Hi

Starting blog again... uggg

"Rocky Theme"

Ok guys.... I just could NOT wait a week to share this news with you!!! (Imagine Rocky theme playing in the background- LOL)...

I JOGGED 2 MILES TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Now not all at once. What I did was walk 1 lap when I got to the gym and then started jogging and jogged a mile (10 laps).... THEN I walked two laps.... THEN I jogged another mile (10 laps) then I finished with walking three laps. I am so proud of myself!! I just know there is an athlete somewhere under all this weight.... *big smiles*

Love and Hugs,
me

This weeks wrapup

Hey guys,

Hope everyone had a good week. Mine was full of excitement. I JOGGED MY FIRST FULL MILE THIS WEEK!!! Is that not awesome??? Also on the excitement side I talked with some people (my uncle and PT) about the food stuff and I have started a new journey with food. I joined Livestrong.com which has really helped me track all the foods, nutritional information and exercise! I am in love with that site!! Now I am looking at all the Livestrong stuff like duffle bags and ballcaps saying I wanttt itttt... LOL My uncle is the one who suggested "logging" my food. Eddie tracks his food by his Iphone through some other site but I heard about Livestrong first through him and Jamie. It is a truly remarkable site. Not only can you get into "my plate" where you can log all that stuff but it has support groups for various needs. You can even take "dares"!!! I took a 200 situp dare - 200 in a row! And I accomplished it. I didn't find it much challenging however there is a 100 push up dare that I don't know if I am ready for!

The PT has me on "eating six times a day" diet plan. When he first presented it I was like NO WAY! But I have only been on it like 5 days and it is working out pretty good. I am having to change the food he has listed because who likes cottage cheese- I mean come on (giggles). I have changed my eggs to egg whites. I bought turkey sausage and you know what it is really good! In between meals I eat protein bars or protein shakes-- yogurt too. Fruit has entered the picture- I try to eat it every day. I am having trouble getting enough veggies in so I have to work on that. He says that my meal should contain 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat. I have great success with watching that and making sure it stays right around there- however I ate a banana the other day and it was nothing but carbs. I about had a heart attack because my pie chart didn't look the way its supposed to. When I ate the next time it evened out. You can really get obsessed with this stuff.

Ok- below are my workouts for the last week or so:

7/2/09

Track:

Laps 1-5 Walk fast

Laps 6-8 Jog

Laps 9-10 Walk

Laps 11-12 Walk half track/sprint half track <-- yeah- go me!

Laps 13-15 Walk straights and sprint ends
Laps 16-18 Jog
Laps 19-20 Walk

PT wanted to work on core exercises so we did the following:

Good Mornings 20lbs 2 sets of 12
Hyperflex 3 sets of 15
Lat Pulldowns 70lbs 3 sets of 12
Squats 2 sets of 20
Laterial Ab lifts 2 sets of 20
Bench Leg Lifes 2 sets of 15
Bosu Ball- Flat side 15 lb bar - curls while squatting 3 sets of 20
Bosu Ball- Flat side 15 lb bar- twists from side to front to side for 2 minutes


July 3, 2009

Walked six miles at Bernheim



July 4, 2009

Walked three miles at Bernheim



July 7, 2009

Track:

Lap 1 Walk
Lap 2 Jog
Lap 3 Walk
Laps 4-5 Jog
Laps 6-11 Walk 1/2 and Sprint 1/2 <--- WOW what is that!?

Lap 12 Walk Laps 13-17 Jog <--------------- HALF MILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laps 18-20 Walk

Leg Press 120 lbs 3 sets of 15

Leg Curls 40 lbs 3 sets of 15

Squats 3 sets of 15

Lunges 3 sets of 15

Leg Extension 40 lbs 3 sets of 15

7/9/2009

Track:

Lap 1 Walk

Laps 2-3 Jog

Laps 4-5 Walk 1/2 and Sprint 1/2

Lap 6 Walk

Laps 7-9 Walk 1/2 and Sprin 1/2

Laps 10-11 Walk

Laps 12-21 JOG <-------- ONE MILEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- GO ME GO ME GO ME

Laps 22-23 Walk

200 Ab Crunches <-- I beat the dareee.. I beat the dareeee :-p

Overhead Press 50 lbs 3 sets of 12

Internal Rotations 20 lbs 3 sets of 12

External Rotations 20 lbs 3 sets of 12

45 degree Donkey Calf Raises 90 lbs 3 sets of 15

Standing Calf Raises 50 lbs 3 sets of 15

Seated Calf Raises 45 lbs 3 sets of 12

July 11, 2009

Walked six miles at Bernheim

Now for my food calories! This is what I have logged on Livestrong since I started the new food plan (btw I have a free day each week that I can eat freely):

Anyone can view my food intake on Livestrong if they so desire. Thanks for all your support.

Love and Hugs,

me

Lots of Exercise.....

Hey Guys!!

This one is going to be a bit long because I didn’t post last week. First thing is first. I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Susan and John. Susan’s daddy did pass away a few days after my request. It broke my heart. He was such a wonderful giving person. May God send comfort to Susan and her family during this time.

Susan’s knee is healing and she still needs your prayers. John is going in for by-pass surgery tomorrow morning so please remember him as well. His wife, Mary, told me that he would get to go home quite soon after surgery. Weird- they just send you home and hope for the best anymore. I don’t think I would want out patient open heart surgery but what do I know?

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The gym has been tough this past week and half. I have been pushing the limits on working out. Which is a great thing I guess (my body would disagree-lol). I went to the gym Wednesday 6/17 and you have the update on my last blog. The rest of the workouts appear below and are for Saturday 6/20, Sunday 6/21, Monday 6/22, Saturday 6/27, Sunday 6/28 and Tuesday 6/30. I am doing better with getting to the gym more times per week this week. After last Monday’s PT appointment I didn’t go back until Saturday. I need to work more in the week. I would like to go on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I have school on campus this quarter so Monday’s are out. In theory this should be how I do the workouts because he has the schedule as: Day 1: Chest/triceps/abs/cardio, Day 2: Shoulders/calves/abs/cardio, Day 3: Off, Day 4: Back/biceps/abs/cardio, Day 5: Legs/abs/cardio, Day 6: Off and Day 7: Off.

One of the toughest parts of this transition right now is that he said any machines for cardio is off limits for the next two weeks. He wants me on the track. We have a track in the gym that is 1/10th of a mile around. So he wants me walking, jogging and sprinting the track. Specifically he wants me to walk and jog 5 laps- walk, jog, walk, jog, and walk; then he wants me to sprint the ends of the track and walk the straights for five laps; and then walk and jog 5 laps. He said he will increase the laps and pattern as time goes. Now I have to tell you this news worried me. When I first started the gym in January I couldn’t walk around the track for a mile without being out of breath let alone jog! Over time I found that I could jog one time around the track- with a little difficulty. But to do what he was assigning????? UGGGG But I think you will see when I list my exercises below that I was ok with everything. I still struggle but I am doing it :-).

