I feel like I can barely move today.

Today Candace and I went to the gym a little later than normal because neither one of us wanted to get out of bed this morning. I think my body was trying to tell me something but did I listen??? No, mostly because I never listen to my body anymore. It normally is telling me to grab a piece of pie and watch some great programs on the Discovery channel rather than be active. Yeah I still fighting the urge to be lazy, but I think i am winning that battle.

Anyways, we go to the gym and first the recumbent bikes are acting up. In order to do my 30 minutes (including cool down) I chose the weight loss setting. Part of this is I need to hold on the sensor bar so that the bike knows what my heart rate is... well today it says that I have no heart rate, and if I did have a heart rate it was much slower than I know it was at.  It said that I was only at 110 BPM, when I was sweating and panting.  Stupid bike. Candace was also having issues with her bike, so I know technology wasn't just singling me out today.

We then went over to the elliptical machine and it seriously kicked my ass today and I have no earthly reason why it did. I set up the normal training program but my legs felt like jello no more than 15 minutes in the program. I continued with it for the entire 30 minutes but I left the gym feeling weak and exhausted.  I know you should leave the gym feeling a little tired but not like you just ran 30 miles trying to get away from zombies or something.

After we got home I used our Wii fit program and I barely had the energy to stand and do the weight and BMI exam.(I lost another 1.1 lbs since the last time I used it 2 days ago Yeah!!) To be honest I think it was all water weight because I must of drank 2 quarts of water when I got home.  After a healthy lunch and a shower I felt a bit better. I think that this Saturday I will only go on a short 0.8 mile walk and otherwise just relax.  I think all my exercising is catching up to me.  I just need to push through it though come Monday if I am beaten about by the gym. I think I am going to take an Advil now and chill for the rest of the evening.  Until later....

Its official

Today we are officially legally married.  The certificate FINALLY arrived in the mail.  Now I can go and take care of all my crap...SSI, DMV, bank.  I'll do it Monday after we go to the gym.

So the last couple days, I...maybe Kurt but he isn't here at the moment for me to ask...but I have had such a sweet tooth.  I am craving sugar like mad.  And I'm trying to be really good and use fruit as a sweet substitute, but it isn't working.  And that leads me to where Kurt is right now.  He's getting ice cream for me (well, us, but mostly me).  But only because we just came back from a 2.15 mile walk...that was the deal...walk a good distance and you can have ice cream.

Today was an off gym day...so we got up...and were a little lazy, but Kurt had to go to class at 10am this morning (only one more day of school for him - yea!!) and so after I watched Teri Hatcher on Regis and Kelly - which I've started watching regularly because its one of the shows on at the gym when we go - I did 40 minutes of Wii Fit with most of the emphasis on aerobic and balance.  I am trying to work harder on my balance so that I don't have such a hard time with holding the Yoga positions.

Then I had a hard time sitting still...so I went out and cut the grass.  It was such a beautiful day outside.  Then, I didn't have such a hard time sitting for a little while.  For dinner we had chicken and broccoli.  I've been a bit snacky today...I think that's part of my not wanting to sit still for too long.  But I've been trying to be good and snack only on fruit or string cheese.  I made some granola yesterday which is really good - but very hard to eat as a snack...and I also made blueberry muffins (recipes will follow).  And right now I have bananas in the dehydrator...which will be done in the morning.

And so after dinner we walked...with the dogs, who are a little out of it at the moment.  We saw two geese with three chicks and one of the adult geese was bleeding...it was sad.  We have Buttonz tomorrow night through I think Sunday, so long walks are not planned for the weekend, since he has a bad leg (but maybe a short one on Saturday, since Kurt says that he really enjoyed them).

So I've realized as typing that really I've been blogging about what's going on in the day, and that hasn't really left anyone much to comment on, although we've been appreciating and enjoying the support.  So I'm going to try to ask a question as often as I can for advice on something we've been thinking about.

There are two things we've discussed in the last couple of days, but I think I'll save one for tomorrow in case I have nothing to ask then.

If I'm feeling bad about having the ice cream after eating it tonight, does it seem logical to try to push myself a little further tomorrow at the gym?  The plan is to do the same as yesterday - 25 minutes plus cool down on both the bike and elliptical trainer.  Kurt and I both think that if we try to push ourselves longer than an hour, we're only going to regret that, and give ourselves excuses not to go...but what do you guys think?

Recipes:

Granola -

2 cups rolled oats 

2 cups french vanilla cereal 

(I had some for another recipe I never made that I got from the bulk section at WinCo...the original recipe asked for 4 cups of rolled oats...so I might try that next time)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup apple juice concentrate

2 Tbsp honey

2 tsp vanilla extract

±1 cup of your favorite dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, bananas, etc)

(I used raisins, because I had them available)

Mix oats, cereal, brown sugar, walnuts, seeds and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.

