My First Hike

                 

 

so i dont really come from an outdoorsy family, but one of my friends and i joined an outing club at school, and while she’s experienced with hiking, yesterday i had my first hike on greylock mountain in massachusetts. while the five hours we were on the trails were challenging and tested my endurance, the scenery and how i felt after was totally worth the burn.

being the only one in the group that had never hiked before, i went at a somewhat slower pace, but im glad to say i stayed in the middle of the pack and didn’t fall behind. yes, at times i thought i was going to need an inhaler i was breathing so hard, but once i got to the summit, i felt amazing.

i would definitely reccommend hiking to anyone who loves being outside, it is an amazing workout..just dont go when its wet..the rocks were extremely slippery and i saw my life flash before my eyes a few times hahaha.

the hike up was pretty steading, but getting back down was a whole nother story. the group leader decided to take a different path home, and let me tell you..it was 10x more challenging than the one going up. trying to go down the mountain i found myself climbing up a lot..including a basically vertical climb which i was not prepared for but worked through it..and it made me think how sometimes to go down, you have to go up. me gaining weight and going up in the scale has made me realize that yes, ive gone up, but thats just on my trail to go down. its a mere hill on the mountain im climbing down, and while things may be slippery and hard to hold onto, the feeling you get when you reach the bottom again is priceless.

trying to lose weight is going to be like my hike..there are going to be times when i want to head in one direction, but i end up doing the complete opposite. what’s important to remember is that its just a little hill, and as long as you dont give up going around that hill, your success will continue.

Advertisement

The Challenge begins: September 1, 2013

so i did as i said i would and took my measurements today and came in at a whopping 165lbs..the heaviest I’ve been since i was diagnosed with pcos. i really need to start getting myself back on track and keeping myself motivated so i can be happy with the way i look again. when i was diagnosed with pcos, i was 138 pounds..so ive come a long ways up, and i know its going to take a long time to get back down.

since i know its going to be hard, instead of trying to lose 2 lbs a week, ill be doing 1lb a week, just so i stay on track and have an easier time reaching my goals. though i am embarrassed by them, i will be uploading progress pictures on the first of every month to see what progress i have made.

this being said, by october 1st, i plan to be at the bare minimum 4 pounds less putting me at 161. i know i can push myself to lose more in one month, but thats my goal for now, but I’m going to do what i can to crush it and lose even more.

id say i was off to a good start today, as i went hiking for 5 hours on a mountain in massachusetts [blog post with pics to come]. if i can stay this active and get a hold of good eating habits, i should be losing weight and feeling better in no time.

doing the 1 pound a week calculation, if i stick with it and work hard, by new years i should be down at least 16.5 lbs, putting me at 148.5, which would be spectacular. though my plan is to return to my original weight of 138, having an end of the year goal of 148.5 is a great way to start and ill work from there

Logging & Blogging

i know ive been mia for a while, but between working 40 hours a week, having class 8 hours a week, and family visiting lately, ive been really busy. however, that’s no excuse for slacking on my diet even though being busy cuts into my workout schedule. its important to remember that 70% of weight loss comes from dieting, while only 30% from exercise, so working out less often hasn’t helped me, but it won’t hurt me either.

even though i have been busy lately, i know that both logging and blogging are important because they’re really what keep me on track. without some type of order or pattern, i tend to slip up more and make poor choices. so to help me out a little bit, I’ve figured out how to blog using the app on my phone, meaning i wont have to wait to be home and on the computer to blog, and im also starting to use my favorite app Loseit! again to track my caloric intake as well as the calories i burn in a day. ive been using this app since 2010 to believe it or not and i love it. if anyone else has it, let me know and ill look you up! i think it’d be great motivation to know other people using the app and i would definitely start logging every day like i used to.

i leave for school in 2.5 weeks, so im going to start coming up with a food/exercise plan. as ive said before, the gym at school is HORRID and dining hall food is probably unhealthy and processed everywhere. not having a kitchen again this year will force me to be on a meal plan once again. however, my dorm is a lot farther from classes, so i will definitely be walking 3+ miles a day going back and forth which is a plus, but is also bad if im running late..

im going to work really hard to make this year at school a lot healthier and a lot more active than last year and i cant wait to get started

Quote of the day: June 27, 2013

“you dont get what you wish for, you get what you work for”

here’s to working hard today to look and feel better tomorrow. i know everyone wishes they could burn calories by sitting on the couch watching tv or lose 10 pounds over night, but the reality is that you have to work for everything you want to get in life, regardless of what it is. nothing, especially weight loss will be handed to you, and it is one of the hardest obstacles to overcome, so work hard and never back down!

im backkk

i took some time off from blogging as i was really discouraged in not seeing any results since april and i decided i really needed to figure out what was going on with me, what was working, and what wasn’t..and now im back!!

