Shortly after getting the game, I began the 6 week challenge on Medium difficulty.  In a Six Week challenge, the participant is supposed to complete 24 workouts in six weeks.  It took me 59 days, but I got through it.  I guess I just wasn’t diligent enough to get two workouts done every three days.  Most of my workouts were on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Sarah was in school.  It was easy for me to fit it in then.  The rest of them really were slotted as time allowed, sometimes on the weekend and other times when Sarah could occupy herself with something else.

Ironically, I gained weight during the two months I spent using this product, but I don’t believe that was the fault of the game!  It actually has some pretty good exercises in it.  In the end, I do feel a little stronger.  I can do the crunches with less twisting and jerky movements — where the curl up motion is actually fluid now.  Had they been named for how I performed them at the beginning, they would have been called jerk ups rather than curl ups!

After doing modified push-ups throughout the six week challenge, I feel that I have a bit more upper body strength.  And, I really LOVE the step routines that the game includes.  You may recall that the step aerobics included with the Wii Fit were also among my favorites in that game, but this set is even more fun.  I just wish that the step exercises were more random and that you didn’t perform the same routine every time that segment came up in the rotation.  It’s nice not knowing what to expect — kind of keeps it fresh.  Well, despite the lack of “freshness”, it was still very enjoyable.

My birthday is coming up in a couple of months, and I’m still holding out hoping to get the step aerobics riser platform for the Wii balance board and any of the following games:

• Exerbeat (Wii)
• Walk it Out (Wii)
• Get Fit with Mel B (Wii)
• My Fitness Coach (Wii)

That first one listed, Exerbeat, is one I actually just stumbled upon this evening.  It looks pretty cool based on the reviews.  Anyone have it and care to provide testimony?

I finally lost another pound, and I’m down to 168.  Remember me saying that with a 15 pound goal it was my plan to break that down into losing three pounds five times?  Well, at a third of my second mini goal, I feel good about that achievement, but somehow breaking it down this small is kind of frustrating, especially since it took so long (two weeks seems like a long time when you’re diligent on a daily basis about recording every morsel you eat) for that one measly pound to come off.

I guess I just have to be thankful and hopeful that the remaining 66% of this set of three decides to dissipate at a rate faster than the first third.  I know I am the one controlling that, so to talk about it like “the set” has the power to affect change is silly.

It’s all in “us” folks.  WE can do it!

Stay tuned — later this week there will be a post on exercising with the Wii.

I wanted a riser for the Wii balance board to use during step aerobics and step routines.  It makes the balance board be higher off the floor, providing for a better workout.  It can be adjusted from four inches to six inches in height for a varied workout.

Based on the reviews, it looks awesome.  One of my favorite activities in Wii Fit is the Advanced Step on the Aerobic menu.  And, on the EA Active More Workouts, there are a few different step routines that I really like.  I had a few other Wii fitness games on my list that I also did not receive, but I’m sure that with all the games out there, both already owned and those wanted, that I’d have plenty of opportunities to use this cool step platform.

Does anyone else have it, or one like it?  I see there are other varieties and name brands, but I kind of liked this one because it had the adjustable height.

I wish I didn’t have these cycles of gaining and losing weight.  Perhaps my resolution should really be to practice moderation consistently so that I didn’t allow myself a binge every now and then.  Yes, the food is good.  No, DELICIOUS.  But, do I really want to feel like I have to have a long recovery and rebuilding process to get back to where I want to be?  Not really.

But, I do know the formula.  That is something I have definitely perfected.  The knowledge has been learned, put into practice over and over again.  Weight loss is a science, that’s for sure.

While I have reached my goal, I hope you find value in the archives of my blog.  I don’t post as much as I used to, and when I do it seems to be with some simple revelation of something, somehow, I knew all along.  But, I will try to provide some tips here and there of things that have worked for me or to commiserate with you if I have fallen slightly off the wagon.  (I think my lifestyle changes are implanted well enough that I will never fully revert back to what I used to be, but everyone has setbacks — such is life! — and post-holiday blues are always a little tough on anyone, not to mention those with tendencies to overeat.  The holidays always provide so many food temptations!

In fact, I need to refocus, double up efforts, and sweat off an extra ten pounds or so.  I’m a little higher than I’d like to be right now, so I am going to start off the week tomorrow with a weigh-in.  I hate to see the scale, but I promise to report what it reads no matter how embarrassing!

I wore a wonderful form-fitting dress that really flattered me, I think.  I was a little cold, because it had short sleeves, but I wore a crocheted shawl over my shoulders and it kept me warm enough for comfort.  This is one of my new favorite photos of me and my husband:

Since Halloween, I have had a few family celebrations, including the wedding, Thanksgiving and the first of several family Christmas-season feasts.  For most days of the week, my eating is admirable.  But, that one day a week, I seem to blow it.  Thankfully, I know exactly what to do to get back on track, and I don’t spiral out of control.  But, if I could only be a little more reasonable on the 7th day and not overindulge to the point of embarrassment, I’d have much less time spent in rebound mode!  Here’s what the last four weeks look like:

There were only a few days in the 150’s, which is where I really want to be.  I need to buckle down and get back there!

