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 plugged all the ingredients into a Livestrong “recipe” and, assuming that the 2 lbs of ground pork would make 8 links of a size equivalent to the ones I used in my pizza soup recipe (which contained two links in the crock pot that ultimately served four people) the sodium per link would go from over 1000 to about 380.  I think most of that is contained in the parmesan cheese that goes into the making of the italian sausage.  Now if I could only find a low sodium parmesan cheese!

In any case, it is much better!  It sounds yummy.

In the time since posting about that goal, I have fluctuated quite a bit, both in my eating habits and (of course) a weight that corresponds to eating behaviors.  I realized that much of the gain would be in water weight and would quickly come off.  I was right.  Within three days, five pounds was gone and I weighed 167.  But, five days after that I was all the way up to 174.  (Obviously some bad eating choices the night before that weigh-in!)  Slowly, the weight has been coming off again, as I’ve resettled back into some good routines.  I was at 166 on Sunday but by yesterday back up to 169.

I try not to let little fluctuations of 1-3 pounds bother me that much — as long as they are not consecutive.  In fact, the three pounds that reappeared this week were based on sodium, not calorie intake.  In fact, on Sunday I only consumed approximately 1224 calories.  However, sodium was just under 3000mg.  I tried a new crock pot recipe for pizza soup (which was fabulous, by the way) and I guess I didn’t realize how high on sodium it would be until I entered it (after consumption) into my Livestrong database ingredient by ingredient.  I guess to make it next time I’ll have to modify it slightly to make it lower in sodium.  Note to self:  italian sausage is high in sodium!  Duh.

When it comes to those fluctuations, however, it is important to look at them as trends.  If I say I won’t fret over a two pound gain, then I have to follow that up with “but I can’t be ok when there are five consecutive two-pound gains” without the corresponding entries in the CREDITS (losses) column.  I’m no accountant, but to have a good balance sheet, the debits and credits (or gains and losses) have to negate one another!

So, as a trend, I am doing well.  If I weighed 169 this morning, that means I’m down three pounds and my goal is 20% complete.  When I was losing all my weight, I kept reminding myself how important it was to think of it not as losing 100 pounds but losing 10 pounds ten times.  That was much more doable for me, and allowed me to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  So, if my math is correct, I just need to lose three pounds four more times.  No problem!

10 ounces of canned tuna packed in water

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup egg substitute (or two eggs)

Mix all ingredients and then form into patties.  Spray a medium heat griddle or frying pan with non-stick spray and then cook on both sides until lightly browned.

This makes about six patties, each with less than 100 calories.  They are roughly 9g carb, 11g protein and 1g fat.

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.