Okay. So in the last couple weeks a few things about my life have changed. i'm no longer doing a 1 week long Pracs study, I plan to do one that's almost 3 weeks long (lots of $$). This means I will be unable to do anything for Halloween, which is ok. I've come to terms with that. It will suck that I won't be able to take my kids trick-or-treating, but other than that, it's just more stress that I don't have to deal with.
Another thing. I started a body challenge. Two of them actually. I have one going with my parents, but it's a little disjointed because they don't really seem into it and haven't been doing the weigh-ins. lol. But I have another one with someone else, and I'm really excited because I do much better in a "competition view-point". Our competition lasts until New Years and by then I'd LOVE to hit 129. Just to say I'm in the "120s" maybe it's a girl thing, but it's a big goal I'd love to reach.
This past week I ate healthy the first half and then family and friends visiting on the weekend (and my first time making puppy chow...uh, YUM) I was TOO gluttonous (word?) and now I'm paying for it. But, I'm okay because it only goes down from here! I had a KILLER work-out yesterday where I pushed myself really hard. Did great cardio and then 30 minutes of strength training. I check-in to Pracs on Monday and I won't be eating bad (it's a normal food study)..so I should lose a few lbs in there too.
Good luck to me! Have a great day. I'm off to the...GYM! :)
ash

Starting competition weight (10/23/07): 151.0

Current weight: 150.4

Goal for competition (10 weeks): 22 more lbs

So, i was doing fine and then the weekend came, and i got a little off track. Nothing crazy. I just need to refocus, YET AGAIN. lol. It's all cool though, cuz I might be having a challenge coming up here, and those type of things push me to past my lazier ways.
The only reason I'm being so lax on myself is because I'm at a weight where I look "ok", I don't feel "fat" and things are "fine." I always seem to stop short of my goals, where in this instance would be looking "great", feeling "healthy" and things would be "awesome." Which...if I got more toned and dropped some more pounds: that would all happen.
Ugh, getting motivation is annoying. lol.
On a slightly related note, today I was doing dishes. One of the things I got a bit indulgent in this weekend was making homemade cinnamon rolls. They tasted good, and it was a fun experiment I've been wanting to do for awhile, so when the craving came I went for it. Anyway...to the point, I noticed that the plate the rolls had been sitting on that had all the ooey, gooey caramel icing on it was a bitch to wipe down. I could've used a hard sponge, but instead I held it under steaming hot water to see how long it would take to melt down and get off the plate.
Awhile.
Now, this made me think of my body, my arteries, my stomach. When that sugar is in my body, that's how hard my body has to work to burn it off. Sugar sucks! I already wasn't a big fan of it when I try to eat healthy, but seeing what I saw made me a little more anti-sugar. lol. So...for anyone who is interested, I've done great today. Ate healthy, feeling good. Plan to workout when the kids go to bed. Today's a good day.
Okay, hope everyone else had a good day as well. :)
ash

weight: 148

lbs to hit goal: 9

So, day 3 is 3/4 of the way over. I have eaten completely clean and worked out every day. (still need to strength train later, my training was SO hardcore yesterday that I can barely walk today and at the gym even walking on the treadmill was difficult!).
I am a little annoyed that my body isn't responding like it used to. I could eat all-natural and the weight would fall off. Not this time. Not sure what to make of that, but I won't let myself get discouraged. And if this is my body's way of punishing me for a bad long week and a half of bad food, then I deserve it. I just hope that I'll see the changes in my body and be able to fit back into the jeans I wore JUST 2 weeks ago...(and love). We'll see what happens. Okay, this is short cuz I'm tired and need to get started on dinner. Love ya'll!
Ash