So here it is:

Saturday 6/20/2009

Walked at Bernheim- 6 Miles and took 2 ½ hours. Then I went to the Gym and did the following:

30 minutes on Elliptical- Weight Loss Program for 2.01 miles

100 Ab Crunches

Overhead Shoulder Press – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Side Deltoid Raises/Lateral Raises – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Front Deltoid Raises (fly) – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Front Deltoid Raises (rear) – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Standing Calf Raises – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 15
Seated Calf Raises (didn’t know what machine it was so I did the leg press on toes) – 83 lbs, 3 sets of 15

Sunday 6/21/09

Walked at Berheim – 3 miles. Then went to the gym and did the following:

30 minutes on Elliptical – Weight Loss Program for 2.01 miles

100 Ab Crunches

Leg Press – 120 lbs, 3 sets of 15
Leg Curls – 40 lbs, 3 sets of 15
Squats – 3 sets of 15
Lunges – 3 sets of 15
Leg Extension – 40 lbs, 3 sets of 12

Monday 6/22/09

30 minutes on Elliptical – Weight Loss Program for 2.01 miles

Bend-Overs/Good Mornings – 20 lbs each hand, 2 sets of 12
Bent Over Row – 20 lbs each hand, 2 sets of 12
Seated Cable Row – 70 lbs, 2 sets of 12
Lat Pulldowns – 70 lbs, 2 sets of 12
Hyperflex (angled bench you lay over then bend, lift and lower your upper body) 2 sets 12
Preacher Curls – 50 lbs, 2 sets of 12
Bosu Squats (full ball against wall) – 2 sets of 12
Alternating Step Ups (step up on a metal box and throw other leg back) – 2 sets of 12
Dumbbell Alternating Curls (front and back) – 10 lbs, 2 sets of 12 each exercise

Did 10 laps on the track – 5 laps: walk, jog, walk, jog, walk; 5 laps: walk straights/sprint (run) ends

Saturday 6/27/09

Walked Bermheim – 3 miles. Then went to gym and did the following

100 Ab Crunches

Bend-Overs/Good Mornings – 20 lbs each hand, 2 sets of 12
Bent Over Row – 20 lbs each hand, 2 sets of 12
Seated Cable Row – 70 lbs, 2 sets of 12
Lat Pulldowns – 70 lbs, 2 sets of 12
Hyperflex (angled bench you lay over then bend, lift and lower your upper body) 2 sets 12
Preacher Curls – 50 lbs, 2 sets of 12
Bosu Squats (full ball against wall) – 2 sets of 12
Alternating Step Ups (step up on a metal box and throw other leg back) – 2 sets of 12
Dumbbell Alternating Curls (front and back) – 10 lbs, 2 sets of 12 each exercise

Sunday 6/28/09

15 laps on the track – 5 laps: Walk, jog, walk, jog, walk; 5 laps: Walk straights/sprint (run) ends; 5 laps: walk, jog, walk, jog, walk ( this was difficult for me to do, legs kept cramping up and couldn’t get my breathing right)

100 Ab Crunches on the machine

Techno Gym Chest Press – 65 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Dumbbell Flies – 15 lbs each hand, 3 sets of 12
Bosu Squat, Curl, Press – 10 lbs, 3 sets of 12

Jump n Jacks – 4 sets of 25

Cable Pressdown – Freemonton Weight Machine – 20 lbs each hand, 3 sets of 12

HERE COMES THE HARD PART: I did 2 sets of 25 ab crunches on the ball. Then I did the Bosu Push-- that is that awful thing where you push the half ball across the floor- ugg. Did three laps of that and then I did another 25 ab crunches on the ball. Did another three laps of the Bosu Push and then did a set of 25 boxer ab rotations (that is where you lay on the ball and rotate your upper body in a circle- to the side then to the knees then to the other side and then back- I don’t know how else to describe it – giggles). Then I did another three laps of the Bosu Push and another set of 25 boxer ab rotations.

I didn’t do the Relays but there was just no way I could. I was wiped out from the Bosu Push and laps! So I left a little disappointed in myself. :-( I soon go through it though and was ok….

Tuesday 6/30/2009

Now for yesterday!! LOL For all of you that skipped to the end I hope you get this workout because I felt awesome after (winks).

Track – 22 laps, started at 6:22 and finished at 7:08

Lap 1- Walk
Lap 2- Walk
Lap 3 to 6- Walk fast
Lap 7- Jog
Lap 8- Walk
Lap 9- Jog
Lap 10 and 11- Walk
Lap 12 through 16- Walked straights and ran ends of track
Lap 17- Walk
Lap 18- Jog
Lap 19- Walk
Lap 20 ANDDDD 21 I jogged --- TWO WHOLE LAPS YAAAAAA can you believe it?
Lap 22- Walked slow for cool down

Overhead Press – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Side Deltoid Raise – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Front Deltoid Raises (fly) – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Front Deltoid Raises (rear) – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 12
Internal Rotations – 20 lbs, 3 sets of 12
External Rotations – 20 lbs, 3 sets of 12
45 degree Donkey calf raises – 90 lbs, 3 sets of 15
Standing Calf Raises – 50 lbs, 3 sets of 15
Seated Calf Raises – 45 lbs, 3 sets of 12 (very hard)- this is where you sit down and you have the pads on your knees and you put your toes on a platform below, knees bent at 90 degrees, and you raise and lower weights up and down.

I finished up the workout with 2 sets of 25 ab crunches on the machine with 10 lb weights each side and then I did 2 sets of 25 boxer ab rotations on the ball.

I still can’t believe I jogged 2 laps around the gym. I am getting ready to head there now. Wonder if I can repeat it tonight?? My foot is sore on my heel again. So I dunno- but that never stops me from trying. Knowing that I might have to post a noooooooooooo I didn’t do ittttt may help a little. But just a little LOL :-).

Talk with you guys soon! Love and Hugs,
Christy

Wednesday PT Time... uggg

Hey guys!!!

I have another prayer request. My wonderful friend, Susan, from Rhode Island just had surgery on her knee. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as well as her father. He had a stroke and is in the hospital. This was very sad news for me to hear as I have a great deal of respect and fondness for him. It just breaks my heart to hear it. He is such a kind and wonderful person- Susan takes after him! Thank you for keeping them and John in your thoughts and prayers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think my PT is tryin to kill me- of course I am joking but my goodness!!! What a workout. To look at it on paper you would think awww that’s NOTHING… you big wuss. But trust me it was tough. When we first started talking about the gym and how often I wanted to go I told him 3 days a week… he said great. I was like cool. So I walk in last night and he hands me a workout schedule with FOUR days at the gym- uggg. Along with the workout he wants me to do 45 minutes of cardio, ab work and start conditioning for the Marathon. I don’t know if I can do this for real but I will give it my best shot.

Exercise Wednesday:

Elliptical – 25 minutes on weight loss program (increased speed because of time crunch)

PT Workout:

Techno Gym Press- 65 lbs 3 sets of 10

Dumbbell flies- 20 lbs 3 sets of 10

~~Bosu Squat, Curl, Press- 10 lb weights in each hand, balance on the flat side of the Bosu ball and squat, raise the weights in to a curl and then lift them high over your head (ug) THEN
~~Relays- Run a 10 lb weight a given length, switch out weight with another 10 lb weight, run back and do it over again six times (3 up, 3 down)
Repeat the above 2 more times….. and have heart failure!

Kickbacks- 10 lbs 2 sets of 10 and in between each set do 25 crunches

Bosu Ball Push- Craziest thing I have ever done. Put the Bosu ball down on the floor flat side down. Bend over and put your hands on the ball and stretch forward. Then run with the flippin thing for a specified length and then back to start- repeat 2 more times and repeat above instructions for heart failure (lol)

See I told you that it doesn’t look like much! I was sweating in places I didn’t know you could sweat. I just can’t wait until I try to do the Hyperflex (sarcastic) – Last time I had anything hyper was a hyperextension of my calf muscle and it was NOT fun! So that exercise does not sound fun or safe for that matter.

Food could have, as always, been better. I don’t know what it is gonna take to get me on the right track with food. It is very hard mentally and emotionally. Everything is bad for you, it’s confusing and it will get you down real quick.

Food:

Breakfast- 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast- water to drink

Snack- nothing
Water

Lunch- Walked to Lonnie’s and had a baby beef sandwich, fries and pink lemonade to drink then walked back to work.