Mix apple juice concentrate, honey and vanilla in a small mixing bowl.

Drizzle wet mix over dry mix and stir to coat.

Spread on baking sheet and cook for 20-25 minutes at 375* stirring every 5 minutes until crisp and golden.

Move to container and add dried fruit

Blueberry Muffins-

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup applesauce

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour 

(it asked for 1 cup all purpose and 1 cup whole wheat, but I don't have whole wheat in the house right now)

1/3 cup sugar (it asks for a 1/2 cup but I wanted to be good about the sugar)

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Mix milk, applesauce and egg in a small mixing bowl.

Create a well in the dry mix and pour in wet mix.  Stir until all dry mix is moistened.

Fold in blueberries.

Bake for 18-20 minutes at 400* for 12 muffins or 10 minutes for 24 mini muffins.

Just a little warmer please...but not too warm

So there was really nothing to say yesterday.  We got up...intended to take the dogs for a walk...but in was freeze-your-butt-off cold yesterday...and after having walked out of Costco into the sleet on Monday, that was enough for me.  

I did make pizza for dinner last night tho (the better for you kind, not the I'm hungry order something kind).  We decided to make things a little easier on ourselves and we bought pre-made dough from WinCo.  It was really good, and so much easier to work with.  They have a whole wheat dough, but I wanted to try the regular one to be sure it was good first...next time whole wheat.  We also bought different sausages, and they worked so much better.  We usually get the Chicken and Apple sausages from Aidells, but at Costco we found some Pineapple Sausages from Evergood.  It was just like having a Hawaiian style pizza...so good.

Today, we were a little lazy getting up, but we eventually did, and we headed to the gym where we each did 25 minutes plus cool down on each the bike and the elliptical trainer - which for Kurt is normal and for me is usually torturous, because I get bored (especially because Kurt forgot to grab the headphones this morning), but today I was so fixated on the guys who were re-tarring the parking lot, that I didn't even know it was cool down time until the machine beeped at me.

I didn't have too much trouble with my feet falling asleep on the elliptical trainer today, unlike Monday, because I was going pretty slow to keep my heart rate down.

When we left, we experienced crazy dog syndrome...which is Oreo and Schroeder believing that because we have our shoes on, they are going somewhere too.  Not only that, but they have had WAY too much energy lately...so after we had dinner (steak and salad - and we're getting better with portions too, steak was palm size) we took the dogs on a short walk (just over 0.8 mile) but they are passed out on the floor...which is good.

Now just eating grapes (Kurt had yogurt with grape nuts - but eewww to yogurt, tried to see if I could eat flavored yogurt today, but it just has a rancid milk taste to me)...look at the book I got from the library (Eat, Drink and Be Healthy) and off to bed soon.  

There is one thing that has been great about getting up and working out...it forces us to go to bed at a decent hour.

Back on track...sort of

Happy to be home...not enjoying the weather tho.  You guys couldn't will the good weather that I missed to stay?!!?  At least it's suppose to get warmer later in the week...and I can go out with the dogs without having to worry about freezing to death.

So I got back Saturday night...and yesterday was a completely wasted day what with the jet lag...and the fact that there was no food in the house when I returned home. And therefore I made the excuse that I was pretty good while away (lost 2 lbs) and Kurt was good while I was gone (I don't remember what he lost)...we ordered a pizza...and ate a couple slices for lunch...and a couple slices for dinner.  But today we are back on track...even though I feel its later in the day that in actually is.

We got up this morning, had some coffee and a granola bar, and went to the gym.  I had a 15 min consultation with a trainer (Jason, the same one Kurt had last week)...told him my medium/long term goal is to lose 70 lbs...and he instructed me to focus on cardio working my way up to 45-60 minutes three times a week...until I get about 20 lbs from my goal, and then I can start adding some weight training in.

Today I did 15 minutes on the elliptical trainer (was aiming for 30 but my right foot started to fall asleep) and 25 minutes on the bike - Regis and Kelly helped keep my mind off the time :P  Kurt did 30 minutes on each the bike and the elliptical trainer.  Then we came home to weigh and Wii Fit...and realized that it wasn't a good idea to have the pizza yesterday.  He gained 0.2 lbs, and I gained 0.4 lbs, which I'm sure is from the sodium in the pizza that is causing water retention.

So my plan is to do the heavier workout (cardio at the gym) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and then to walk with the dogs on Tuesdays and Thurdays (and maybe the weekend too...but lets not get ahead of ourselves.)

In the two weeks since we started, I have lost 5 lbs and Kurt has lost 4 lbs...and for anyone keeping track, Oreo has lost 1.75 lbs...only 8.25 lbs to go.  :P

I think at a month, we will again post pictures and our weight as a timeline of our progress.

Time to shower.