Evening all :)

Well I had a journal here briefly about 6 months ago but never really updated that much and gave up in the end - I just wasn't doing well diet or exercise wise at the time but I've been reading through the grea journals on here tonight and decided I'd like to give journal keepin on here another shot - not only does it look fun but all the support and help is great as well.

Over the past few months I've tried both weight watchers and Dr Phil's plan but neither of them have really worked out for me - about 2 years ago I lost 2 stone (28 pounds) with calorie counting so I decided to go back to my old favourite but this time with the added bonus of exercise added in as well.

Originally it was Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds videos that got me in to exercising but recently I've changed from them and am now using the Firm workouts :lift: for the majority of the time and also include some pilates and walks out of doors. Although I still have my Leslie workouts as I really love them.

Anyway today's stats are:
calories: 1200
Exercise: Rest day
Water: 20 oz - really gotta work hard on that.

I have also just brought a Polar hearrate monitor so after tomorrow's workout I will include my highest heartrate and my average heartrate.
take care all
goodnight from the UK
debs xx

Good Morning from the UK,

" Being challenged is inevitable, being defeated is optional! Never give up!" Unknown

And what a bright and early morning it is. I was woken at 7:00am by my brother who appears to have a voice as loud as a foghorn :coach: - don't have to worry about HIM getting lost do we.

Anyway the sky is nice and blue which means a nice walk outside for me today - I have to walk a mile to work so it's not a big decision to make but if its nice and blue outside it puts you more in the mood for a brisk walk.

Wishing everyone a great day :wave: .I'll be back later with calorie and exercise updates

later - well eating actaully wasnt to good but it wasnt really really bad either, just middling I guess. I did get a good brisk walk in on the way to work but didn't wear my heartrate monitor so i can't tell you my average heartrate, I also got tons of running around done looking after the children - the youngest is just walking so she needs following all over to make sure she doesn't bump herself!
debs xx

to DT! Sounds like you are excited and ready to get going on your plan! We hope to hear sucess stories soon!
What is the FIRM plan? I don't think I have ever heard of it. I am curious!

Hey Melissa,
thanks for the welcome :) The Firm isn't really a plan its just a series of workouts, using step areboics, weights etc - heres the website www.firmdirect.com - I use these alongside calorie counting to help tone me up and burn more fat :)
debs xx

Ouch. :( There's something up with my left calf. It feels all tight and hurts a bit when i put weight on it after sitting down. I've been for a brisk walk this afternoon and it wasn't to bad during it, I could still feel the tightness but on the whole it felt OK, I also tried a few gentle stretches after I finished the walk just to see if that would help out at all, my only guess is I did something to it yesterday either walking to work or by picking up the children - have a bad habit of forgetting to bend my knees sometimes, anyway I'm gonna give it a few days and carry on with walking as this didn't seem to both it and see what happens!

Calories (so far): 1048
Exercise: Brisk walk outside - roughly 2 miles (according to my dad who's generally pretty accurate as he's a walker himself)
Heart rate high: 155bpm
Heart Rate Average: 123 bpm
Time: 30:07

Hope everyone one is having a good day!
Debs xx

Morning Everyone,
well yesterday was a bit of a diet disaster, but No Guilt And Move On. So today I am moving on. yesterday was great as well though my dad and i went here http://www.poolescavern.webarch.net/ - it was so great, we saw the biggest stalactite which was 10,000 years old - pretty old huh? and over 6ft long, dad got some pictures but due to the light in the caves we don't know how they turned out but if they turn out well enough I'll scan them and post them here!
Anyway I'm off - got some babysitting to do, that sure burns the calories ;)
Take care and have a good day
debs xxx

Hi debs,

I looked at the pictures of the cave. Absolutely beautiful!! I hope you do scan the pictures and post them I would love to see them.

Be careful lifting those little ones because you can hurt yourself!! Hope your calf heals quickly!!

Sure is good to see you here with your journal!! I shall be stopping in and checking to see how you are!!

Good to see you back dear one. Have a great evening!!

Love and hugs,
Lizzie

Hey Lizzie - thanks for dropping by :) don't worry I'm very careful about lifting my little uns, bent knees everytime :) the boys getting a little large for lifting now but he's very difficult to say no to ;)

Well on the weightloss front today is my weigh in day and I've lost 2lbs despite having a couple of off days this week, so I'm very pleased :o and am determined to see another loss next week, this should be easier as I am back at college and placement (an infants school) so I won't have anytime to pick at foods etc and there'll be plenty of running around after 5 years olds
take care all and have a great day
debs xx

Well I'm in a writing mood today so though I would drop by the journal and tell all about my latest challenge. It's a big one ladies and gents and one I'm going to build up to slowly but I'm going to give it a go.

I'm a big walking fan and can now walk at a good speed for at least 30 minutes out side and 60 minutes inside - come on there's no hills inside. So I've decided to step it up a little and add jogging segments in to my walk as well. I have Leslie Sansone's video walk and jog and I've always enjoyed this one but I'm going to have to do my jogging outside so this is obviously gonna be a bit harder what with all those hills around my village.

This has been in my mind for a few weeks now but today I cam across a post on here http://www.diettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=419491#post419491 by martisant who has a smiliar current weight to me :) and who is just starting a 10 week beginner program so I've decided to join her - looking at the program I think I'm gonna be repeating the weeks ;) but thats no big deal i want to work up to this slowly, don't want an nasty or not so nasty injuries after all.

I'm gonna be keeping an eye on my kness especially as I know I am crrying a lot of extra weight that I want to loose but I'm still young - just 18 :D - so I think it'll be ok!

I'll be doing this 3-4 days and then the other days I may or may not add in some weight training with my FIRM video's - we'll see how I feel!

Wish me Luck!
Debs xxx

Yuck - I've been a bad girl with my eating AND my exercise, need to get myself back together and keep going, so I've stumbled a little doesn't mean I've fallen. I've had a stomach upset the today so I've been eating only a little but a little of what I should not be eating. And I haven't exercise properly in well over a week.
So now I'm feeling better (seems to be a 24hr thing) I'm going to get up at 6:15 even though I hate it and go for a walk with mum before work placement. I'm going till MOnday then I'm going to start adding in my jogging segments!
I'll start posting calories etc here tomorrow!
Debs xx

Hi debs,
Hope you are feeling much better by now!! Oh I use to jog and loved it but alas no more. Walking is an radical as I dare get!! Please do keep an eye on your knees and don't over do or get injured!

You are NOT a bad girl!! You simply hit a bump in the road and now you are past it!! So be nice to yourself!! Be back to check on you later!!

Have a great night!!

Love and hugs,
lizzie

Well if I was a good girl yesterday :) I'm an even better one today, so far I have been able to get past that bump in the healthy road and am moving on along nicely ;) I've been drinking my water and counting my calories - i only had a short little walk this morning as I wasn't feeling to inclined for any exercise at all so I guessed 15 minutes was better than 0 minutes at all.
I'll be back later with my calorie and water intake.
Debs xx

Okie Dokie :) here are my stats for today :-

calories: 1262
exercise: 15 minutes walking, 26 minutes Firm Total Sculpt plus abs (TS)
water: 7 glasses

tomorrow I plan to get in 30 minutes walking before work = about 2 miles!