FitBit

I got my fitbit in the mail yesterday, so far I really like it!

I got the Ultra Fitbit in pink (duh!)

So what is it? You wear it all day long (I clip it on my bra strap and don't even feel it) and it counts your steps, stairs you climb, all of your activity, your calorie burn etc.... It logs it all onto www.fitbit.com, where you can also track what you eat, workouts if you don't wear your fitbit etc... What I really like about it, is that I can sync it with myfitnesspal since I am already familiar with that website and use it frequently. It syncs my calories and what I'm eating and works together.

The coolest part for me so far is that it tracks your sleep! It let me know what percentage I slept last night, it said I woke up 21 times! I'm curious to see if that is normal or what my routine ends up being. It told me I was in bed for a little over 8 hours and got 6 hours 52 minutes of actual sleep. I find that so fascinating. They give you a wrist thing to wear it on at night and I didn't even feel it.

The reason I bought it was I had a customer tell me about how she has lost 40 pounds using this, so I thought I would give it a try.

I do have a heart rate monitor that I use when I work out, which is great for your calories and making sure you are working at your target heart rate, but it is more invasive to wear and you have to wear a big watch to go with it.

The fitbit automatically syncs anytime it is near my computer.

So hopefully it helps me out on this journey...I'm excited to see. You have this little flower that grows during the day with your activity, and it motivating.

I haven't been to the gym much this week. We have been packing to move, ugh! Soooo ready to be in the new house and setlled.

Don't forget to pick up the Kansas City Star this Sunday and check out my story in the Star Magazine. :)

Hard Day

This week I am beating myself up a bit. One of my good friends found out that her 9 year old daughter has high cholesterol. She is a super healthy, thin, active little girl. So they are making changes in their food, etc... Here I am giving all this great advice, and recommending things. How much of those am I still following? Probably less than half.

It is just so hard for me! I've gained back some of the weight that I lost. I just have NO SELF CONTROL. The other day I went to Chipotle and the whole time I'm telling myself, no chips and guac, no chips and guac. I get up to the checkout and what comes out of my mouth "chips and guac please."

I set my alarm for 6:15 every morning to get up and go to the gym. How often do I get up and go? Only when I have to meet my trainer. Granted, I still go in the evenings. But every week it seems like I have an excuse to miss days.

I really wish I could work out with my trainer 3 days a week, but I just can't afford to do more than 1 day. I can barely afford that, but know that it is necessory for my health so I just make it a priority.

I just need to get my  motivation back. If Jason would wake me every day and say hey babe let's go the gym together. I would totally jump up and go. But most mornings he is up and gone way before I'm even out of bed. It's not his fault, I just wish I had someone to really push me.

Speaking of Jason. This week he told me he has lost 18 pounds. Doing what? Oh just thinking about it apparently! lol.

Okay I'm done being down on myself. Just gotta keep trying. I ordered a Fitbit this week. I will write how that goes.

Positive thoughts, positive thoughts....

Zumbaaaa

Today is an incredibly boring day at work. I have a cold and all I want to do is go home and sleep!

I tried my first Zumba class last night. I know that I looked like an idiot, but it was a lot of fun. I can not move my hips at all and moving my feet, hips, and arms at the same time is an impossible task. But as long as you keep moving, that's what important. I was always afraid that a class like would be intimidating. But there were people there of ALL sizes and ages. It was really fun. I probably wouldn't have tried it if I hadn't gotten a friend to go with me, so thanks Trisha!

I worked out with my trainer on Monday and I am still sore! Not terribly, just a little in the legs. She has me to do so much balance and core training. We do a lot on the Bosu ball and Yoga ball. So instead of just lifting weight, I am standing on the bosu ball trying to balance myself AND lift weights at the same time. Yikes. But I'm always impressed with myself when I do it.

We did squats on Monday, on the bosu ball, holding weights.

But balance is DEFINITELY something I could use some improvement on.

I went to a really fun wedding on Saturday night, so I was also still lagging a little from having too much fun. It was so beautiful and it was like a college reunion. We danced and danced and stayed up way past my bedtime.

A week or so ago, I went to my first American Heart Association meeting for Go Red for Women. It is a really great organization and I would encourage anyone who is interested in a healthier lifestyle to visit their site for all kinds of great tips. www.goredforwomen.org.

I also talked to my work and this year on Red Friday (February 1st), since it is National Go Red for Women Day, my work is going to donate a percentage of sales to the AHA and we are going to do different promotions. This will also be 1 year to the weekend that I had my heart attack. Wasn't it very good of me to have it on Red Friday? lol.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter. Heartjourney86

And pick up the Kansas City Star on Sunday, October 14 and look for a story on me in the Star Magazine.

Sunday Funday

This week has been better. I still could have made some better decisions, but I made it to the gym and did the workouts my trainer gave me, and I finally feel like I am maybe starting to see some muscle definition come back.

It is so amazing how quickly you can get off track. I mean I had a freaking heart attack just over six months ago, and to see how quickly I can slip back into my old lifestyle is amazing. So I'm getting back on track. Working out with trainer helps sooooo much because I have someone else motivating me, and I don't want to go back and give her a bad report card!

So this week before I went to the grocery store, I made a list of meals I wanted for the next week or so. I need to get back to cooking more!