weight: 148.2

lbs to hit goal: 9

so, if anyone reads my former blogs for me DAY ONE is ALWAYS the hardest. because ALL the way up until right before I go to bed *if* i DO eat bad, I'll end up gorging the rest of the time I'm awake and then I wake up the next day feeling like shit. BUT...I'm excited to say that today is done! I got in a great old-school Ashley work-out and I feel wonderful. I've been looking at costume ideas that don't look so skanky if i'm not feeling that much like showing as much skin on Halloween, as I previously anticipated. lol. I might do something as simple as Dorothy from the Wizard of oz or something. Not sure yet. I'll know in a couple of weeks. Since I gained this last 10 lbs so fast, I wonder how fast I'll lose it. I'm not in any rush though. I don't want to pressure myself at all.
Hmmm.... so October 2nd, done. I did well, that's good. I would've done great YESTERDAY but I had left-over chocolate chip cookies, and lets just say that one thing led to another and chocolate chip cookies turned into awesome cheesesticks, which turned into more...bad cycle. see, I did great ALL day yesterday, but then those cookies kept calling out to me. Ridiculous, huh? Yes, but now they are gone, and I don't plan on having stuff around to drive me crazy like they were. (choc. chip cookies and popcorn are my sworn enemies!)
Okay, well, that's it for me. I'm off to bed. I'm gonna be getting up early to hit the gym. I want to try to get my weight training out of the way in the morning, but we'll see how that works out. I'd have to get up at 5 and back at 6, so shane can go to work. We'll see... lol
Have a great day!
ash

weight: 148.8

lbs to lose for next goal: 10

p.s. oh, and any competition, is ALWAYS welcome... but i'll email you more personally, later. :)

I know I haven't written in a couple weeks. That's because instead of being super-awesome and getting inspired to lose weight and get EVEN closer to my goals, I did the opposite.
Yes, I gained, but worse than that? I lost control. It's hard for me, I've noticed when I'm surrounded by friends and family and someone says, "lets eat bad today, and I'll START WITH YOU tomorrow, and we'll get healthy together". Guess what? that tomorrow never came, and each day was a new reason to eat bad (we were going to be out-of-town, driving on the road, at the bar watching football) all kinds of things. So...I got out of Pracs on Sept. 12, weighing in at a lovely little 137ish, and now I'm more than 10 lbs above that. Another weakness I have? When I have a huge goal (like H-Day has been for me) the closer I get I seem to do one of two things. Either buckle down really hard and do the RIGHT thing OR completely BLOW things by eating bad daily and not going to the gym AT ALL. Boo. Then another thing to add on that, usually when I do Pracs studies, I eat very limited, which is good, but this next study I'm signed up to do is a fatty study, and I have to eat everything. And you can't work out in Pracs, so I feel like anything I lose between now and going to Pracs (oct. 15), i'm just losing what I'll be gaining right back, and that's frustrating. Oh well. I need to STOP looking at these DATES and thinking I need to weigh a certain amount by a certain time. I need to realize that I'm STILL in the 140s, and that's not TERRIBLE and if I lose slower but learn how to control myself, that's MUCH better than losing quickly and then having a month of gorging. I remember back in March and April I let myself go from the 140s all the way back to the upper 160s. I felt liks such a failure and I was embarrassed of myself. I need to stop having that ALL or NOTHING mentality. I thought I had started to get away from it...but I guess it's one of the demons in my mind I will always be dealing with.
So....
As of right now...I don't know how Halloween will be. I know that if I *don't* do the bee costume...I've made peace with that. Another thing I decided on after LAST weekend...No more drinking. I lost control and got really sick. More sick than I've been my whole life from alcohol, AND worse of all I lost my digital camera. My baby. EVERYONE knows how I LOVE to take pics, and there were pics on the camera of my kids and my friends and family that i will never get back...and that sucks. So...alcohol and me have broken up. That's good though. Will prevent the next day syndrome of feeling like you can eat anything you want cuz you feel too crappy to hit the gym. lol.
okay, see everyone, i'm human. gains, and losses just like ANYONE else. Here's to more losses coming up for the month of October, I'm hoping!! lol
ash

weight: 149

goal: lets just say I'd like to be in the 130s again. Don't care when, just want to get back there. that was a happy place...
Oh, and i want to add some pics, since I won't have new ones for a little while when i can get another camera...
The first one was out camping at the beginning of Sept. the other was a couple nights before, out drinking with friends. (and yes, i KNOW i really need to get friends that aren't so SKINNY!!! damn!)