Supper- White Castles – 6 plain, Fries and Big Red to drink

Snack at night- nothing

Need to eat snacks to keep metabolism going and to keep me from being so hungry. Need to also try to eat before gym (protein and carb) and after (protein) to help build muscle as I lose fat… or that is what they say anyway- grins.

Ok.. closing for now. Love you guys!

Love and Hugs,Christy

Sunday, Monday & Tuesday

Hey guys! Below you will find all three days work and such. I would like for everyone in my little circle to keep a wonderful friend of mine in their thoughts and prayers please. His name is John and he has to have a quadruple bypass sometime soon. He was displaying no symptoms and was scheduled to have back surgery. The Anesthesiologist, though horrible in her approach, cancelled the surgery because of the results of a stress test conducted in January. They promptly did a heart cath and found that he would have to have surgery and there is also something in his kidneys- creotin?- or something that will have to be cleared before he can have the bypass. He is very sick and no one knew including him. Thank you for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers- Love and Hugs all around.

Sunday:

Exercise: Walked 3 ½ miles at Bernheim

Food:
Peanut butter sandwich for breakfast with ½ banana and water

Snack- Trail mix and water
Water = 64 oz by lunch

Lunch: Marks Feed Store: ½ Roasted Chicken, BBQ sandwich, potato salad and water

Supper: Bowl of Chili, shredded cheese, oyster crackers and a diet soda


Monday:

Exercise: Walked 2 ½ miles at work (once to get mail, once to take mail and once to Starbucks and to bank). Didn’t get to go to gym today because car was broke down and my sis and bro had to take me home- thank God for their help.

Food:

Breakfast- 2 pieces of whole wheat double fiber bread and three eggs, water to drink

Snack- Trail mix and 1 peanut MM, water

Lunch- Wendy’s: Double burger ketchup only, baked potato, shredded cheese (2%), butter on potato and water to drink

Supper- Pizza at Bearnos and diet soda


Today- Tuesday

Exercise:
Walked to bank and half way to the post office before it came a downpour. Then we walked to lunch and to the pie kitchen for the cone and then back to work. Total miles today were over 2 but not exactly 3.

Went to gym and did the following exercises:

Treadmill- 5 minutes on 10 incline at 2.0 mph; 5 min on 5 incline at 2.5 mph; 5 min on 1 incline at 2.5 mph

Elliptical- 30 minutes on the weight loss program settings (4 and 1; 10 and 8)

Workout station- did the following:
25 Bench Squats
25 Curles on Bosu Ball w/weighted bar
25 Squats on Bosu Ball
2 sets of 15 bending with 25 lb weight
4 sets of 10 on the V-Crunch Lifts from Precor (www.precor.com to see it) This is the same thing I said were lateral lifts for Saturday

Lower Body today!! Did the following:

Three machines on the back wall of gym they can’t remember the names but I will try to describe them:
1. The machine that you put your shoulders under the pads and lift up with your legs (works calf muscle)- did on 70 lbs – 2 sets of 15
2. The Glute machine- you lay on your tummy and put your foot on the bar and push straight out with your foot- did 70 lbs – 2 sets of 15
3. Did the hip adductor and hip inductor – or whatever it is- lol.. all I know is you have the pads on the inside of your thighs for one set and you push in … then the next set you have the pads on the outside of your thighs and you push out- did 70 lbs – 2 sets of 15

Then I did the Hoist Leg Press because the other one was taken ( I also skipped two of the machines on back wall because they were being used by a group taking turns). I did the leg press on 83 lbs- level 4- did 3 sets of 15 one set was just on toes.

Tonight was a good workout! Worked up a good sweat J


Food:

Breakfast- 2 slices of whole wheat double fiber bread, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, banana and water to drink

Snack- trail mix and water

Lunch- Japanese – Salad with ginger dressing, Fried Rice, and steak with stir fried veggies- yumm, water to drink and a ½ of an orange they gave us for desert

Snack- Single dip cone of ice cream

Supper- Chili, oyster crackers, double hamburger plain, cole slaw and diet soda to drink


Good day over all.. still need to work on food issues!

Love and hugs everyone,

Christy

HMM

Hey guys,

Weighed this morning and was only down point 2 lbs... 2/10ths of a lb. I am weighing in the morning because that is when I usually weigh- Sunday morning. But I wanted to try to start my weeks on Sunday- but in actuality I suppose I should be weighing and taking measurements on that day? Now I am confused.. that is NOT hard.. LMAO. Well I will just post what was going on in my world today and we will worry about the rest tomorrow.

Exercise:

This was a rest day really. The only exercise I got was out shopping with my sis.

Food:

Food was horrible today. I need to work hard for a better food plan for the weekends.

Breakfast: Hardees- Bacon, Egg and Cheese- Diet soda

Snack: Pumpkin seeds, Cashews and sunflower seeds- Strawberry Frap

Water (16 oz)

Lunch: ½ banana, rotisserie chicken- Diet Big Red

Supper: 2 small pork chops fried, 2 teaspoons of pinto beans (they were nasty), ½ piece of cornbread with butter, blackberry cobbler- Diet Coke

Snack: Steven had to bring me home an apple empanada – at least it was fruit. I love you my man *smiles*. – Water

And I am very hungry at 11:24 at night because supper didn’t have enough protein in it, nor did my snack! UGG.

Tomorrow is a new day! Opportunities abound.

Love and Hugs everyone,
Christy

Exercise today without PT....

Hey guys,Today was my first gym exercise without Russ. It went pretty well. I was able to do the stuff I needed to do but it was extremely difficult to keep going. I wanted to quit so many times. I felt motivated to do the elliptical but after that it was a chore to keep going. But I did it. Hopefully my attitude about it changes some. I want to love what I am doing. It is just so hard right now that I lose motivation easy. It was much easier when a coach is telling you what you have to do- you just do it. It’s harder to keep yourself honest when you are by yourself … LOL. I don’t know if I wrote it in the other posts but on days that I don't workout without Russ he told me to do Cardio, part of our workout and then upper body one day- the other day I do Cardio, part of our workout and then lower body. I did upper body today. This is what I did:

Cardio:
Elliptical – 35 minutes on weight loss program, went 2.09 miles

“Dynamic” Workout:

I created a little workout station combining all the tools I needed to do the workout he had me do the other day and did the following:

25- Bench Squats
15- 25lb weight waist bends
30 Seconds shuffle step aerobics platform
25- Squats w/body bar (green- 15lbs)
25- Squatting arm curls on Bosu Ball (half ball/half platform)
20- Ab/Crunch- leg lifts on the exercise platform station from hell

After that was over- I repeated the whole workout. So that is half of what he had me do the other day.

Upper Body Workout:

Hoist Machines:

Seated Dip- Level 4 (75lbs)- 2 sets of 15 (Charlie horse in arm)
Bicep Curl- Level 4 (54lbs)- 2 sets of 15
Shoulder Press- Level 4 (62 lbs)- 2 sets of 15
Chest Press- Level 3 (75 lbs)- 2 sets of 15
Mid Row- Level 4 (102 lbs)- 2 sets of 15 (could go higher weight)
Lat Pull Down- Level 4 (72 lbs)- 2 sets of 15

The machines were hard except for the mid row. I am not sure what weight I am supposed to have but I will ask Russ on Wednesday.

