Back on the Horse Check In - 9/8/11

So, here were my goals for today (and they'll stay here until I change them)...

1. Log what I eat - I use loseit.com and their iPhone app - DONE!
2. Eat under 1250 calories of high protein, good carb food - this is net of exercise calories - Over by about 200 calories or so. Got on an almond kick today and may have had a handful too many. 
3. Drink 64 oz. of water or green tea - DONE!
4. Exercise for 40 minutes - DONE!
5. Take a vitamin - DONE!
6. Be accountable - I blog about my progress in the evening or next morning - DONE!


Here are Monica's goals for the day... Check in Monica and let us know how you did! (Also, Monica has started her own blog to track progress as well. Follow her here!)

Today's goals:
1. Drink 64oz of water.
2. Elliptical tonight for 30 minutes. - thought I should stay indoors with this nasty weather.
3. Start weighing myself everyday. 

This weeks goals:

1. No pizza
2. No desserts
3. More fruits, veggies, low carb, high protein 

It's not too late to join in the fun! Simply post your goals for today in the comment box and we'll track our progress together! Good luck today!

Back on the Horse - Check In 09/07/2011

OK Anonymous - you know who you are even if we don't. :)

Let's see how you did today. Here were the goals you posted for today and how you did...

Yesterday goals:
1. Drink 64 oz water - 50% complete - fell asleep before I drank my last 32 oz cup - but maybe a good thing - because I may not have made ti through the night dry.
2. 30 min walk tonight - didn't happen - when I made the goal it was nice and pretty out - then it got very cold and wet by the time I got off work.

This weeks goals:
1. No pizza - doing well
2. No desserts - had 1/2 of a cookie a patient brought me.
3. More fruits, veggies, low carb, high protein - doing well here. 

We'll check in with your long term goals in a Monday post - once a week for these. :)


Don't forget, accountability is key and even if you didn't hit all of your daily and weekly goals, all is not lost. Tomorrow is another day and you get to make that choice all over again! 


So, post how you did today and your goals for tomorrow. Can't wait to see how you did!

Back on the Horse Challenge - Welcome!

So, I finally have a taker! "Anonymous" posted goals this afternoon and I'm so excited to have them along with me on this challenge. The accountability is great and kept me focused on my goals today.

I encourage you to follow us on this journey and join in by posting your goals. Simply post your goals for the day or for the following day as a comment. Every day in which someone has posted their goals, I will post a "check in" post in which you can fill us in on your progress.

Make sure your goals are SMART.

S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Attainable
R - Realistic
T - Timely

Also, they should be written in the current tense as if you are actively achieving those goals.

Here is a good example -

I lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks.

S - Specific - 10 pounds
M - Measurable - Simply step on the scale at the beginning and end of the time frame
A - Attainable - A pound a week is something most can attain with a slight change in diet and exercise
R - Realistic - 10 pounds in 5 days would be unrealistic - This is very similar to Attainable
T - Timely - Set a deadline for achieving your goal

Perhaps your goal is a little different. Maybe you're at a good weight but want to become more fit or eat better. Here are some other examples.

I drink 64 ounces of water each day for two weeks.
I workout 5 days a week for 4 weeks.
I eat 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables each day for a week.
I eat only 3 Hershey Kisses per day for a week. (Good for choco-holics, but here's where Realistic comes into play - cutting out chocolate all together would be unrealistic, but yet attainable. Make sure you have both.)

Remember that anything you do for 14 days becomes a habit. Also remember that if you blow a goal for a day, that doesn't mean you give up and throw in the towel. Each day is a new day. We've all been there. Just be honest, own up to it and give it your all the next day.

Join me in this challenge and we can work together to improve our health and fitness!

Back on the Horse - Day 9 & 10

OK - so I've gotten a day behind. I'll first update on Day 9.

Here were my goals:

1. Log what I eat - I use loseit.com and their iPhone app - DONE!
2. Eat under 1250 calories of high protein, good carb food - this is net of exercise calories - Date night led to another overrun of about 400 calories - well, that and then see #4. :)
3. Drink 64 oz. of water or green tea - Don't remember how much water, but I know it wasn't enough
4. Exercise for 40 minutes - Boo - missed another day
5. Take a vitamin - honestly just forgot this one
6. Be accountable - I blog about my progress in the evening or next morning - DONE!