losing weight is a difficult task, and trying to lose weight while you have pcos is even worse and i had to realize that this is going to take a while and its going to be really hard, but not impossible. i’ve decided that its consistency that’s what’s important and i wasnt being consistent before. i would be perfectly healthy one day, but then derail the next and so on. i think that’s really stunted my progress, and from now on im going to try and be as consistent as possible.

i also realized that yes, i have been working out a lot, but thats not what losing weight is all about. its only 30% exercise while the other 70% has to do with your diet. i was focusing so much on how much i worked out that what i ate didnt seem as important to me any more which was a HUGE mistake. but the best thing about making mistakes is that you learn from them, and im now shifting my focus more on the foods im eating rather than the calories im burning.

before i took my break, i was attempting the paleo diet, but i realized it just wasnt for me. carbs are what really hurts us, but telling myself i cant have any made me want to eat them more than when i wasnt doing paleo. im obviously going to keep my carb count down, never going over 100g a day, and ive been eating gluten free whenever possible, and i actually really like it.

all in all..im really just here to say im not giving up..nor will i ever. you’re only given one body. so take care of it.

The Struggle Continues

its really frustrating when everyone around you, friends, family, even people you dont know are losing weight with no problem while im struggling to lose just one pound. i was talking to one friend today who has lost 16 pounds..in maybe a quarter of the time ive been working at this and ive barely managed to lose 2. on top of that, my sister, who i watch eat bowls of ice cream while i stare at my salad has managed to lose 6 pounds, no problem.

my weight keeps fluctuating up and down a pound and i just feel worse and worse about myself. i work twice as hard as them and i dont even see half of the results that they do. how many books and articles and blogs do i need to read and how many doctors and specialists do i need to see for something to finally start working? its been two and a half months of trying to help my pcos and lose weight so i can be the healthy weight i used to be and nothing has worked.

sometimes i wonder if all this work is worth it if im not even losing weight

Weigh in #4 [week 6]

i know i havent been keeping up with my weigh ins, but i was very busy at school and getting ready for finals. however, now that i am home, i intend to weigh myself every thursday as planned, starting with today

when i stepped on the scale, i read 157.2 and it felt amazing to finally be out of the 160s. i know i was not on track much during april and the beginning of may as its very difficult to do while at school, but i definitely think my detox sparked my system a little and contributed to me starting to lose weight

as of right now, i am a total of 6.2 pounds down, getting closer to my goal of being healthy, fit, and pcos free.

im confident these next weeks will be just as successful

Month #2

today starts may, and will be my second month trying to tame my pcos. its quite upsetting to me that i have not made much progress in my first month weight loss wise, but i have become more informed on what i have to do  and im determined to make this next month a success. some important things i need to remember are: stay away from soft/sports drinks, sugary foods [desserts], refined grains, and processed carbs [aka white flour and sugar].

keeping carbs on the lower side should really help spark some weight loss so im going to try and keep it around 100 grams a day, filling up with protein instead like chicken and fish

i also know that i need to step up my exercise game. i only have a week and a half left at college, meaning that when i return home i will have more exercise opportunities which will hopefully lead to building muscle and burning fat.

i have created a calendar for the month of may including my exercise schedule which i am determined to stick to throughout the whole month. as you will see, i have both a detox as well as insanity listed, both of which i will talk about as they get closer. just as a warning: do not jump into some detox diet you see on the internet as those can be extremely harmful to your health. during my detox [which i will talk about later] i make sure to get the proper nutrients daily and lay low on exercise as the body is detoxing and should be in a relaxing mode.

as for insanity..no i did not go buy some expensive workout video. im borrowing it from my sister to give it a test run to see if its worth going through the two months. shes told me it involves a lot of interval training, something i have talked about  which has proven to be very successful with fat loss.

i will keep you all posted and here is my calendar!! [note i forgot to add the rest of the pushup challenge for the rest of the month, but i will be keeping up with it]

weigh in #3

well im not gunna say im surprised that i stepped on the scale this morning and gained weight instead of losing it. my weekends really set me up for failure and im going to try and fix that this weekend, being healthy all of the time instead of just during the week.

while i am disappointed in myself for not being more motivated and in control, im not going to get discouraged because it was only a 0.2 lb increase, and it could have been a lot worse. im still down from what i started at and im going to move forward which is whats important

i had a really successful day yesterday and was completely satisfied when i went to bed at night, a goal i am going to set for myself every day. eating poorly and not getting enough exercise is not worth the disappointment i feel at the end of the day..as people say, “food doesnt taste as good as skinny feels”

Quote of the day 4/23/13

“You cannot expect to achieve new goals or move beyond your present circumstances unless you change.” ~Les Brown

as ive already posted, my weekends have been stopping me from making any progress with my weight loss goal. i need to realize how important it is to be healthy not just during the week but ALL THE TIME. right now im working on having a full week of success, meaning not skipping out on weekend work outs and eating right. i cant expect to see results if i dont change