Food for today:

Breakfast: Strawberry Frap

Snack: Handful of sunflower kernels on the way to gym and a full 16 oz of water

GYM: 2- 16 oz of water

After gym on way home: about ¼ cup of sunflower kernels- water

Lunch: Marks Feedstore- Had half of chicken (roasted) and about 3 oz of pulled pork, a hamburger bun and about 1½ cups of potato salad (it had eggs in it as well/protein), Diet soda

Supper: ½ bowl of chili, shredded cheese and two bags of oyster crackers, Diet Big Red

After supper water intake: on second 16 oz of water

Pretty good day! Love and Hugs everyone and thanks for all the support you guys have been giving- It helps SO much!!!

Food and Exercise today

Hey guys- two posts today :-). Remember if you want out of my little loop just let me know- it wont hurt my feelings at all. But I will be posting a lot (hopefully) and keeping everyone informed of my progress. I am excited about all the changes (for now :-D).

Exercise:

Walked twice around the campus- Around the campus is 9/10ths of a mile so I walked almost two miles today.

Food:

Strawberry Frapp for breakfast (i found a recipe for these and might be able to make them healthier than starbucks- but they are full of good things regardless, dairy, fruit and antioxidents)

Snack: had a small square piece of pizza (meat and cheese- lite sauce- thin crust)- water to drink

Lunch: OMW.. I finally got my rotisserie chicken- My sis went in got it for me at Kroger. I am quite sure that if she wasnt pregnant and didnt understand the craving thing she may not of obliged me the favor ... LOL I had that and water to drink. YUM

Snack: Birthday cake- yeah yeah.. I know.. shoot me - water to drink

Supper: Went to Penn Station had a kids meal. That is a lite sandwich, 1/2 a small fry and a kids drink and a lollipop..... HEYYYY they didnt give me my lollipop!!!!!!! Anyway... I ate about 3/4 of the 1/2 small fry and I dont know what was wrong but only took 3 bites of the sandwich. Drank 2 glasses of diet soda though.

Snack: Havent had a snack yet-- but I might get one.

VIACTIV vitamin taken and bp med taken.

YAAAA.. Love and Hugs everyone.

Ok-- I am SO-- what is the word........

Hey guys!

Hey guys!

I finally did it. I went for it. I got a Personal Trainer (PT). I finally decided that I needed guidance and motivation for my workouts. I was getting all my information off the dang internet and you really don't know what is fact and what is someone’s opinion. The up and down weight loss is frustrating and motivation really suffers when the weight goes up. So I needed something. It took me a while to decide because it is very expensive- $100 a month for a year. Yes- there are two plans for lower amounts of money but they really didn't fit what I wanted to accomplish. One was $50 a month and it was once a week for a month then 11 months it was 1 time a month. The $75 a month was once a week for 2 months, twice a week for 3 months and then the rest was once a month. This plan is once a week for 5 months, twice a week for 5 months and then once a month for the last two. I felt I needed more than the other two plans gave. You can get more than what I get. I think $300 a month gets you three times a week for 5 months and so on. No way can I afford that. Russ is my PT so anytime I refer to Russ you will know who I am talking about.

Our first meeting was Saturday the 6th however we did no training that day. We went over all the exercises I have been doing and all the charts that I have shown you guys in the past. We also did measurements and a weigh in. He said I was very organized and determined. I about fell off the seat- me organized…. LMAO you guys KNOW better than that! We went over the long time goal I have of doing the Derby Marathon. He said he could get me there! Awesome.

So yesterday was my first “real” visit. I was to do cardio before I saw him. I got there too early because I had an hour before the session and I usually do ½ hour of cardio. So I got on the elliptical and did ½ hour on the weight loss program which does an incline of 4 on level 1 part of the time and then does an incline of 10 on level 8 part of the time. And I did it at a good pace. With ½ an hour left before the training I hit the track. I walked the length and then ran the end caps for ½ hour. He was watching me as he trained another person… I felt paranoid.. LOL. He told me in training that I was doing awesome on the track.

So our session- I had just done an hour of cardio.. right? So… our session. I still don’t know what the word is to describe it. Difficult comes to mind. I am so out of shape it is pathetic. How I could do an hour of cardio and not do what I am about to tell you we did is beyond me. This was the “dynamic” workout he had me do: 25 sitting squats (where you go down till your bottom almost touches the bench and then back up), then he gave me a 25 lb weight and told me to bend at the waist and touch the floor and then bring it back up- 15 times, next he got the step aerobics bench with 3 risers and had me do the shuffle step for 30 seconds- you straddle the bench and then step up with one foot then the other… then you step down with one foot then the other and repeat for 30 seconds… then you pass out. After that he handed me the weighted bar (I have no idea how much it weighed- it was not bad so probably 10 to 15 lbs) and had me squat and swing the bar above my head at the same time. I had to do 25 of those. After that we got the half ball and he had me stand on the flat side and balance myself (which I am accustomed to) and squat. While I was squatted (is that a word???) he handed me the weighted bar and told me to do 20 arm curls with it. Then he told me to get on this contraption- let me see if I can explain it so you get a picture of it in your head- upper body torture chamber device??? Probably not the right picture, huh? Well I found the correct name. It is a Vertical Leg Raise. Look it up. The only difference is mine has a bar underneath that you stand on and you raise it up with your legs while holding on for dear life with your upper body. So what you do is put your back flat against a platform, bend your arms at the elbow and put them on a pad on each side of you and hold on to the bars…. Support your weight and then lift your legs straight out in front of you. Yeah. 20 of those! I was about dead after that….. Then we repeated it three more times!!!!! With a two minute break in there somewhere that I don’t remember- I just remember him saying 45 seconds left of rest.

I was seriously thinking afterward can I really do a year of this stuff? What was I thinking? I am not in good enough shape for a PT! What is wrong with me!? And I am sore today- so I am still thinking all that LOL. But I am committed for a year now. I don’t think it will get easier and I don’t think- all joking aside, I want it to. The reason why I paid for a PT was to push me to my limits and give me the workout that will work for me. Now if I could just get this food thing worked out I may reach my goals. I have a year to get myself healthy- change my eating habits- change the way I think about activity and exercise- change my life! Wish me luck- or better yet- start the journey with me!!

Love and Hugs,
Christy

NEW GOAL

Hey guys,

Losing weight this summer got an extra bit of motivation. I have pledged with Feed America through Biggest Loser to lose 45 lbs over this Summer.

WISH ME LUCK,
Love and Hugs,
Christy

Wednesday :-D

Hey guys. The gym was good and eye opening for me on Wednesday. It seems that I had been holding myself back with my perception that I couldn't do some things that I could. This is what I did:

Bike- Random Hill program - 31.33 minutes, average RPMs = 89, average MPHs= 20.8, average Heart Rate= 131, 10.48 miles, Levels 7 to 16 (all but 2 of the hills were at level 16)

Elliptical- Weight Loss Program Interval- incline 4 level 1 and 10 incline level 8, 31 minutes, 2.05 miles.

10 and half miles on the bike in 31 minutes that was amazing.

Love and Hugs,
me

Monday-Tuesday and Wednesday

Hey guys- here is the run down for the last three days.

Monday's Exercises

Went bike riding for 6 miles in half hour - level 4 - 9. I did 12 minutes on 9 then droppped to 4 for 8 minutes then I went back up to 9 for the rest.

I jogged (on the elliptical) for 2 miles on incline 5. I did that in half hour which means I went a mile in 15 minutes. I was so proud of myself- I haven't done that since I was a kid.

I did 4 sets of 15 on the Ab Solo. That thing is yucky!


Tuesday

Went over Stevens moms for dinner and then watched Biggest Loser. Spent the whole time bawling. sniff sniff... Good Luck Kristin!


Wednesday

Had study group at school about partnered project. Met with my instructor. Came home and chilled for once. Back to the gym tomorrow!