And, yesterday was supposed to be the first day to track my longer term goals:

1. Run the Riley Run 5K in 25 minutes - I ran this Saturday and didn't feel awesome. However, it was hot and there were hills and I had a bad attitude. Plan to run a 5K this weekend on the treadmill.
2. Lose 10 pounds by October 31 - a pound a week - Despite my best efforts, I did lose 1.5 pounds this week!


These are/were my goals for today (Day 10):


1. Log what I eat - I use loseit.com and their iPhone app - DONE! 
2. Eat under 1250 calories of high protein, good carb food - this is net of exercise calories - DONE!
3. Drink 64 oz. of water or green tea - About half way there, but I plan to chug another glass before bed
4. Exercise for 40 minutes - DONE! Insanity - Cardio Power & Resistance - I'm happy to say that I actually enjoyed the workout a little bit today which I've been struggling with since starting back up. Also, I felt like I was more "into" it today. May be because I did it at 4:30 in the afternoon and not 6 in the morning. Plus, I made a pot of coffee beforehand. :)
5. Take a vitamin - DONE! - I bought some chewable adult vitamins at CVS today and plan to keep some in my car and keep some at the office. Then, I'll be able to take them on a full stomach. Eventually, I'd like to add in some fish oil supplements and maybe others as well.
6. Be accountable - I blog about my progress in the evening or next morning - DONE!


Overall, a decent two days. I need to work harder on my water intake and make it an ABSOLUTE PRIORITY to fit in the exercise. So many things are coming at me from many angles that I feel like I'm doomed. I have to make it work. My mornings are now out for the most part as Josie has to be up at 6:45 and out the door at 7:25 and Jack and Tessa are up at 6 for some reason. I'm working on my plan, but today worked OK by leaving work at 4:30 and having Tom pick up the kids. 


Also, I have to really work on my patience. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was really hoping for more than 1.5 pound loss the first week. The weight loss is a journey that will not get me there right away. I tend to sabotage myself when I see a little loss. I really need to stick with it this week. I can eat very reasonably if I keep up the intense exercise. I don't feel deprived on those days, but very much so on days I don't "earn" the exercise calories. 

Change Change Change

(I understand this blog post title has probably been used by every blogger under the sun, but it fits so deal with it.)

This has certainly been a season of change for the Joyner household. When I really sit back and think about how different things are today then they were even three months ago, it's no wonder I feel like we're in a tailspin half the time. Change is a very difficult thing to maneuver and I think we're doing an "OK" job. Mind you, just OK.

Tomorrow brings another change and then Wednesday yet another.

Due to staff cutbacks at Josie's new school, they had very full kindergarden classes - 27 in the AM and 28 in the PM. Luckily, they were able to get some of the money raised last year in the Save Our Staff (SOS) events to add an extra kindergarden class in the morning. This is a great way to use the funds and I hope that parents and community members understand how much something like this means to a parent like me. Smaller class size is very important and I think all of our kids will blossom, despite the next part of the story.

Since you've probably already read the title of this post, you probably know where I'm heading with this next part. After three weeks of school, Josie will be changing classes. Since she's in the PM class, she'll not only be changing times, but also changing teachers. I know she will do great - she's a very adaptable kid. But, she's already grown fond of her teacher and is catching on to the schedule of the day and all that good stuff. I'm sure the new teacher is going to work hard to make the transition easy on the kids. Luckily, the new teacher has been working with the classes, so Josie's already familiar with her.

Now, this does wonders for our schedule however. On days Tessa was in school and I worked, (Wednesday), this is what our schedule would have looked like once preschool started...

8:50 - Out the door with all three kids
8:55 - Drop Tessa at preschool
9:00 - Drop Josie & Jack at sitters
10:55 - Tom pick up Josie and drop her at school (30 minutes)
11:00 - Sara pick up Tessa and drop her at sitters (30 minutes)
2:00 - Sara pick up Josie and drop her back at sitter (30 minutes)
5:15 - Pick up all kids at sitters

Of course, if Tessa didn't have school (Tues/Thurs), you could cut that out. Or, if I didn't work (Mon/Fri), we wouldn't have to go to the sitters in the AM & PM. But, still, you get the point.

