Concert

I went to a free concert of the Meridian Idaho Symphony at Gene Kleiner Park. It was a little cool and the wind was blowing, but it was a nice evening. I really enjoyed the beautiful music. 

 Here are a couple of snippets from songs they played. They are not very long samples:

My Fair Lady "I Could Have Danced All Night"

Frozen "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"

The conductor let people / children come up and lead the music. There was a long line of people. It was fun to see their stature stiffen and the confidence show through everyone who took the conductor's stick to lead the song. It was fun to watch the children and teenagers lead the music. 

There were a lot of people who attended. I tried to get a picture of the hill - but the sun was shining overhead and blacked out the picture. It's a really nice band shell for these free concerts. One nice feature of living in Meridian, Idaho!! I love it!

Of course I have to go to the Village and watch the fountain show while I'm here. 

I love it when it's dusk and you can see the lights in the fountain. The fountain dance was "Jump" by Van Halen. I did take a video!! Here it is - enjoy!

Camel's Back Hike

This morning I met up with the Boise Idaho Spark Team for a morning hike in the Boise Foothills. Only 3 of us were available to go during a summer weekend - Kathy, Barb and me. We did 3.5 miles 8800 steps - which is nice because I was over 10K by 10 am this morning. I love getting it in early. 

Looking over the city from the foothills - you can see downtown Boise in the distance. 

Another angle from the same point. You can see why our town is called the City of Trees. 

I thought this hill was cool looking.  

I love trails with lots of trees / foliage - instead of just grass or sagebrush. It was lovely. 

We saw this monument on the trail. 

A look from the top of the Camel's Back hill down to the park or starting area to hike in the foothills. A lot of people hike up and down this steep hill - we didn't. 

A beautiful look at some of the trails.

We took a less steep trail back to the park. There were challenging parts where we hiked up hills, up built-in steps along the trail, and back down hills. I loved every minute of it. 

I hope we continue to do these weekend walks/hikes! 

Weight Loss Journey - Measurements

Today is day 1 of the Biggest Loser Summer Challenge on SparkPeople.

I'm excited to be on a new challenge with a new team. Already I can tell this team is going to be active and motivating. The challenges are more difficult, which will make me work harder. 

I posted my new weight - down .6 ounces from my Saturday weigh in!

I decided that I would take my measurements again. It's been 87 days when I started SparkPeople again. I haven't taken my measurements again since my initial starting point.

Great news - I've lost inches in just 87 days:

Waist: Lost 5 inches

Hips: Lost 4.5 inches

Neck: Lost .75 inches

Thigh: Lost 1.25 inches

I've lost 32.2 pounds although my weight tracker only says 27. The difference is getting a new scale that added 5 pounds to my weight and tracked as a weight gain. 

I'm doing this and I'm going to continue to get the weight off. It's exciting to see how many inches I've lost. I guess I need to measure more often.

Woo Hoo!  

Swimming Season Pass

When I saw this quote it really said something to me. I am a home body and seldom get out there and live life. I've been a single mom pretty much my whole life and that is what I did. I worked to make a living, but when I wasn't working I was raising my boys, cooking, cleaning, carting them around. Being a single mom means you do it all - there is no dad to help out. 

My children are 10 years apart - so I raised my children to 18 years old for 28 years. 

My youngest is 21 and has been on his own in college going on 4 years. It's time for me to start living again. Get this weight off and live. 

I've enjoyed the past 2 1/2 months back on Spark People and walking outside everyday - along with my other exercises. It's invigorating to be outside and enjoying the outdoors. 2 years ago my children and I went on a vacation to Peurta Vallarta. The thing I loved the most about the trip was spending most of the time swimming in the warm ocean. I loved it! 

I decided I would spend the summer swimming. Today I signed up for a season pass to swim at the local swimming pool that is just down the street. They have open swimming two times a day: 2:45 pm - 4:45 pm and again at 7:15 pm to 9:15 pm. 

This morning I packed my swimming suit and decided to go straight to the pool after work. I was early so I decided to walk around the park to get my steps in. 

I walked near the baseball diamonds where there was shade. 