Love and Hugs,
me

Two days without gym was not good

I am really not sure how I should be doing my workouts because I am trying to do it on my own. I am seriously thinking of getting a personal trainer after vacation this year. I will have to talk it over with Steven and review our budget to see if I can afford it. We will be paying off two loans in about five months. One is $182.00 a month and it will be paid off in 3 months. One is for $115 and it will be paid off in 5 months. After the 5 months I want to get a loan to fix the kitchen. I figure the payments will be around $200 a month and so that leaves $97 that we are normally paying out that I could get a trainer with. But both of our vehicles are getting older and I don't want to put us in a position where we can't afford to get another one if we had to. Sooo I don't know. I have a lot to think about. So as I was saying... not knowing what my workout is supposed to look like I kicked it three days in a row last week. I did 1 hour and 1/2 cardio. Today, after two days off, it was difficult for me to do an hour of cardio. Stephanie is doing much better with the cardio than I am. Her treadmill and bike speeds are phenomenal. She seems to be able to endure more than me too. She can go longer and faster at higher levels than I can. I am very proud of her for that. In the meantime I am struggling to keep up and I don't know why. Weigh in was yesterday and I did terrible. I gained two pounds after busting my butt three days last week! I also gained a lot of my inches back from last weeks weigh in loss. The only thing I lost in was my calves which should have gained muscle but didn't. It is "that time of the month" so maybe that caused the weight and inches gain. I do feel bloated but my ankles don't appear to be retaining water. I did a little research and found that a woman can and usually does gain water weight before and during their periods- up to five lbs- but quickly lose it during and after their periods. So maybe that is a little of my problem. Another problem is that I really haven't changed my eating habits. Yes- I am aware of what I eat more. I know I shouldn't have a large fry at Arbys... but I do anyway. It's sad that you can sit there and eat something thinking the whole time I shouldn't be having this but you do it anyway. I think my food is a major obstacle right now. I don't know how to eat any other way than what I am. I get tired of sandwiches and not having- what I perceive to be- a complete meal. Our lunches at work are elaborate and shouldn't be. Why do I need a 4 course meal for lunch? We have a meat, potatoes and peas or green beans, corn, beans.... so on so forth. It's just too much. That's something I am going to have to work on. Well anyway- here is my "beginning exercise routine". This starts the beginning of our week. I wanted to start of strong but it wasn't as much as I did last week- I just didn't have the energy. Steven coached me today and that was great- I would have done less if he wasn't there because my head was just elsewhere.

WORKOUT:

TREADMILL--

15 minute Weight Loss Program- set program for HR between 97 resting and 139 exercise: Warm-up for two minutes at 1.0
Workout went from 5 to 10 incline and 1 to 3.5 mph- the machine adjusted according to HR setting- if my heart rate was too low the machine would automatically incline and increase speed- if it was too high it would do the opposite.

Then I did 15 minutes manually.
I manually changed incline from 1 to 10 - never had 0 incline
Manually adjusted speeds from 3 to 5.1
Did 5.1 for 45 seconds- pants started falling down... almost tripped- looking back it was quite comical- however I about passed out. I may have made it a full minute if my pants would have stayed put.
Then I did a cool down for three minutes at 1.5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recumbent BIKE:

I did 20 minutes manually on the bike between levels 4 and 9 at an average of 78 mph. During this time I did the following speeds in succession so that I could exceed what Stephanie did on our little competition!:
168 rpms for 10 seconds
158 rpms for 3 seconds
165 rpms for 5 seconds

phew...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MACHINES:

Total AB:
15 reps at 50 lbs
15 reps at 60 lbs
10 reps at 80 lbs
10 reps at 80 lbs
5 reps at 80 lbs holding at each rep for 10 seconds

Lower Back:
15 reps at 70 lbs
10 reps at 70 lbs
5 reps at 70 lbs holding at each rep for 10 seconds

HOIST- Seated Dip:
15 reps at 91 lbs slow (was shaking- too much weight I think)

HOIST- Back:
40 reps at 85 lbs

HOIST- Leg Press:
40 reps center at 83 lbs
20 reps ankle at 83 lbs

AB Solo:
4 minutes with two stops- one light and one heavy ball

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For information on the HOIST machines go to http://www.hoistfitness.com/. Ok that was my workout. I am going to do homework now. Love and Hugs all around,

Love,
me

OMW

Yes that about covers it (OMW) ... Tuesday and Today at the gym were something else! My legs are killing me.. HONEST! I am doing NOTHING but cardio this week... trying to burn as many calories as I can and building up my endurance. My last chance workout will include more than cardio. Here are my workouts:

Tuesday:

BIKE:
5 min at level 10-- between 14 and 21.59 mph Could not keep a constant speed.
Then I did a 7 min fitness test. Avg RPM was 67 (had to keep at 6o and it kept telling me to pedal slower) was at level 9. Avg HR was 121 and it said I was 13% fit- whatever that means.
Then I did 20 minutes at level 9 at the following speeds:
1.5 Min at 21.97 mph HR was 160
15 Min at 10-15 mph HR was 118
2.0 Min at 20.2 - 21.97 HR was 155
1.5 Min at 8.7 to 9.2 (Cool down)

OK so now I am about ready to pass out right? To give you a little reasoning behind my madness.... We (Stephanie and I) are having a biggest loser contest. Which I have said before... but we are also having competitions on certain machines. She did 21.4 MPH for two minutes Monday. I did not win!!! I could not keep it there at ALL! I could get there but the MPH kept jumping around sporadically!

So after I steadied myself I went for the elliptical - I did 30 minutes on a #5 incline and average 68 RPM (resolutions per minute). OK.... 30 minutes on something that when I first started couldn't do even 5 minutes on. I am loving my new fit level! I want to be running on that thing SOON!

Now Monday wasn't a planned session at the gym- I just needed to get some stuff off my mind. Tuesday WAS planned but I had to get out of there to watch Biggest Loser on TV.. the ONLY show that I watch. So I was out of there after an hour and half-- and was still late.

_____________________________

Today:

OK.. now you are going to think I am really insane.. buttttt... I just HAD to see how fast I could get that bike! So I scooted up in the seat all big and tall .. almost like a traditional bike where your feet are below you instead of out in front of you.... but they were still out there.. just more straight... and I peddled with ALL my strength. The numbers kept climbing and climbing and I finally topped out at 161 RPM.... CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? Anyway.. the bike don't like getting up that fast.. it was movin! LOL Neither do I.. my legs are hurting bad tonight. But Stephanie and I decided to see who could go the greatest distance in a certain amount of time. Today my average was 1 mile in four minutes. I did the machine at level 4-9 for 40 minutes so I went 10 miles according to my average mile/minute calculation. Now she will have to beat my 1 mile in four minute AVERAGE tomorrow.... which means she will have to do a mile every four minutes she rides the bike! Beat that Stephanie!!!!! ha ha - remember to get your average distance vs minutes.

After 40 minutes of torture (lol) I went to the treadmill. I put it on 5 incline and started going to town. I had to beat Stephanie's 1.5 miles in 30 minutes. WELLLLLL she beat me on that one. I don't care too much for the treadmill. I would rather do the elliptical. I did 1.23 miles in 30 minutes. Which means she walked faster than I did... but I bet she had her incline down.. LMAO!! Yeah.. we will blame it on that. I had to walk up hill both ways in a blizzard-- barefoot even :-p .......

After that I went to the elliptical and did a 1/3 of a mile in five minutes. I couldn't do much on the elliptical after the above.. my muscles were burning. Some of them were even screaming at me!

Then I finished up with about 4 minutes of crunches on the exercise ball. My abs are sore too now. I know.....complain complain complain... that's all I do. Giggles.

