It was kind of important to me to show my progress in the same clothes because I thought it would more accurately show an “apples to apples” comparison. However, a few of you pointed out that you’d like to see other photos as well, so here’s one also that shows me at 178 pounds:

Thumbs up with the Fonz!

John Hawk's Pub

My husband turned 40 over the weekend and we went downtown (Milwaukee) to celebrate sans kids. It was a great time. We walked through Juneau Park and in Veterans Park along the lakefront. We also walked along the Milwaukee River (where I had my picture taken with Fonzie) and then we went to John Hawk’s Pub and ate outside. Most people with weight loss blogs tend to take pictures of their food, but I never think to do that, so I’ll have to describe it instead! If you follow the link above for the pub, you can find the sandwiches on their menu. I had the grilled chicken breast with BBQ sauce and substituted raw veggies for the french fries. I calculated that my lunch came in at under 500 calories, but even so, I probably burned most of that off with all the walking we did beforehand!

McDonald's Play Land

There were plenty of other opportunities to be bad this past week too, but I was very good! My youngest daughter has recently discovered “the tubes” at McDonalds and asks to go there all the time. Although I don’t want to make a habit of going to McDonalds, I do admit that someone with an FFA (my own made-up acronym) — a Fast Food Addiction — can fairly easily find healthier options on the menu. But, the last couple of times we went to play on the equipment, I just ordered a Diet Coke and sat back and relaxed while my two older kids helped Sarah navigate the plastic jungle.

Fishing Birthday Cake

I mentioned that my husband and son both had birthdays this past week. We had cake on three separate occasions, as there were multiple parties and gatherings in their honor. My son is really into fishing right now so our resident cake decorator made them this cute cake with white chocolate fish (made from a candy mold) on top. He loved it. I had such a small sliver of the cake that I barely could taste it, however, I think my self-imposed restriction paid off because I lost weight last week! Here’s a photo of my entire family from one of the other gatherings, with the cake in the foreground of course! I’m smiling because I love my family, because I now love having my picture taken, and because again I chose to have such a small piece of cake!

We also went to the Bristol Renaissance Fair and had plenty of other opportunities to gorge on food. But, once again, I refrained from letting the food part be a major factor in the day’s activities. Some people like going to fairs just to eat certain kinds of foods that they wouldn’t get at other times. In a way, I guess I am like that, but I am super-conscious of what I’m eating and how it can affect my goals, so I try to limit that whenever I can. At the fair, I ate a Pork BBQ sandwich and that’s it!

I also exercised more than average last week — long walks in humid weather and mowing the grass — so I am a tad disappointed that the second pound didn’t come off. With the lawn mowing job, which I did because my dear hubby is under the weather, we do not have a self-propelled mower and our lot is not conveniently flat. So, despite not being as winded as I remember being the last time I mowed the grass, it was still a good workout!

Oh well, like I said, I’ll take the pound and call it a victory! On to a new week!

I was discussing my treadmill results and future aims with my husband today and amidst the bragging had to admit the speed at which I was jogging. When transitioning from the walking portion to the jogging portion, I am only going from a 2.5 walk to a 3.5 jog. He joked that at 3.5, that’s really just a “shuffle”. True, I know. But, it’s like a jog for me! I’m not good at running at all, and these baby steps are what I need to take to get going.

I do have a plan though. I need one if I plan to accompany friends on 5K excursions! After I get to a point where about 22-23 of my 30 minutes are jogging (or should I say shuffling) then I am going to increase the speed, both the walking speed and the jogging speed. I’d like to get them up to 3.0 and 4.0 respectively. It will probably mean that my number of jogging minutes slips a bit, but that’s ok. I can then work on rebuilding back to the same times. After I do, perhaps I’ll even increase the speed one more time.

To those that have done this before, I’m sure this doesn’t sound all that impressive, but I’m impressing myself and I’m liking the sense of accomplishment this little challenge is providing. (Hopefully the next time I step on the scale I will see some progress in that area too! Weight loss is always a good motivator!)

