I did it, I stepped on the scale!

I actually am down 1 pound!  Woo Hoo!!!

Well, I stepped on the scale terrified that I had undone all my dieting and fitness training. To my surprise I weighed 135 (I was 136 before I left on my trip) and had not gained.  Needless to say.... the happy dance was extreme and it's a good thing the blinds were closed because no one needed to witness that! 

I had started a habit of eating 2 very light meals (or drinking meal shakes) and one good solid meal a day.  Also, eating for specific nutrition verses just what was available or that I craved has really helped overall.  As much as I over did with drinks and foods while on our work trip, following this routine I believed saved me from gaining my lost weight back in the end. I did do a bunch of walking while on my trip instead of driving to the closer destination spots and I'm sure that it played a big roll in burning off some of those extra calories I was consuming!

So here are some of my weight loss tricks that are definitely working.....
1) Eat 2 light meals a day or drink meal shakes with one full satisfying meal.
2) I see greater weight and inch loss when my one full meal a day is lunch and I don't eat after 6:00pm at night.
3) I notice a huge difference in my appetite and cravings if I drink at least 6, 8 oz. glasses of water a day.
4) Walking to your closer destinations instead of hoping in the car!
5) An Apple A Day!  One apple has traces of to many vitamins and minerals to really count and mention here. The raw apple provides you with natural digestive enzymes that help your body digest foods more effectively and to more effectively absorb the nutrients from the foods you put into your body.  I also have on a regular basis been less hungry in the day if I eat an apple in the morning.  It makes sense that if your body is getting the nutrients it needs your less hungry throughout the day too!
6) I exercise every day even if it's just 20 minutes of yoga or a quick 30 minute aerobic workout!

I will be back again in one week with my weigh in and progress report!

Cheers and Blessings To You And Yours!
Kelly Lynch Ring

Weight down to 136.6 pounds! Woo Hoo! Even through back pain!

Losing weight with my back acting up constantly when trying to exercise has been incredibly difficult and I need to drop that weight to help my back get better. Ugh!  My mission to figure out what is going on with my body has lead me to discover that my SI Joint in my pelvic area is hyper-extending or just seizing up with intense cramping in the entire area when it acts up.  In my low back area my lumbar vertebrae 3 and/or 4 area has a disk that is causing me quite the grief. The mid thoracic area has anther disc and/or vertebrae that is not cooperating to my standards.  They all seem to synchronize their activity to bring me down and I must make this stop!  I normally have no back issues when I weigh around 120 pounds and right now I am desperate to get there to eliminate some of this pain.

Now how do I prevent my back from seizing up and going out?

I am discovering a few tricks that are working for my body.  I am still doing Yoga in a studio here and there at Bliss Dog Yoga & Crescent Moon Yoga which is helping immensely. At home I have 2 different exercise DVD's that are working to help me build strength back up.  I have tried to do them both in one day but my back is not ready for that yet.  The Beach Body, Start It Up routine is perfect for slowly building core strength.  I also use the Better Sex Through Yoga dvd, this is a core centered routine & is great for strength building. AND no you are not in the mood for sex when your done, you want to relax or sleep!  The biggest thing that I have discovered is that I need to keep moving & exercise every day to keep all my muscles loose in my back or things start to tighten up. 

EATING!  I have been having 2 meal shakes a day made by Natural Factors with one full meal a day.  I have discovered that my weight drops faster if I eat the meal for lunch & not dinner.  There are lots of amazing healthy options for this out there.  My daughters and I have been using this particular brand and mix "Slim Styles" because if we drink 1 a day we never know when our monthly cycle will hit, we don't have any PMS (love that, obviously).  Also, we normally don't get the regular menstrual cramp routine during that time of month with consistently drinking this 1 time per day. Another great meal replacement shake and weight loss program is through Shaklee called Cinch ( here is that link http://vitalearthtraditions.myshaklee.com/us/en/category.php?main_cat=WeightManagement ).
Remember it's best to use what works best for your personal constitution.  Right now Natural Factors is working for me but when I run out I am going to try the Cinch again to see how that will work with my body and personal constitution. 

I am currently at 136.6 pounds and am excited to drop the last 16 pounds!!!  When I started this mission my weight was at 150 pounds.  So, total I have lost 13.4 pounds, now to tackle the last 16.6!!!

Thank You for visiting my blog!
Cheers,
Kelly Lynch Ring