Anyway.. great workout. I will be glad when I can RUN a mile and a half... or at least jog :-)

LOVE AND HUGS.. thanks for all your support!
Love,
Me

Weigh in and today

I did my weigh in Saturday. My scale broke so I had to use the other one and it showed a 2 lb gain! So I will go with that. I lost 7 more inches! I also worked my butt off at the gym Saturday. I did an hour and 48 minutes of cardio. 38 min on bike; 35 min on treadmill and 35 min on elliptical!

Today I went to the gym because I needed to get out some frustration. I did 32 minutes on the bike at level 9. Then I went to the elliptical and got into a zone and did 40 minutes on it on an incline of 5 and heart rate at 151. I literally ran on the thing. I would go frontwards for a while and then backwards for a while.. I kept switching on and off like that. I wasn't paying any attention to the time because I was watching a movie. Sweat was pouring off me-- running down my face. I felt like an athlete. I was so proud of myself when I finished the workout. Thank God for the movie room because if it is an action movie I can focus on that and not on the workout. I was lost in it and didn't realize how fast I was going on the machine! It helps! All I need is a backer!

Love and Hugs,
Me

Thursdays Workout

Hey guys....

Yesterday my workout was awesome (for me). I went to the movie room and started on the Ski machine. I did 5 minutes on that then I went to the bike. I did 24 minutes on the bike (4 min was cool down) on level 8. Ten of those minutes were at level 10. After that I went to the Elliptical. I did 22 minutes on it (2 min cool down) on level 2! Five of those minutes were at level 5! The ARC machine really has helped me build up enough endurance to go longer on the other machines. I am looking forward to tomorrows workout. Although I don't think I am doing too good on this weeks competition I am getting back into the swing of things.

Love and Hugs,
Me

Started Back!

I have been going to the gym regularly but not posting and really not paying any attention to the details. I had lost a little fire. The competition between me and Stephanie will do me good. I went to the gym today after fighting with myself whether to go or not. I was late getting out of work and I just didn't feel like it ... but I went. I didn't stay as long as I wanted because I had to get food and get back home in enough time to see Biggest Loser! LOL. I did strictly cardio today. I did 20 minutes on the ARC machine which is like the Elliptical only it is designed to burn more calories. I did the fat burning session and it was harder than what I am use to. After my usual 15 minutes on it my heart rate started raising fast. I got up to 148 on my heart rate. I did a steady pace throughout the exercise which is why I think it did that. I usually slow down a lot during it and then go real fast.. then slow.. then fast. This time I did what the machine had me do and it was a tougher workout. Plus I am use to 15 and I did 20. After that I did 5 minutes on the dreaded stair master. And I did the fat burner workout on that. I originally set it for 10 minutes but the fat burning workout kicked my butt!!! After that I did 1000 meters on the rowing machine. It took me 6 minutes and 21 seconds- which is why Stephanie beat me on the challenge last time she was here. :-) Then I got my stuff and went to eat. I missed 12 minutes of Biggest Loser.... but I got to see most of it. Till next time.

Love and HUGGSSS,
me

I need...

I need to get back to this. Stephanie and I are doing a Biggest Loser contest so I will be posting regularly. :-) Sorry for not keeping you guys updated!

Love and Hugs,
Christy

Good Grief

OK... this nutrition thing is really annoying. I mean 1 item at Moe's has 1/2 the daily allowance for sodium!!!!!! I really shouldn't be eating out but I haven't been to the grocery yet. I am trying to be easy on myself because at least I AM looking at what I am eating. Before I would go to eat and not care. But I compared Moe's with Taco Bell and Moe's is fresher, no trans fat and less saturated fat than Taco Bell. I got the junior size instead of the regular size. So - I feel I am eating healthier than I WAS... but not as healthy as I COULD- if that makes any sense.

I had a peanut butter sandwich this morning which consisted of 2 slices of Natures Own Double the Fiber Whole Grain bread and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. Bread had 100 calories, 1 gram of fat (0 saturated; 0 trans- all fat grams from good fats), 270 mg soduim, 26 carbs of net 10 grams of dietary fiber (4 soluble; 6 insoluble), less than 1 g of sugar and 6 g of protein. Peanut Butter had- 95 calories, 8 grams of fat (1.5 grams saturated and 0 trans), 75 g of sodium, 3.5 g of carbs net of 1 g of fiber and 1.5 g sugar, and 3.5 g of protein.

I am having a Joey Junior Burrito consisting of Grilled Chicken, Pinto Beans, Rice, Cheese, Lettuce and Pico de Gallo. It has 403 Calories, 14 grams of fat (no trans fats and only 5.3g of Saturated fat- the rest are the good fats your body needs- this is compared with 8 grams of saturated fat and .5 grams of trans fat at Taco Bell), 1200 mg of SODIUM!!!!!, 48 carbs - (6 of net fiber and only 3 g of sugar from carb), 22 g of Protein and various vitamins and minerals that they listed on their nutritional fact sheet.

Write more later.

Mid-Term Grade :-)

Hey guys,

Got my midterm grade back and thought I would share. Apparently I am doing SOMETHING right.. LOL! The grade is at the bottom if you dont want to read my ramblings. :-) Love you guys.



Leadership Self-Reflection
Christy Ward

Ward, Christy L
2/15/2009


Abstract: This purpose of this paper is to identify my personal strengths and areas for growth or study. I will be using the Keirsey Style Sorter (David Keirsey, Marilyn Bates- Please Understand Me) and two self-assessment tools taken from a Leadership textbook (Lusseir/Achua- Leadership: Theory, Application & Skill Development). In order to understand where the information of my strengths and growth areas originated I will first explain my personality type, according to the Keirsey Style Sorter, and the results of the two self assessments taken from the textbook. I will then identify personal strengths and growth areas. After these have been identified I will then give examples of how these strengths and growth areas help me achieve or hinder my work in my current job. Finally, I will explain the benefits of understanding other personality styles and how understanding these styles would help in a leadership role.


What does that mean?
ENFP! According to the Keirsey Style Sorter by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates that is my personality type. I scored the same on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test that I took three years ago. In order to understand my strengths and growth areas and from where I received such data you must first understand what the letters ENFP are and why they are indicators that lead to strengths and growth areas. In this section I will explain what they mean and identify general strengths and growth areas for persons of similar styles. I will then focus my attention to my leadership style and my normative leadership style. The results of these two self-assessments will come from Lusseir/Achua Leadership text. Finally, I will combine the measurements and form personal strengths and growth areas about myself.

The Keirsey Style Sorter is very similar to the Myers-Briggs but a much shorter version. The results were the same for both assessments. As stated my results indicated that I am an ENFP. Keirsey/Bates explains that there are four pairs of preferences (what I described as letters). They are E- Extraversion and I- Introversion, S-Sensation and N-Intuition, F-Feeling and T-Thinking, and finally P-Perceiving and J-Judging. (Keirsey/Bates, 1984)

Given the meaning of the letters we can see that my preferences are toward E which means extraversion, N which means intuition, F which means feeling and P which means perceiving. There are cases, which I will not go into detail about, where the subject indicates no clear preference to either indicator. In this situation Keirsey/Bates afford them an X in place of the letter which indicates that the subject could use either preference given the situation. I had no such indication as mine were clearly one way or the other.

According to Keirsey/Bates extraverts need sociability and introverts are territorial. Thus extraverts are pumped up when they are around people and get lonely when they are not. Conversely, introverts may want or not care to be around people but it drains them. They need their space and alone time. (Keirsey/Bates, 1984) The E fits me well. I thrive on being around people. I can not be alone for long before I feel lost and alone. This does not mean that I am never comfortable being alone. There are times when it is quite acceptable for me to be alone. Some of those times are when I need to reflect or when I am cleaning. The latter may sound funny, but given that I am sociable, if someone was with me during that time I would be socializing not cleaning.