I also walked around the park and took a stroll along the roses. 

I haven't seen this Idaho display before. Now that I'm getting out and living life, I'm trying to notice all the beauty around me. 

I went swimming as soon as they opened and swam for an hour. I decided to stop because I didn't want to get sunburned really bad on my first day. Although the nice thing about walking outside is that I'm getting pretty tan. 

My goal is to swim twice a day to get as much weight off this summer that I can. I'll still get my 10K steps in too. I'm ready to live my life and stop watching it go by every day the same way. 

I'm really excited to swim this summer. It feels good coming back from a delightful swim! 

May Financial Wins

May Financial Wins

My Business - Sparkling Clean - wins for May:

I earned $340 extra income from a one time only clean and a new customer clean. Plus I gained a new customer. My business is completely full. I don't have any extra space and am working at full capacity with 2 houses per day and 1 business clean a week. 

I hate working this much, but I just look at the dollars coming in and my goals that I'll achieve faster if I work this much.

It's great that I am making a good living in my business being self employed. 

Blog Advertisement was zero for May.

SwagBucks awards: $35 in Amazon gift cards received.

I'm not doing much anymore. My balance is 494 swagbucks, or $4.94. I might do it again sometime because it is nice to have free money. Right now, I'm taking a break from doing it.

I'm back on the Wellness Summit Panel. It started up again and I received $5 Amazon gift card for joining in again. It's easy to be on the panel and fun when rewards are given.

I'm still debt free, my business is doing great, I have enough money saved to put on a new roof this fall. Overall life is great being debt free. FREEDOM!

Weight Loss Journey Week 11 and 12

I didn't get week 11 posted last week because I was busy over Memorial Day weekend working in my yard. It's always my goal to have all my flowers planted by then so I can enjoy the rest of the summer in all the beauty.

Week 11 I did not lose any weight. But, I didn't gain any either so hooray for me. 

It was the end of the X-Weighted Challenge. Here were the results:

CHALLENGE OVERALL RESULTS 

OVERALL TOTALS TO DATE 

223.4 Weight Loss 

116,880 Cardio Minutes 

30,115 Strength Training Minutes 

BIGGEST LOSERS BY WEIGHT 

19.6 - THINK2BFIT (Sondra)

18.0 - B0BBIE & JENSTRESS 

11.7 - MUMMY22BOYS 

BIGGEST LOSERS BY % 

9.47% JENSTRESS 

7.78% THINK2BFIT (Sondra)

6.17% MUMMY22BOYS 

OVERALL ATC CHALLENGE LEADERS 

5193 - Neon Ninjas 

4831- Wolf Spirit 

4574 - Cruisin' for Losin' (My Team)

OVERALL CARDIO CHALLENGE LEADERS 

41,667 - Neon Ninjas 

38,310 - Wolf Spirit 

36,903 - Cruisin' for Losin' (My Team)

OVERALL ST CHALLENGE LEADERS 

10,883 - Neon Ninjas 

10,787 - Wolf Spirit 

8,445 - Cruisin' for Losin' (My Team)

OVERALL WEIGHT LOSS: 

Wolf Spirit - 2.49% 

Neon Ninjas - 1.94% 

Cruisin' for Losin' - 1.81% (My Team)

HERE WERE MY NUMBERS FOR THE CHALLENGE:

WEIGHT LOSS

1. 04/06 - 4.8 pounds (- 4.8) 

2. 04/13 - 3.8 pounds ( - 8.6) 

3. 04/20  - 2 pounds ( - 10.6) 

4. 04/27  - 3.6 pounds ( - 14.2) 

5. 05/04  - 0.4 pounds ( - 14.6) 

6. 05/11  - 1 pound (- 15.6) 

7. 05/18  - 4 pounds (- 19.6) 

8. 05/25  - 0 pounds ( - 19.6) 

CARDIO MINUTES 

1. 04/06 - 607 minutes 

2. 04/13 - 578 minutes 

3. 04/20 - 750 minutes 

4. 04/27 - 568 minutes 

5. 05/04 - 765 minutes 

6. 05/11 - 955 minutes 

7. 05/18 - 1201 minutes 

8. 05/25 - 834 minutes 

Strength Training (ST) 

