Weigh day

Its weigh in wednesday again today which is crazy because I feel like the last week (and pretty much the whole summer) has flown by! Anyways before I get to that, here's the highlights from my last couple days.

Yesterday instead of an exercise class I went to work out at the gym with my friend Jen. She likes to do a lot of weights for the different muscle groups so when I wanna do some toning I like to go with her. I wore my new asics running sneakers that I just bought and I'm excited to run a lot more in them. The day I got them (I think Monday) I eagerly went on the treadmill and ran/walked 2 miles.  They were pretty comfy but I made a mistake of wearing short short socks and by the end of the 2 miles the back of my foot was rubbing on the shoes. I got a little blister and now it hurts :( which makes it harder to wear shoes and do exercise. So I guess I have to wear in the shoes a little more and wear the right socks before I can get total satisfaction from them. So back to working out with Jen we did 30 minutes of cardio and then weights for the shoulder/chest area. I'm pretty weak in the shoulders so I am definitely feeling sore today. There are good and bad parts about going to the gym with Jen. The good is that she stays there for a long time and does a lot of different things. The bad part is that she goes to the gym around 6/6:30 so by the time we leave I am always starving for dinner! It's weird: when we were in the gym I wasn't hungry at all and immediately when we stepped outside of the gym my stomach started growling. haha.

Today I started the morning with my Cardio Mix class. It was pretty good as usual but even more brutal in the weights section because of my workout with Jen the previous night. Every week when I go to the class I notice mostly the same faces who also go the the class on a weekly basis but I never really talk to anyone. Today at the end of the class one woman who goes weekly to the class who I have never spoken to before came up to me and said "you are really looking good lately!" That comment really made my day because my hard work has paid off enough for even strangers to have seen a difference! I was so happy and I even shared that meeting at the weight watchers meeting later in the day.

Speaking of weight watchers I lost 0.8 lbs this week.  Not too much but it did bring my total up to 30.4 lbs lost!! Yay to reaching 30 and I'm now looking forward to 40!

Till next time,
Ronna

Sunday Slum Day

I haven't written in a few days because nothing has really happened worth talking about. The highlight of the last few days exercise wise was on friday when I did a treadmill running workout.  I was planning to do 1 mile running so I covered the time and distance meter with my towel so I wouldn't be constantly thinking about it.  When I felt I was coming upon a mile I took the towel off and was pleasantly surprised to see I had passed a mile!!  I wasn't totally out of fuel so I kept running and I went 1.5 miles and 17 minutes straight running! I've never done that before!! YAYYY!

Today I went to my step class and maybe I was still tired or not feeling it as much today because it was harder for me to get through it than usual.  I was very happy when it was over but I still enjoy going to it because I always leave feeling like I really worked hard.  I haven't done much else today and I'm just sitting around the house trying to stay out of the kitchen so I don't keep thinking about eating.  I tend to eat more when I'm bored so today has been kind of hard but I think I've done alright. Now I'm off to babysit for the night so I'll get out of the house and get money!

Giveaway

I wanted to do a quick blog to let you know about a cool giveaway I found through another blog..its for a bondi band!  Sounds really cool and I could definitely use one of those!!

Go check it out at Bondi Band giveaway

Baby, weigh in, and froyo

I had a really busy day today compared to my other lazy summer days.  I went to my cardio mix class at 10:30 for an hour of good exercise and then I babysat from 12-3.  I didnt have much time in between the two but I made it work by basically blasting the air in my car to cool myself down before I had to go babysit.  I was considering just skipping the exercise class to make my life a little easier but I really like this class and wanted to get in some exercise before getting weighed later. 

After babysitting I had to go to a clinic to get my TB test read (required to get one every year in the health field - boo).  Luckily I don't have TB ;). Right after this I went straight to weight watchers for the weekly meeting. I lost 3 lbs this week so now my total loss is 29.6! So close to 30!! yayyyy!

I finished the night by going to dinner with a couple friends.  I like to eat out after weight watchers because I know I won't have to be weighed in for another whole week! haha! I still try to eat healthy though so I was pretty happy that the menu had some health alternatives.  I got a chicken breast with veggies and brown rice and it was all really good!  Afterwards we went for frozen yogurt and I got NY cheesecake flavor with some strawberries and raspberries on top.  It was soo yummy and a great treat! Usually when I used to go to froyo and ice cream shops where you can add all the toppings you want, I would go for all the chocolate and candy items.  It feels good that I can now skip all that and just add some guilt free fruit to my yogurt.  yummy!

All in all, pretty good day today :)

1 Mile!

The last couple of days have not been anything out of the ordinary. Yesterday I went to my once a week step class.  One of my friends first introduced me to this class and now I go more often than her! I love this class because it's interesting, fun, and a great cardio workout! The first week I went to step, it was really for me because I didn't know any of the movements and when the instructor would say to do something I would get confused.  I have definitely noticed my improvements through this class because now I know all the moves and can follow along with the rest of the class. Every third Sunday, which was yesterday, the instructor mixes things up by having us do "multiple step." In this class instead of just using one step, everyone uses four steps set up in a square. It's a little bit more complicated but a cool change every once in a while.

Anyways, after that class I had a pretty lazy Sunday.  I got a code for a free Redbox movie so I went and picked up "A little bit of heaven." The movie was about a woman who finds out she has terminal cancer. It was ok but not the greatest. 

Today I decided to go on the treadmill for exercise.  Previously I have been able to almost run a full mile but I wanted to run the whole mile today.  I DID!! I was soo happy because even though a mile might not sound like much, I know its alot compared to where I started.  It took me 11 minutes to complete the mile and then after taking a few minutes walking break I ran another .6 miles! In total I did 2 miles in 25 minutes.  The more weight I lose and exercise I do, the easier running becomes.  I cannot wait until I am able to do even more!