Sunday breakfast has always been mine and Jason's thing. It is our favorite meal and we usually go out. We used to go to the Big Biscuit every Sunday, but after my heart attack we have only been there maybe twice because they don't have many healthy options. So now if we go out we usually go to First Watch or somewhere like that. Yummmmm. But this morning I decided to cook at home. I made oatmeal pancakes and egg whites. It wasn't bad. Don't get me wrong, it was no buttermilk pancake. But even Jason cleaned his plate. Normally I don't use syrup, but I did use a little bit of sugar free this morning to help offset the oatmeal, lol.

This afternoon we went to the royals game. It was such a beautiful day for it. And tonight we grilled out. So double yum.

We are moving in a few weeks, so I constantly feel like I should be cleaning or packing or something productive, but I have been so exhausted all week since I got back from my work trip. Right now I'm sitting in my office with crap all around me, lol.

So here's to hopefully an even better week. Maybe I'll be brave enough to weigh myself in the morning. :)

Quickie

I will write more later, but for a quick update, I wanted to let everyone know that I finally got on board with Twitter. So if you would like to follow me, you can do so @heartjourney86

I am doing an interview with the Kansas City Star tonight, so I will also let you know when that will be up.

Things are still going great with my new trainer, can't say enough positive things about her. I was out of town all weekend, and I have got some catching up to do this week!

Oh and today only - you can help save lives with just a few clicks!

ANYTIME today, click on www.facebook.com/KCLiveTV  and click “LIKE.”  For every new Facebook fan they get today only, NBC will donate $5 do the American Heart Association, up to $2,000. 

And a funny....

Six Months & Then Some

Ugh. I haven't wanted to write in a while, because, honestly I have not been doing so hot with eating and working out.

I had my six month checkup with the doctor a few weeks ago, and it went really well. He took me off one of my blood pressure medications because I was getting light headed. So that's good! I see him again in six months, I would LOVE to have to call him before then and get off of some of my other meds. He is making me prick myself and take my blood sugar a few times a week, because he wants to know if it gets too low. So it's an icky thing for a good purpose, and hopefully won't have to do that too long.

So, after my checkup, I had a big reality check with the fact that I had not lost nearly as much weight as I had anticipated losing in six months. The doctor was happy because I was still losing, but I really wanted to have a bigger victory than that. So, after talking with my Aunt, and getting re-motivated, I decided to start working out with a personal trainer again. This time I just wanted to once a week to keep me on track, and have them give some workouts to do the other days on my own.

I decided I wanted to give personal training another go. I wanted a trainer who I could depend on and who would motivate me and help me achieve my goals. I talked with the owner of the gym I go to (Blue Springs Fitness) and he set me up with an AMAZING new trainer.

I worked out with new trainer this morning and I LOVE her. I felt like my workout was much more catered to me, she was really interested in all of my medical history, and seemed like she really knew her stuff. I don't know if it's a male/female change but I found some major differences between the person I used to work out with and am really happy.

I feel like her concern is getting me healthy and keeping me that way. She understands and wants me to make a lifestyle change and not a temporary diet. She also explained the importance of eating plenty of calories so that you are fueling your body.

Also I don't have a ton of time to spend at the gym. So she is like, you can get a lot done in a smaller amount of time, its just about maximizing it and doing things that get you the best results.  I really feel like trainer awesome (her nickname) and I are going to have some great results.

So my energy is coming back and I'm gaining more momentum. Let me tell you though, after not really working out much for several weeks and eating junk food, I noticed a huge difference. My clothes were tighter, I gained weight, I didn't have as much energy, and when I worked out this morning, it totally kicked my butt. I had to stop a few times and say hold on, which I never had to do before. It's amazing how quickly you can get out of shape if you stop your regimen.

Another important thing that I think my male trainer had a harder time with, and this trainer understands, is the emotional side of everything I'm going through and losing weight. It's a very big undertaking and a very emotional journey to lose weight. Add in my heart attack and everything I've been through, it is hard. I'm ready and willing to fight for this, but I need people around me who are going to encourage and support not just the physical journey.

Food is an emotional thing for me, and lately with lots of stress in my life, (trying to find a place to move, death of one of my boyfriend's family members, etc) I turn to food. I don't feel like going to gym, and I feel like eating more. I know this is bad, and I completely beat myself up about it. But I don't think trainer ass understands that this is something that people go through sometimes and its so hard.

They were all excuses and I used them not to eat healthy and workout - but I have to get back on track. So why not start today?

Need to get my steam back

I apologize for my failure to blog lately. I've been wanting to hit some milestones before I wrote again, but that hasn't happened yet. These past few weeks since I got back from Florida have been hard. The further away I get from my heart attack the harder it is to keep up with everything.  I'm still going to the gym but I am having a hard time getting up and going in the mornings before work, so then I feel guilty all day and like there is something I have to do, which there is. So then I go deter work, but by the time I get home it's after 7 or 8 and I don't really feel like cooking dinner, so we have been eating out more often.  I really wanted to hit 26 pounds by my 26th birthday, and disappointingly that did not happen, but I've just got to stick with it and get my motivation back up.  My birthday was good. It was really fun. We went to the new aquarium at crown center and it was neat. Not something I need to see over and over again, but nice to see none the less. We ate lunch at my favorite pizza place and then Jason took me out for my favorite Mexican for dinner. I have not eaten very healthy this week. We went out last night with friends and it was really fun, although I think I am too old to stay out that late. I did not feel very well today.  Well hopefully I will have some good weight loss news soon, I see the doctor for my checkup in a few weeks, too!