This Blog is Moving!!

Angie's Journeys is moving from Blogger to a new blog titled "Intentional Living" on WordPress. The new address is: http://angelabullock.wordpress.com.

All the content from this blog has been moved to that blog, so you shouldn't need to come back here to find something I posted in the past.

That being said, I am not going to take this blog down, just in case I decide I don't like WordPress and want to return here.

I hope you'll all join me over there and subscribe via email to the new blog as well!

I'm Scared!

Ok, so here we are, a week after doing the Jillian Michaels DVD for the first time... and I still haven't done it again!

However, I HAVE been exercising regularly, just not that DVD. I want to give everyone my take on this and I would really value your feedback. I don't want to create an excuse to NOT do something that could be highly effective, so please let me know what you think.

After doing it last Wednesday evening, I was SO SORE on Thursday and Friday and that I simply could not fathom doing it again. I didn't exercise at all on Thursday (I actually had a hard time going up and down the stairs) and on Friday, when I was still sore, decided that I needed to exercise to get some blood pumping through my muscles, but that doing the exact same thing could possibly be a recipe for injury.

So, I did some Wii Fit Plus Aerobics exercises instead. I did that again on Sunday night. Monday night I went to my Zumba class (I LOVE LOVE LOVE Zumba - I would do it every day if I could!!) and then last night I again did some Wii Fit.

Now, Wii Fit is not nearly as effective or intense of a workout as either Zumba or the DVD, clearly. However, I DO actually sweat and raise the heartbeat, so it IS exercise.

So, here's where I'm looking for feedback: I want to do the DVD again tonight, because I know that I will never get the benefits and adapt if I don't do it. However, I am afraid that I'll be so sore again that I won't be able to exercise again for a couple days. Is it better to do SOMETHING every day, or should I just jump in and do this, even if it means taking off Thursday and doing something different again on Friday?

I mean, it will get better, right?

On a different note, I'm starting to see the scale move again (despite having a yummy burger and fries last Thursday night for dinner and celebrating a friend's birthday with a complete day of yummy food on Saturday), so I'm really pumped to keep exercising! I'm REALLY enjoying the Zumba classes and will absolutely be looking into more of those when these free classes at my church are up (only 3 more weeks... ).

I have about 8.5 lbs to go to get back to my original SlimGenics goal and then another 10 to hit my NEW goal. I really hope that doing it at a slower, more moderate pace with exercise will help tone me up considerably over just dieting alone. That being said, I feel that the Jillian Michaels DVD will be the most effective is this arena!

Ouch!

So, yesterday I made this completely offhand comment in my post about doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred last night. You might have even missed it, as I didn't give it much air time.

I should have. Oh. My. Gosh.

If anyone wants to know JUST how out of shape they are (and no, I'm not talking to those of you who ARE in shape!), just do this 20-minute workout. Seriously.

There are 3 levels, and I clearly started on Level 1 (Jillian suggests this, no matter who you are). She takes you through three circuits each of 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs for about a 20-minute workout. Sounds easy, right?

I actually could NOT do the entire workout. I made it through, but I had to stop and rest several times!!

But, there is a silver-lining in this: I now know JUST how out of shape I truly am. Being thin does NOT = in shape. I have a lot of work to do in this area and I'm thinking Journey #2 (exercise) may just take as long as Journey #1 (weight-loss)!

Pray for me!! I will need prayers and strength to get through this even more than the weight-loss phase. There wasn't physical pain that made it hard to get up the stairs when all I was doing was dieting. THIS is going to take God's strength, not my own, to see through!!

Journey #2: EXERCISE!!!

Well, hello everyone! I know it's been a really long time since my last post, but I did move across the country...

So, where are we today? Well, I took about 5-6 weeks completely off plan (yes, definitely longer than I expected). The first 2 weeks were while we were still in Minnesota. We had lots of parties and celebrations that made it difficult, and then once we packed up most of the kitchen I was like, "forget it". It was stressful enough preparing for the big move without having to worry about food.

Then, once we got here, we took about 3 weeks to settle in, unpack and enjoy all the new cuisine around us. Probably didn't need to stay off plan that long, of course, but it is what it is. I definitely had to confess to God that I felt a slip and pull back towards gluttony, but he's forgiven me, so I'm going to forgive myself!

