Exciting week!

Two exciting things to report: First, I got the new bike and went on a ride I've been wanting to do for a long time -- along the D&R Canal close to my home in New Jersey. It's a beautiful ride, about 12 miles of nice hard-packed trail and was really fun to do in the quiet of the morning. The new bike is a dream -- it flies down the road and on the bike path and I'm LOVING it!

Also, great weight loss this week -- down over 2 pounds which put me over the 25 pound mark total. It felt so good to see a budge as I have been gaining and losing the same 5 pounds for a few weeks now. But, when I figured out my average, I've averaged 1.6 pounds a week since starting Weight Watchers, so I'm going to stop complaining!

I'm really starting to feel thinner and healthier and I FINALLY had 2 people at work ask me if I'm losing weight. That's a nice feeling after 25 pounds!!! :)

My next incremental goal is to be at the 160 mark by the Senior Honor football game. My daughter's band captain at her high school and at this game, they introduce each senior in football, cheer or band and they walk out on the field with their parents. I want to have a bright red, wrap dress that I feel really beautiful in! I'm going to start shopping now and keep trying it on to get that motivation going. I have about 6 weeks until the game, so if I maintain the 1.6 a week, I could hit it. Can't wait to find out!

Fall is in the air!

This is my favorite time of year -- being a Southern girl originally, I never really experienced fall before we moved here. We moved here in the fall and I remember looking at the house we have now on a fall afternoon, with the high school band practicing off in the distance and it just seeming like a picture-perfect postcard kind of day.

This morning, I got the new bike out and rode about 7 miles ... on a new road I hadn't gone down before. The wind was blowing so it was a tough ride but the road was clear and went through a woody area, so it really felt like I was far away from home. It was beautiful!

I'm going back tomorrow to enjoy it again and I feel a little renewed in staying on plan with the food and exercising just a LITTLE more!

Disappointing week -- fresh start (again!)

Had a small weight loss this week -- .6 -- but I was really hoping for more. But, I know I didn't do a good job staying on the food plan either, so that's a major contributor!

I'm loving the additional weight lifting and I WON'T stop that by believing I'm going to hulk up or that I'd lose more weight if I didn't lift so much. I know those are all myths and that I need the strength training for long-term success. It's just frustrating right now that I can't drop the weight I want to right now! I want it all and I want it NOW!!! :)

So, rather than whine and complain, here's the plan: Go back to the basics of counting food, keep up the good exercise and build some health! The weight loss will follow along, I'm sure!

Pick up the new bike tomorrow and I can't wait!!! Here's a link http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2008/bike_path/fx/72fx/ -- but mine is red! I'm so excited about it, I'm going to burn a ton of calories just playing around with it this weekend! I also got a book about cycling and heart rate monitoring, so that I can incorporate the fitness part in with the fun and vice-versa.

Now that I talked about the bike, I KNOW I'll be getting in the AP's this week and I can use that as motivation and incentive to stay on plan -- more AP's mean more food! Should make it doable!

Laboring over Labor Day

The holiday weekend turned into a challenge for me and I gained 2.2 pounds this week. I really refuse to stress over that -- I had a wonderful, relaxing weekend with my daughter (hubby and boys were out of town) and we enjoyed some beautiful weather. I exercised like a mad woman and it's that TOM, so the weight gain is just one of those things and it should be better under control next week.

I read a really interesting article in Women's Health magazine http://www.womenshealthmag.com/article/0,6176,s1-1-111-1847-1,00.html?cm_re=HP-_-News.Slider-_-cardio.vs..strength that talks about the differences between strength training and cardio training. As a result, I'm planning to cut back my cardio just a little (I was up to almost an hour a day 6 days a week) and do more strength training. My new plan is cardio 6 days a week for 35 minuts each with weight training for 20-25 minutes on top of that 5-6 days. I'll alternate upper and lower body so that I'm not working the same body parts 2 days in a row. But, it'll be interesting to see if the muscles will actually burn more fat for weight loss and if I'll start seeing more muscle definition and less inches.

Also planning to buy a new bike. Mine is a mountain bike and it feels like I'm sludging through mud when I ride (which was great for the off-road riding in California -- not so great for the roads/bike paths in New Jersey). I'm going to sell the old one and use the money towards a new Trek hybrid -- maybe this one: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2008/bike_path/fx/72fx/ . Can't wait to get back into the 15-20 mile rides my hubby and I were doing when we first met. I can just remember feeling very strong riding like that and I want it again!