When studying the N and S of the equation I found that I show the same preference as only 25 percent of the population. Keirsey and Bates state that seventy-five percent of the general population prefers sensation. The S person is fact driven and practical where the N person is driven by “metaphor and imagery”. (Keirsey/Bates, 1984) This also describes me. I feel restrained and bogged down when given a bunch of facts. I look more toward what could be than what is the actual. This, as I will explain later, can be taxing for the sensible who deals with facts. Most of the time I have a hard time with seeing things black or white- I am forever seeing everything else- the “gray” areas.

“More women than men (6 out of 10) report that they prefer deciding on the basis of personal impact {F}… more men than women (6 out of 10) report that they prefer to make decision on the basis of principles, that is, logically and objectively {T}”. Keirsey/Bates state that this is really not a good indicator of what the preference is going to be, however, it is the only one of the preferences that shows a gender difference. (Keirsey/Bates, 1984) I found this section to be curiously interesting! Stereotypically women ARE more feeling oriented than men. However, that trend is changing and we can see this by Keirsey/Bates statistical information. I can safely say that I definitely fit the F profile. My decisions are emotionally and not logically driven most of the time which would also compliment my intuitive side.

As I stated above, I would prefer to look at what could be instead of what is, which is somewhat explained my preference to the perceiving type. If I had the J or judging preference I would want things settled. However, having the perceiving preference I like to leave my options open because what “could be”. Keirsy/Bates state that Js will set deadlines and keep them/take them seriously but Ps don’t put much value in a deadline. (Keirsey/Bates, 1984) I am a procrastinator; in fact, I feel that I am the definition of said person. This particular preference causes me great stress at times and I feel uncomfortable with setting exact times. I find myself telling people with whom I am setting a date/time with to be there on the “ish” (i.e. let’s make it around 11:30 ish- which could be 11:35 or 11:59 – but as my friends know- rarely 11:30).
Of ENFPs: “Nothing occurs which does not have some significance… sees life as an exciting drama… found in only about 5 percent of the general population, but they have great influence because of their extraordinary impact on others… hard on themselves… considers intense emotional experiences vital… possess a wide range and variety of feelings and afraid of losing touch with them… brilliantly perceptive but makes serious mistakes in judgment … optimistic… people to people work is essential… have difficulty working within the constraints of an institution especially following rules, regulations and SOPs…”. (Keirsey/Bates, 1984) When we put all the preferences together the above are some of the things that Keirsey/Bates relay about our type. I do, but not all of me, fit within my type’s preferences. I do see life as an adventure and things happen for a reason- the reason of which I am constantly wondering about. My feelings about rules and regulations are true to form. I feel that they are for situations that fit neatly into a little box with no variance. This of course, is impractical and never happens. I also see the importance of rules and regulations – a necessary evil if you will. As a supervisor, manager and/or leader I may be more likely to enforce rules and regulations depending upon the situation. This could be a growth opportunity. Inconsistency in this area would lower morale and reduce productivity. This will be discussed later in the paper.

As we move into leadership style as measured by Lussier/Achua in the textbook I will note how my personal preferences connect with my leadership style. I see a direct correlation between the two. In chapter 3 of our text, self-assessment 1, I determined that my leadership style was a high people leadership style (10/10) and a medium task leadership style (6/10). Because of my ENFP preferences, as noted above, people to people work is essential for me. People are my main priority when leading; however, I realize that tasks need to be accomplished in any organization.

My preferred normative leadership style is facilitating. Lussier/Achua state that Facilitate Leadership Style is:
“…includes having a group meeting to get input from members as you attempt to support the group to agree on a decision within boundaries set by you; in other words, you still have the final say on the decision. As a facilitator, you are supportive and encouraging to the group members to both make the decision and implement the decision.” (Lussier/Achua, 2007)
I feel this also feeds back to my preference to work with people. I also have a strong drive to find out what could be and what better way to find that out then from other people’s ideas and perceptions?

Strengths
One of my strengths is working with people. As a leader I want to accomplish tasks through others. I will find this easier because of my strength of working with people. My leadership style and normative leadership style reflect this strength. I am people oriented while maintaining knowledge that tasks need to be accomplished. I run meetings in a facilitative manner including everyone involved in the process. In doing so I get the best of everyone’s knowledge and perceptions while making them feel included in the process and part of the change. At the present my job is not related to a leadership position. I work in a small office with three other women. It is important for me to be able to communicate and work with them. I have struggled in the past with some of the employees because of my laid back personality. Eventually, through persistence, I helped foster a relationship with each of them.

The second strength I wish to highlight is my “talent for seeing life as an exciting drama, pregnant with possibilities…” (Keirsey/Bates, 1984) As a leader I need to have my eye to the future. This brings about innovation and change. I, in my current job, have initiated many changes. This has been part of the struggle aforementioned. Because of my ability working with people I was able to help others through the changes. It was not without their help that the full change was founded. I may have “dreamed” up an idea but others added to and helped with that idea.

Growth Opportunities
As stated above: “As a supervisor, manager and/or leader I may be more likely to enforce rules and regulations depending upon the situation”. This is indeed a growth area. I find it hard not to see both sides (and everything in between) to every story. Where this may appear to be a strength, and in many situations it would be, it can also lead to confusion of followers. Inconsistencies of how I deal with my team regarding rules and regulations may lead to views of favoritism. It could also confuse my team and they would not know what “version” of the rule to follow. For people with preferences to “knowing a rule and following it exactly” this would be a cause for great distress. Productivity and morale would suffer in this type of environment. If I were in a leadership position I may bring everyone together to discuss the rules and regulations. If we come up with the rules together everyone, including me, would agree that they were important and needed to be followed. My current job, much to my benefit, has a flexible working environment and we have unspoken rules that we follow. These rules have more to do with respect for the boss than an SOP. For example, I don’t leave work without telling my boss where I am going. This is not because the rule says I will get fired if I do not. I do it because I respect my boss. For now, as a follower, I need to understand the rules were made to protect the company as well as the employee.

Another opportunity for growth lies in the “P”. My perceiving nature leads me to be a procrastinator. I am more comfortable with open ended opportunities. Deadlines have the ability to cause a great deal of stress for me. However, I realize that if I did not have them I would never get a project completed. As a leader it would be vital that I complete items on time so that my followers would have the information they needed to complete their jobs. I lead by example. If I am always late I can’t expect my employees to be on time. I can grow in this area by setting an action plans to follow. Peter Drucker in his book The Effective Executive points out that “time is an executive’s scarcest and most precious resource … the action plan will prove useless unless it’s allowed to determine how the executive spends his or her time”. (Drucker, 2006) The action plan will act as a time management plan and therefore squash procrastination tendencies. It is also flexible enough to allow for new opportunities and this is very comfortable to me. Drucker states that an action plan must not “become a straight jacket” but should “be revised often to create new opportunities”. (Drucker, 2006)

Why is important to understand others preferences/personality tendencies?
As a leader I should understand my individual team member’s individual styles. Everyone is unique and they are motivated by different things. If I don’t understand what motivates them I can’t get them to be productive. I have a recent example of the importance of understanding individual styles. I am a life coach for someone in another state. This person recently had weight loss surgery and was overwhelmed and confused by food choices. I suggested that she go online to look up the food pyramid. To me, this would be an endless supply of information and opportunity. To her it was ok I see the food pyramid- so what. Her preference is to be directed to particular groups of information contained within certain limitations. To her it is easier for me to say look at the food pyramid and tell me how much whole grains you are supposed to have in a day. If this had been in an organization and she was one of my followers it would be beneficial for me to know this about her. I would know when and where to utilize her talents. She would be very task oriented completing a specific task within the boundaries and specifications I gave her without supervision. However, she may not do as well if I asked her to create an idea for future growth.

