CDCC #12? 13?

Weigh in: 330 (+1)
Water: 5/6 over 100 oz.
Veggies: 3/6 3 servings +
Calories: 6/6 under 1900.
Work outs: 5/6  3.5 hours cardio, 1 hr weights, 2 hrs aquacise.
Book: Done. Searching for the next one. 100 days of weight loss? open to suggestions.

MOVEMENT!!! granted, not in the right direction. BUT IT CHANGED!

Today was the last class of Aquacise. I've been taking it for three semesters and now I'm done forever. My teacher, Sarah and I have become pretty good friends. She added me on facebook today after we had a big long talk about how to break through this plateau. She sent me to bodyrock.tv. For some at home work outs and some recipes and weekly challenges. She recommended taking this weekend to concentrate on homework. Skip the Saturday work out. But hit it HARD next monday.

Lengthen cardio - switch from bike to elliptical.
Do weight reps faster - with good form of course.
Try body weight exercises alone (pushups, crunches, planks, chair dips, lunges).
REMEMBER TO STRETCH - keep those muscles loose and cool down to prevent soreness. 

Next week is also going to be a raw foods week - small cheats allowed for HOME BAKED fish.
Sunday will be menu, shop and prep day.

I started losing weight by reading up. writing motivations down. Writing things to think about. Ways to change unhealthy thought patterns. I found this very excellent thought while browsing articles on sparkpeople... that sometimes motivational issues arise from outgrowing the initial motivation. I consider that the case right now - duh, I'm looking up motivational speeches for weight loss.

I haven't grown completely lax or anything. But it's time to kick it up. It's time to stop being complacent and blaming my body for not losing when I haven't given it new stimuli for a while now...

On the positive side, I've gone from...
0 workouts a week -----------------> 5-7 workouts consistently per week.
not tracking calories at all --------> logging calories 4-7 days a week
Eating without thinking ----------> careful consideration of sodium and saturated fats I consume.
size 28/30----------------------------> 26/28... and lost a cup size :( heh.
Chronic back pain -----------------> sore muscles. A very decent trade.
No caffeine -------------------------> No soda or corn syrup infused drinks at all.
3 servings of veggies a week. ----> 3 servings at least 3 times a week. 300% increase.
368 lbs -------------------------------> 330 lbs.

Some motivational questions from one of those articles... 

• Look at a recent successful week; what worked? when did you make good choices? 
• How would life be different if you dropped 20lbs over night? What would happen?  
• Find the good intention behind bad behavior. What did I quiet with that {insert guilt food or skipped work out}? What feelings did I satiate? How else can I address that body need or emotional feeling? 
• Make predictions for good behaviors and bad. I am 50% sure that I will go out to eat. I am 60 % sure I'll go to the gym. I am 100% sure that I will weigh in. It helps us own our decisions. 
• Why do you do things right? What do you feel when you do things right? how do you think? how does your body react? 

I loved an article that I read back in August. It said pick a date. A solid calendar date. Make a commitment to that date and a commitment to yourself that this is when the plan you've been contemplating goes into effect. (inner skeptic says: you can make this choice every moment. Now self skeptic... here's the deal, that hasn't been working so well, fresh start). I will continue my current patterns of calorie counting and conscientious eating. Here's a commitment to the next step. The next level. The next -38 lbs. The next tough week. I will prepare myself now, during the last few days of this stupid plateau, to take it up a couple notches. I will read. I will journal. I will think it through. I will make time for my body, myself, my well-being.

Body, enjoy this brief respite. You will be workouts will shed that ass and belly come Monday.

Big FAT, TIRED OF PLATEAU-ING, Love,
Nanette