Ok, enough. 

The good news is that we’re far enough past the holiday that all the good stuff is gone and I am no longer tempted by dum dums and double bubble.

I did put on six pounds over the last couple of weeks but already took four of it back off again.  I’m now looking forward to a wedding next weekend and being able to fit into a form-fitting black dress.  It is exciting to know that now I can have fun on the dance floor (if I want to) without feeling like everyone is watching the fat girl with two left feet.  Now I’ll just be the average-size woman with two left feet.  I’ll just stick close to my husband and kids.  They are not much better in the dancing department and I’ll fit right in. 

Anyway, this Saturday morning I am going to be “stepping out”, a walk to help the American Diabetes Association put a stop to diabetes.  Both my sister and dad have diabetes, and a few other ancestors had it as well.  I have been fortunate to escape it, and even during my pregnancy a few years ago managed to keep both blood sugar and blood pressure in check.  (Given the family history and the fact that I was over 100 pounds overweight at the time, I was surprised.)

Last year my sister did the Step Out for Diabetes walk and had asked if I wanted to join her this year.  So, for the past couple of months I have been planning this exercise.   It should be fun, and I hope the weather cooperates!  (Maybe I should PLAN for more exercise, actually schedule it or commit to an exercise partner?)

Just in case any of my readers are wealthy and don’t have any other plans for extra funds, feel free to sponsor me for the upcoming walk!

Isn’t that insane?  I was hoping this winter was going to be better.  I was “living” through last winter with the promise of a smoother time of it this go ’round.  I was hoping that my body would have acclimated itself to its new size and that I wouldn’t be so freakishly cold all the time this year.

Unfortunately, I miserably disappointed.  I think I am going to have to have the doctor rule out an iron deficiency (or else prescribe an iron supplement) or something!

Actually, I have been undergoing a test of my own the last couple of weeks, which explains why the few pounds I have put back on are maintained rather than re-lost.  You see, I have purposely been trying to consume about 300-500 more calories per day (averaging 1500 to 1700 instead of 1200) thinking that the extra fuel I am providing my body will suffice to better heat my body.  (After all, a calorie is a unit of heat!)  Well, it hasn’t really worked, and in addition to not heating my body, the extra calories have also not allowed me to lose the eight pounds or so that I’d like to re-lose.

I’m dreaming of warmer climates again!

1. jog 30 minutes straight on the treadmill
2. get back to 148 pounds
3. do 10 pushups

I reached the first goal on June 24th.  Sadly, I never was able to complete the other two.  I weighed as low as 149 since setting the goal for myself.  That weight appeared on the scale a little over a week ago and thought there was a chance for me to hit it.  I attended a family reunion last weekend and even made it through the festivities relatively unscathed.  Returning to my normal routine, the scale showed only a one pound gain — not bad for a weekend of food prepared by others, meals out, treats, road snacks, etc.  Weighing 150 on Sunday night (July 31st) I thought it was unlikely that I’d hit 148 in just three days.  But, I never thought I’d see 161 either.

BUT — for whatever reason — I decided to binge eat.  I don’t know why exactly.  I think it has something to do with the fact that my two older kids stayed with my dad for the week following the reunion.  Without them here, the little red dude on my shoulder told me things like … “You don’t have to set a good example.  No one is here to see whether you have a tiny cup of ice cream or a big bowl.  Eat chips from the bag rather than ration out a seven chip serving size. etc. etc. etc.”  Following two days of extreme caloric intake, (Monday and Tuesday) I managed to stay around 2000 calories today.  But, the scale this morning was all the way back up to 161.  I know that is mostly bloat, but it should come as no surprise given that was the same weight I hit when I needed some accountability on May 17th and decided to set this goal for myself.  It’s sad to know that 2.5 months were spent trying to get back down to my target weight.  I guess I’ll do the same thing in the upcoming two months.  I wish I wasn’t yo-yoing so much.  It’s better to just maintain normally without the bumps.  I haven’t felt like I’ve been successful at maintenance mode.

The good news?  I have not fallen off the bandwagon.  My mindset has shifted back to where it needs to be.

So many people at the reunion gave me such wonderful compliments.  They don’t know the struggles.  Second thought… maybe they do — it runs in the family.  Ugh!

As for the 3rd part of the goal, the pushups?  I can do two.  Two is better than none, which is how many I could do 2.5 months ago.  Little victories… that’s what it’s all about.  I’m a winner — not a champion, but a winner nonetheless.