But, now, I'll take Josie at 7:30 to school, come back and pick up the kids to take to the sitter or school. Work for an hour-ish, go back to Josie's school at 10:30, then Tessa's at 11 and get them all to the sitters' at 11:15 and have the afternoon to really get things done at work.

I keep telling myself it's just for a few months. Next year, we'll figure something else out.

Then for the final change, Tessa starts PreK on Wednesday. I'm really hoping that's the end of big changes around here until moving to the new house. I'm not sure how much more this mama can take. I know it's wearing on the kids too having to adapt to everything so quickly. But, I am assured by my Aunt Trena (a wonderful preschool teacher) that change is so very good for them. They'll be stronger after all of this - I just hope the adults fare as well.

Back on the Horse - Day 8

Blech! Well, vacation always throws me off. Of course, we do tend to treat every weekend, especially long ones, like a vacation. I did get a run in on Saturday (Sunday was supposed to be a rest day anyway) so today is the only day I didn't get to exercise. And, if I'm truly looking for positives, the eating could have been way worse. Still not super proud.

Oh well. What's done is done. Tomorrow is a new day. Here are my goals:

1. Log what I eat - I use loseit.com and their iPhone app
2. Eat under 1250 calories of high protein, good carb food - this is net of exercise calories
3. Drink 64 oz. of water or green tea
4. Exercise for 40 minutes
5. Take a vitamin
6. Be accountable - I blog about my progress in the evening or next morning


And, tomorrow will be the first day to track my longer term goals:


1. Run the Riley Run 5K in 25 minutes
2. Lose 10 pounds by October 31 - a pound a week

Back on the Horse - Day 5

Well, I'm here and I did OK. Not great, but OK.

Here are the results...

1. Log what I eat - I use loseit.com and their iPhone app - DONE!
2. Eat under 1250 calories of high protein, good carb food - this is net of exercise calories - Not a failure, but probably not awesome either. Stuck close to calories, but had more than I needed of processed flours, sugars, etc.
3. Drink 64 oz. of water or green tea - Up to 48 ounces - need to down another 16 before bed tonight. 
4. Exercise for 40 minutes - DONE! - Today was just the Cardio Recovery for Insanity today which is technically 32 minutes, but I did the warmup twice because I started in the morning and couldn't finish because the kids were up so I redid the whole thing tonight.
5. Take a vitamin - DONE! Just got off the couch to make it happen.
6. Be accountable - I blog about my progress in the evening or next morning - DONE!


As I mentioned, the kids were up early again today. I try to start my workout by 6:45 so I'm done by 7:30 or so, but today they were up by then. (I wake up between 6-6:15 because I have to have a cup of coffee before the workout.) I'm sure they're starting to hear things moving around here - my alarm going off, the coffee maker, etc. Either way, it's getting bothersome. I'm going to have to wake up earlier and be quieter if I want this to happen in the morning.


This weekend should be interesting. We're heading to the lake which makes it difficult for a number of reasons. We usually stop for fast food both directions on the trip. Then, mom and dad always have great food for us there. Of course, then there's the alcohol. My goals for the weekend may be a little different then they've been during the week. 


Here are my goals for tomorrow...


1. Log what I eat - I use loseit.com and their iPhone app
2. Eat under 1250 calories of high protein, good carb food - this is net of exercise calories
3. Drink 64 oz. of water or green tea
4. Exercise for 40 minutes
5. Take a vitamin
6. Be accountable - I blog about my progress in the evening or next morning


This will mean I have to get up and exercise before heading to the lake. It also means no junk on the trip. Finally, it will mean a glass or maybe two of red wine and a very reasonable dinner. 


I'll be recounting my long term goals on Monday. So far, I think I'm down 0.5 pound. Blech. But, I also know that working out makes your muscles retain water. (DOMS - Delayed onset muscle soreness) Either way, I still hope I'm down 1.5 pounds this week so I can still be on track to hit my goal. Plus, I think Tom and I will shoot to run this weekend while at the lake. Sunday will be our "off" day.