When I did that and decided the food party was over, I stepped on the scale. Up 21 lbs!! 

Now, before I panicked too much, I figured at least some of that was water weight, and I was right. I put myself on one of SlimGenic's 4-day plateau-breakers and immediately shed 10 lbs!

So, with only 11 lbs to go, I decided to NOT go back to the extremely strict SlimGenics plan, but to do more of the balance phase and to incorporate some regular exercise and see what happened. I actually didn't start exercising much right away; I needed to work into it. For the first 5 or so days after stopping the plateau-breaker, I lost (and gained) NOTHING. My weight stayed EXACTLY the same. I wasn't too upset, because I was actually enjoying my food (still eating healthy and in moderation) and I didn't feel deprived.

Then, this past Monday night, I went to my 2nd Zumba class (my first was right when I started the breaker) and the next morning, .4 lbs were gone. This morning, another .6. So, another pound gone with only 10 to go. However, I did adjust my goal weight down another 10 lbs from my original SlimGenics goal, so I really have about 20 to go now (I also adjusted my weight loss ticker to show my total weight loss, not just my SlimGenics weight loss).

Tonight I am going to do Jillian Michael's 30-day Shred DVD and I am going to try and do some kind of aerobic exercise at least 3-4 times a week (every other day). I really want to be able to enjoy some additional foods and not feel so restricted all the time, so hopefully this will do it. Plus, I really need to tone up - I lost the weight and look great in clothes that cover me up, but not so much in a bathing suit.

So here we go!! Living in the Austin area certainly will be helpful, because people around here live far more active lifestyles than in Minnesota. We don't want to be the fat and lazy people in Austin, and we won't be!

After Pic!

I've had a few people ask for an "after" pic, so I had Mike snap a pic of me this morning before I walked out the door to work.

People keep asking me if I feel like a totally new person and really, the answer is no. I just feel like ME again!

GOAL!!!

Well, today actually started off pretty icky, as I had a dentist appointment at 9:00 am this morning for some fillings (my weight was not the only thing I neglected over the last 10 years... ) and when I got home I was feeling pretty rotten. It was this weird combination of complete numbness (which is annoying) and yet still some pretty significant throbbing where the numbness was slowly wearing off.

So after sitting around for awhile wishing I could eat (dentist said not to because I could easily bite my lip), hubby said that while I was gone, the floating SlimGenics Manager (who was my center's manager when I signed up) called and said that he was at my center today and would love to see me. I figured, well, I can't talk well, but I also can't eat, so I might as well go weigh-in and say hi.

I weighed in yesterday and was .75 lbs away, so I wasn't expected much today, but I was stunned to be down an entire pound from yesterday, putting me .25 lbs BELOW my goal weight!




I started Week 1 of Balance on Tuesday and it's been awesome. I feel like I'm eating so much more normally (even though it's not really that big of a change), but so much healthier than I used to. I really feel like I can do this for the long haul!

Thank you SlimGenics, for giving me the tools to get here and the tools to STAY HERE!!

One Weekend of Weight Loss To Go!

Well, I can hardly believe it, but here I am: it's my final weekend in the weight loss phase!

My weigh-in yesterday yielded a 2-lb loss for the week, which I'm pretty happy with, but it left me a mere 1.25 lbs away from my goal weight! Total official SlimGenics loss is 98.25 lbs!

Of course, do you think I'm just dancing in the streets that I made it that close to goal 2 weeks early? (Well, maybe a little!) But really, I'm just trying to figure out what I can do this weekend to shed that last 1.25 lbs so I'll be at goal when I weigh in on Tuesday morning!! At least with Memorial Day being Monday, I get an extra day! I know I should be happy with being only a pound away (and I am), but to be SO CLOSE... I just want to hit goal!

Of course, I got on the scale this morning and it didn't budge from yesterday's weight...

So Monday morning I will be starting the Balance Phase. I went shopping yesterday to pick up some extra foods that will be allowed and I think it's actually quite hilarious that I'm as excited as I am to be able to eat peas and corn again! And of course, the swiss cheese isn't going to be horrible either!

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend and enjoys the extra day off work!