But! Never fear… I did get in a lot of exercise, albeit not very strenuous. Quantity over quality certainly won today’s exercise war. I took Sarah to the zoo. I walked and walked and walked. I parked about a mile from the zoo entrance (on purpose) then walked all through the zoo, and walked the mile back to where I had parked the car.

The day was beautiful. I decided to go to the zoo today because the ten-day forecast showed that today was going to be the nicest out of the next ten. Now that we’re in October, it gets rather chilly in Wisconsin. Today it was almost 60, so a nice treat, and sunny too! The zoo itself was a treat as well! We got to see trainers working with the elephants, some bonobo monkeys that demonstrated for us how they could put on a t-shirt, the tiger cubs were active and the lion pair pranced around in front of us for the longest time!

It was *cold*!! The wind was gusting over 40 mph and the air was chilly to begin with. I took my windbreaker out of the closet before we left and was happy to discover that it fit me differently than the last time I wore it.

I have always had a rather large head and neck, but this time I could zip up the high collar without worrying about it being too tight. Nice feeling!

Anyway, now that it is getting cold outside, I think all of us will look for ways we can shorten Lou’s walks around the neighborhood and lengthen the amount of exercise time we have indoors.

I am very happy to also report that my dear husband finally had an electrician come out and quote us on the work that would need to be done to wire an extra dedicated outlet downstairs so that I could finally hook up my treadmill. If you may not have remembered, the treadmill was sharing a circuit with our aquarium and I ran an extension cord down to the basement so that the treadmill could have power. Well, the treadmill kept on causing the pump in our aquarium to blow and stop working. Not wanting all of our fish to die, I had decided to stop using the treadmill. Hubby said we could hire an electrician to install additional outlets but it was always put on the backburner. With the quote we received today, I now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

These shoes were made for walkin'

Every evening I have been accompanying my daughter, or husband, depending on who volunteers to walk the dog and have enjoyed mile-long walks. Sometimes, depending on the time we have available, we’ve even been going the long route along the park and lake for a walk that spans about 2.5 miles.

The exercise has felt great and I have come back sweaty — a sign that the walk was productive! However, I’ve been wanting more — something that will provide a workout at an increased heart rate.

I posted yesterday asking for feedback on Wii-based fitness games, and while waiting for responses, I am also considering alternatives. The idea of Zumba really intrigues me but I don’t know how to dance, feel very uncoordinated and can’t see making a fool out of myself for the sake of exercise.

I also previously mentioned the fact that I am a YMCA member and have access to a very nice facility just a few miles away. But, there’s the issue of child care.

I need to make the time to do something. I’m happy that I’ve managed to fit in the walking, but putting Sarah in the stroller makes that effort easy. And, I’m also happy with the weight loss I’ve recorded, but know how much more effective I could be if I were exercising more vigorously.

I’m getting close to the weight I was before getting pregnant (243) in 2007, the last time I paid close attention to weight loss efforts. This time I’m going to keep going, I just know it.

I spend time envisioning what I would look like in a smaller body, how I would feel, how I would not be sweaty on relatively mild days, how I could wear more sweatshirts and sweaters without being too warm. I think about how much easier it will be for my children to hug me. I think about having more shopping choices and how I will be able to dress more fashionably more affordably… how I will want to be more fashionable. I will reward myself with a formal black dress and arrange to use it!

At 251 pounds, I’m still too heavy to warrant some of these thoughts, but just the fact that I am optimistic allows me to dream and gives me hope and inspiration.

When I awoke this morning and weighed in, I was happy to see another pound come off. This one took three days, but that’s ok. If I average a pound every three days, that will mean two pounds a week and that will be enough to make my September goal of ten pounds lost during the month. It will also mean that, should I be fortunate enough to keep up the pace, the 100 pounds will be gone by the deadline of 1/1/11. Yay!

It seems like such a long way away, and so much more to do, but I’m up for it! I have to be! I got a letter in the mail today from the insurance company that said our family premiums would be going up from $856 per month to $1,008 per month starting in November. YES! You saw that right — over $1000 per month for health insurance. That is insane! I do know they are up-rating me by 25% because of my weight though. So… once this weight is off, we can also save on insurance. That is just one more reason to get this weight issue under control. I can do it!