1. 04/06 - 93 minutes 

2. 04/13 - 113 minutes 

3. 04/20 - 105 minutes 

4. 04/27 - 106 minutes 

5. 05/04 - 198 minutes 

6. 05/11 - 230 minutes 

7. 05/18 - 142 minutes 

8. 05/25 - 148 minutes 

I'm glad the challenge with Cruisin' for Losin' is over. It really did motivate me to do my very best. But it discouraged me that my team mates were not actively participating. 

Here was my nutrition for May 22 - 28:

 Week 12 Weight Loss Journey.

I lost 2 pounds this week.

Here was my nutrition this past week for May 29 through June 4th.

  Here are my steps for May:

May 1: 8095 steps - 3.39 miles 

May 2: 9221 steps - 3.86 miles 

May 3: 9498 steps - 4.04 miles 

May 4: 9412 steps - 3.98 miles 

May 5: 10,924 steps - 4.63 miles (date joined team and challenge) 

May 6: 10,095 steps - 4.27 miles 

May 7: 10,321 steps - 4.39 miles 

May 8: 16,593 steps - 7.07 miles (great day!) 

May 9: 15,587 steps - 6.64 miles 

May 10:15,632 steps - 6.66 miles 

May 11:15,667 steps - 6.67 miles 

May 12:11,814 steps - 5.03 miles 

May 13:11,884 steps - 5.06 miles 

May 14:15,590 steps - 6.64 miles 

May 15: 10,468 steps - 4.46 miles 

May 16: 10,768 steps - 4.58 miles 

May 17: 16,392 steps - 6.98 miles 

May 18: 10,718 steps - 4.56 miles 

May 19: 13,158 steps - 5.60 miles 

May 20: 13,036 steps - 5.55 miles 

May 21: 10,303 steps - 4.39 miles 

May 22: 11,189 steps - 4.76 miles 

May 23: 17,012 steps - 7.24 miles 

May 24: 16,097 steps - 6.85 miles 

May 25: 10,157 steps - 4.32 miles 

May 26: 10115 steps = 4.31 miles 

May 27: 6,975 steps = 2.97 miles 

May 28: 7,260 steps = 3.09 miles 

May 29: 5,832 steps - 2.48 miles 

May 30: 8,179 steps - 3.48 miles 

May 31: 18,397 steps - 7.83 miles 

May Totals: 366,389 steps - 155.84 miles 

My goal for June is the same - 10K per day. However, I decided to take 1 day off a week to heal my body. I pushed my body every day for a 75 day streak.

However, I ended up taking Aleve every day to manage the pain in my body. After taking a day of rest, I stopped having to take a pain killer. I'm sure there will be days I'll take it, but I hate having to rely on it every day to manage the pain in my body. So I'll be taking a day off a week from exercise. 

This past week without being on a challenge was difficult to stay motivated. So I decided to join another challenge on Spark People. This one is the Biggest Loser Summer Challenge. I hope it is a better team and that everyone participates and motivates each other. 

I didn't sign up in time to be a "true" team member, I'm an alternate. Everything I do will not be counted toward the team numbers. I'll be added if someone fails to post their numbers or drops out. The big thing for me is the weekly goals and challenges to keep me motivated through the summer. It doesn't matter if I count toward the goal, I just need something to keep me on track. 

My team is Dazzling Diamonds!

The other fun thing I did today was join in a walk with the Boise Idaho Spark Team. We met at Zoo Boise and went for a walk. There were 4 of us - Kathy, Barb, Rachel. We are going to start walking together every Saturday if we can make it. Here are some photos I took on the walk - we did 3.8 miles.

 We were lucky to see the giraffes over the fence.

 We stopped to see this beautify display for Breast Cancer. I guess the kites move in wind. 

We were able to see another waterfall when we went over the Ann Morrison bridge. It was a fun walk, but most of all to meet and get to know each other. 

I'm still doing great, still motivated and I CAN DO THIS!