Me post treadmill today

Short trip to Gville

Yesterday I went up to Gainesville to move out of my undergrad college apartment. I am spending the summer at home but the move out date is July 31st so me and my mom picked this weekend to go finish getting my stuff out of there. My new apartment move in date is not until August 18th so moving my things has been a very complicated venture. The day involved lugging my heavy items up and down the stairs in the very hot summer heat so I was definitely sweating and getting a little exercise haha!

We came back home today but throughout my overnight trip I think I made pretty good food choices. When we arrived at lunch time we went to pita pit which is pretty much the pita version of subway.

You can get any pita as a salad so I had chicken on a salad filled with lots of different veggie toppings.  Then for dinner we went to a new restaurant and the food was sooooo good! I got a salad but it had so many great toppings on it such as corn, beans, salsa, and avocado. It was topped with a huge piece of chicken with chimichurri sauce that tasted great! I only ate about half the salad but I was completely satisfied because it was very large.  I saved the second half and had it for lunch today.  There were so many great juices in that salad that I barely even had to use any of my light dressing.

The best part of the trip was seeing some of my friends that I haven't seen since graduation in May.  They all haven't seen me since losing weight and they all said that I looked really good. It was so good to hear that others really do see the progress I'm making. It gives me a boost to want to continue on further to impress everyone when I go back up to school in the fall.

Anyways here are a couple photos of me so you can kinda see the person behind the blog :)

My most recent pic from 4th of July 2012

Graduation from University of Florida May 2011

In Key West and my dress about to fly up

Weigh in Wednesday

Today I went to my favorite gym class of the week which is called cardio mix.  It is a combination of high intensity and low intensity exercises and is very different from any other classes I have ever taken.  An hour of cardio mix definitely makes me feel like I worked out hard!  I consider this class my "last chance workout" before my weekly weigh in at weight watchers.

So since there was no WW meeting last week on 4th of July, it has been two weeks since I last weighed in. I was very happy that the scale showed 223.6 which was a 7 pound loss!! So now I have lost 26.6 lbs total.  I also hit my 10% goal! I love Wednesdays when I do good at WW!

Zumba and Beach

Today I started my morning off with Zumba! I really like this class because its fun music, easy dances, and makes me sweat a lot! This was the instructor's last day doing tuesday morning zumba so I guess I will have to find some other form of exercise for tuesdays.

After the gym, I came home and when it was time for lunch I didn't feel like having yet another salad.  So I made a smart ones weight watcher meal instead.  It was turkey and cranberry sauce with potatoes and veggies.  It was pretty good for a tv dinner and it was 6 points which is good for a lunch.  I followed this meal up with some yummy pineapple and cherries.

Later I went to the beach with a friend and enjoyed the Florida sun and waves. The waves were kind of big today but being in the water felt nice and refreshing. Tomorrow is WW so hopefully I have good results to share!!

Today was a typical summer day for me.  I was relatively lazy today but I did make myself get up and go to the gym.  I completed 2 miles and it took me 28 minutes to do. I was again able to run for a full 10 minutes and I was happy about that. I followed the WW plan pretty well today and hopefully I see good results at the WW meeting on Wednesday. 

The other thing occupying my time this summer besides diet and exercise is babysitting.  I babysit on a regular basis for a family with a 3 year old girl.  She is really cute and it is fun to spend time with her.  The family uses babysitting most nights of the week so it is like my own part-time job.  It is great because it is a very flexible schedule that allows me plenty of time to get my exercise in during the day.  It also helps get me out of the house and stop thinking about food.  Tonight I babysat and then came home and watched american ninja warrior.  I am a reality tv fanatic and watch ALOT of these types of shows.  I recently started watching ANW this summer and I have been watching it regularly.  It is amazing what these guys can do with their bodies!

Hi blogging world! My name is Ronna and im 22 years old and about to start graduate school at the University of Florida.  I decided to start this, my first ever blog, as a way to talk about changes I have recently started to make in my life.

As I graduated from my 4 undergraduate years at UF, I had reached my highest weight.  I decided that I would take the summer to jumpstart a journey that could take a very long time.  I had from May-August with no school commitments to completely focus on losing weight. Beginning in May 2012, I joined Weight Watchers and began following the program along with my mom and dad. I also decided to get a gym membership and go to the gym at least 5-6 times per week. I didnt have too much trouble adjusting to the food aspect of the diet because I was still able to eat a lot of great tasting things through WW (weight watchers). Going to the gym was grueling and hard sometimes but I kept going.  I found that I really enjoyed the group exercise classes that the gym offered.  They were a great way to get in cardio exercise they made the time pass by faster than just going on a treadmill or elliptical. 

On a regular basis I began going to zumba, step, step and sculpt, kickboxing, and the occasional spinning class.  I still tried to walk/run on the treadmill and exercise in other ways.  When I first started in may, I could only run for about 3 minutes at a time and I was very frustrated with that.  I felt pretty pathetic that after such a short period of time I was huffing and puffing. As I started to go to the gym classes more, I stopped trying to run as often.  Last week I went on the treadmill and was pretty shocked with the improvements I had made.  I was able to run 10 minutes and almost a full mile!  It doesnt sound like much but I remembered running when I first started I was ecstatic that I had actually improved! Running is really hard for me but I know that if I stick with it and continue to exercise, running will also become easier.

I began my journey at the beginning of May and it is now July 9th. I have lost 25 lbs so far and I'm excited to keep going.  Above is my summary of what I have been doing so far this summer so from now on I will update more about daily activities.