As promised:

Nekkid weight: 213.5.

Up a little, but still down some from when I first started the Krav Maga class. Maybe that initial drop to 212 was just water weight. I don't know. I'm going to keep working at it though.

Thank you guys for your support and positive thoughts. It means a lot to me.

I'm not dead!

Honestly, I was dreading my workout class today. I said many little prayers today, asking God to just let me make it through class. And he granted my request. I didn't have to step aside, panting uncontrollably. I made it through the class. Granted, today's class didn't seem as intense as last week's classes, but I still made it through. Small victory, but I'll take it.

Goal: In two weeks, I want to add the cardio class on top of the Krav class. It meets right after Krav, so that will really kick my butt.

I'll try to remember to weigh myself tomorrow morning. I haven't noticed any change in the fit of my clothes, so I don't think I've really lost any pounds. (So I've been avoiding the weigh-in.) Feel free to harp on me if I don't report my poundage by tomorrow night.

The Evils of Diet Coke

Every now and then, I hear something disparaging about artificial sweeteners. I never really paid it much heed because I practically live on the stuff and haven't really felt any ill effects, or so I thought. On average, I drink about 5 to 6 decaf Diet Cokes a day. Now that I'm making a real effort to try to get healthy, I thought that maybe I should read up on my addiction.

I found more than one article that links artifical sweetners to overeating, and not from small sources—WebMD and ABC News. Per WebMD (2004):

Researchers say artificial sweeteners may interfere with the body's natural ability to count calories based on a food's sweetness and make people prone to overindulging in other sweet foods and beverages.

So has this really effected me?

Maybe.

I'm hungry all the time. Typically, an hour after I've eaten a big meal, I feel like I could eat again. I find it hard to resist the urge to snack in the afternoons, especially. And having a snack doesn't really make the urge go away.

Time for an experiment: I'm going to wean myself off of Diet Coke as a staple in my diet. First, I'm going to limit myself to two: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Then I'm going to cut back to one a day, and, after that, to two a week. This is going to be a tough one for me: I've been drinking Diet Coke about 7 years ago, and then with gusto for about 6 years now. Strangely enough, I started drinking it about the time I started really gaining weight. I thought I was making a positive change in my diet that would help me stop the unwanted gain. Instead, I gained about 80 pounds over the past seven years. I'm not saying it was all due to Diet Coke—I had to do a lot of things wrong to get where I'm at, but I'm wondering if maybe it just made things a little harder on me. So, as I said a few lines before, I'm going to start weaning myself off of the stuff. It'll be interesting to see if it will make a difference in my appetite. I've already had one today. It's going to be hard to not raid the free drink fridge at work. I've decided that I'm going to wait until after my workout tonight to have my second one. It'll give me something to look forward to.

In the mean time, I will have to learn to make water—plain, ol' ice water— my friend.

In case you were wondering...

Yes, I did workout yesterday. I'm having a terrible time trying to get a side kick from a ground position right. I'm going to try to get to class early, and see if I can catch the instructor and talk him into giving me some pointers, just one-on-one.

He warned us that today, he's going to drill us. Big time. I have a feeling I'm not going to want to move after class. Luckily, there is no Krav class on Saturday, and I have other plans anyway.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing Saturday: attending a birthday party for my beautiful niece and then having a few people over for wine and munchies at our house later that night. I'll try not to hit the munchies too hard.

Next week, I will get back into my diet in a big way, now that my body's adjusted somewhat to having to exert itself. Hopefully, soon the pounds will start coming off.

Wussing out

I feel slightly defeated. I think my body needs a break: it's tired and achy, and it's making me crabby. I'm taking tonight off. I feel guilty about it, though. I'll still probably go for a short walk after sundown, but that's really not as hard a workout as I should be doing.

I hope that after a month of taking this class, I'll feel less sore. I'm looking forward to not feeling like a total wuss, but I guess it will be a while before I get to that point.

Wednesday: Break?

I went to Krav class again today (I guess, actually yesterday, seeing that it's after midnight). I'm pretty sore, but I'm wondering if I should go to class again Wednesday night, or take my break as planned. Hubby thinks I should take the night off to recouperate. I guess that I'm just worried that I'm going to miss something important in class, and that I will end up even more behind than I already am.

The good news is that at class, this time, I didn't run off to the bathroom for a near-vomiting experience. I did, however, have to pause several times while the class moved on, but I did start moving again.

Shoot. It's late. I guess I will just decide tomorrow based on how my muscles feel. If you've got an opinion, I'd like to hear it. I'm undecided at this juncture.

Quick update

Got my lazy butt to the Krav class tonight. Now it's sore. I plan to go again tomorrow, though. The instructor had me ask a couple of guys how their first week went, and I don't feel so bad now. One of the guys I talked to told me that he lost 30 pounds in two months doing this. And all the guys I talked to said that it gets much easier the second week. I'm looking forward to that.

Once I get to the point where this is not totally kicking my ass, I'll try to add the cardio kickboxing course on top of the Krav. We'll see how it goes. Maybe it's too early to be planning my future workout program, but I want to have a goal in mind.

Hubby and I went walking after supper tonight. Not a long walk—just over one mile at a leisurely pace. I just needed to stretch out my legs a bit after today's workout.

Hope you all have a good night.

Off the wagon and on again

Well, I kinda let things get out of control. Between mid-April and June, I had only 2 hikes: Red Rock Canyon near Vegas and Bastrop State Park here in Texas. The short walks were completely gone. Diet went completely to hell. About Wednesday or Thursday of last week, I weighed myself, and I came in at a whopping 215. Not so good.

So, desperation set in: I signed up to take a Krav Maga course at Windy Sports and Fitness. The course is evenings Monday through Friday. I'm going to try to go Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I started on Friday the 18th.

The course was intense, maybe too intense for me. There originally was an introduction to Krav on Saturdays, which I planned on attending, but they cancelled it. So they called me and told me that I could meet with the instructor for 20 minutes before class. He seemed nice. Tough, but nice. Then the actual course started. I had to leave at one point to run to the bathroom because I thought I was going to throw up. Seriously. I wretched a few times, and then got my fat ass back out into the class. The instructor smiled at me, asked if I was ready, gave me a quick hug, and then quickly went back to barking orders at the class (me included). I had to run off one other time, because I was getting dizzy, probably from shortness of breath. Then I caught my breath and got back in there.

And I'm going to go through it all again tonight.

I was sore all weekend. It probably wasn't the best way to recover, but Hubby and I went to a wine festival here in town. Lots of tastings. I had to keep telling Hubby to slow down as we wandered the festival because I was so stiff. Between my pathetic performance at the Krav class and the dehydration from the wine festival, my weight dropped to 212. And that was after a big lunch on Sunday.

God give me strength to just make it through the class tonight. I just don't want to leave the mat again to go running to the bathroom, fearing I'm going to spew. I'm only praying to hang in there. Maybe eventually I can hope to do a good job, but for now, I'll settle for just making it through the entire class without my brief "breaks".

I've signed up for a month at this gym. If I can handle it, I'll sign up for a longer membership. It's definitely more intense than a leisurely walk to the park and back. Hopefully, I can hang in there.