Conclusion
I have done much work to understand myself in the last three or four years and I have grown considerably. I have found that I have a lot more growing to do. However, this fits well into my preferences too- forever looking toward what could be!

Bibliography

Achua, R. N. (2007). Leadership: Theory, Application, Skill Development, 3e. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Drucker, P. (2006). The Effective Executive. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Keirsey, D., & Bates, M. (1984). Please Understand Me. Gnosology Books Ltd.



Christy,
This is an excellent, well-written reflection. I hope the materials continue to give you tools for present and future leadership successes.
Score: 100

Hi *blushes*

Hey guys ...

Sorry its been so long since I posted. It's been a crazy week. Anyway. Hope everyone is doing well. I would first like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN (tomorrow)!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) I am on time this year! You should have already got somethin in the mailllllll.. hee hee.

I have been doing a lot of reflecting about the gym and food and what/how I want to work it. Nothing seems to work for me. I have lost inches but not much weight. Now my inches have slowed down to losing nothing or gaining inches. I expected to gain a little bit of the inches when I started developing muscles or being more fit. It is still discouraging.

I think part of my problem is food. I have changed a lot about my food. Here are the things I have changed:

I don't sit and eat at night while on the computer. That was a major change for me. It was a habit that has been hard to break. I still get figity and start looking for something to eat. If I get that way and get too figity I have been just grabbing a handful of Cheerios and eating them and it seems to work.

I eat at work instead of going out. We may go out once a week or we may not.

I eat breakfast every morning. I was not eating before. If I did eat it was because someone brought in donuts or something. Now I eat eggs and toast or toast, peanut butter and banana or just plain toast. But I do eat something every morning.

I have not been eating out as much for supper. Although we have this week.

I have cut out sweets a BUNCH. I used to eat them all the time. Now if I have something sweet it is a mini candy bar or something healthier- like we made a "Eat Right America" recipe made with strawberrys and bananas- it was a tart. Last night I had cheesecake but that hasnt been happening. I have been skipping desert altogether.

What I haven't done that I could/should be doing concerning food:

Cut portion sizes down

Make healthier choices

Start eating different foods when eating out. Try different things that will deal with my metabolism differently

No eating after 8:00 regardless of how "figity" I get! *lol*


Well thats about it for the food issue. I have a lot to write and will do so tonight. I want to go to the doctor and get a complete physical so that I know what I am dealing with and how hard I can push myself. I want to do a week of writing everything down so I can show the dr- SO I will write more on this later.

Love and Hugs,
me

Was waiting for this day....

Well, I was dreadfully waiting for this day to come. The day I had to tell you guys that I either gained or stayed the same in my quest. I have gained this week :-(. The only place I lost was my belt line. I actually lost another inch- must have been those crunches I did Thursday. I expected to gain. I didn't do crap at the gym and my food has been off. I didn't gain much weight I think- .6 of a lb and it really depends on when i weigh... but I haven't went back over 300 all this week. I read in a book to weigh every day so you know where you stand and what you need to do that day. It didn't work for me. I just kept getting scared of going over 300! So, I don't think it is wise to do that to myself until I get more into my program.

But... I am ready to start on my action plan and will post it when I get it completed. Thanks for every ones support.

Love and Hugs,
me

Working on it!

Hey guys... I have had three people give me suggestions so far. Waiting on some OTHERS TO HELP PLEASE!!! But anyway... I need to make a Plan of Action for the next two weeks (which I am going to start this Saturday). I am starting Saturday because this week wont count- I didn't have my plan ready to take on a task as hard as losing 10 lbs. So whatever the weigh in shows on Saturday I will strive to be 10lbs less that. I hope I havent gained weight this week. I havent been to the gym as much as I should have. Saturday we had to get trees up out of mammaws yard so I didnt get to go to my Zumba class (tears because I missed it.. not because I had to help family). Then Sunday we were gonna go.... but never got around to it. Monday was gym day- skipped Tuesday and Wednesday. Went today. Monday was a light day at the gym. Hardly any cardio at all- didnt feel right. I wasnt warmed up so the machines felt unhelpful to me. Today we did cardio and the workout felt better. Plus it got rid of my headache- which just totally freaking amazes me. I need to have the dr explain that! I did 10 minutes on the elliptical on level 15 with an average of 81 strides per minute. Ugggg. I was all yucky and sweaty! But this time was easier on my legs. So I am building endurance a little. At one point I had it up to 181 strides per minute... I held that for 15 seconds and my heart rate got up to 143. Good Cardio workout. And I burned like triple the amount of calories than I would if I did 15 minutes on the treadmill! That is so important. Then I walked around the track picking up Steven along the way (he did the treadmill). I ran the end cap. But he didn't feel like it so we only went all the way around again. Then we hit the machines. We did a lot of machines - that was fun. And from what I am reading those machines do a lot for diet and your heart! So those who haven't send me anything for my action plan.. .PLEEASSSSEEEE help!

Love and BIG hugs!,
me

Charts

Here are the charts for this last week! I gained a few inches in my boobs.. but I actually think its just really hard to measure em... I mean picture me trying to hold them up straight and Steven measuring.. LMAO!!!!! I also gained in some other places but lost another inch in my belt line.... I think I am evening out! Hee Hee... The big accomplishment, however, is that I met my goal! I actually weighed again this morning to make sure it was for real! It was 297.1 - down two more lbs... but I am not counting on that - you are only supposed to weigh once a week. We will see how it goes :-). My major weight goal now is to get down to 289- 10 lbs. I want to give myself two weeks to do so. So over the next two weeks I will be doing things to lose 10 lbs. This week I plan on eating cereal again for dinner. It was so easy last week and felt so good to just be able to go home and eat instead of deciding where to eat and how to get there. I would like to eat at Stevens mom's one day this week though. So I dunno- will have to make an exception that night. Maybe eat cereal for lunch instead. I am going to outline a plan of action for the weight loss that will include mini goals. I am a collaborative person so I AM ENLISTING ALL OF YOU FOR HELP ON WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHT!!! So everyone send me two suggestions on exercises or plans to help me achieve my goal and I will implement them into my schedule. After I get all of your suggestions I will post a PLAN OF ACTION!!! I am excited to see what you guys suggest!

LOVE and BIG BIG HUGS!
me

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys.... I MADE MY GOAL THIS WEEK... I am SOOOO happy! I officially broke 300.... I am UNDER 300... and that was my goal. I am 299.2!! Go me .. GO ME!!!

We haven't measured yet... I will put the charts up when we do!

Love and Hugs,
me

Headache gone

HEY COURTNEY..... I did what you suggested and loosened my mask... and I woke up without a headache this morning! Love and Hugs, me

HMM... Awesome workout today

WOW--what I did at the gym was unexpected today. I intended to go and do the treadmill and a few machines. Didn't work out that way. I had to force myself to go because Steven didn't go tonight. In fact- I almost went to Target instead. But told myself I was in the freaking parking lot just go in and do the treadmill. So I went in and people was standing by the group class doors and I wondered to myself what was going on. I put my stuff in a locker and checked the door and it they were having a class called Beat, Drum and Boogie. My kind of class! So I said well if I am still here I will go to it. So I went upstairs and got on the treadmill. I started out at 3 mph and did 15 minutes. No running today. I wanted to go do the elliptical. I am bound and determined that it is not going to get the best of me!!! So I set it on manual -- and set the time for 10 minutes. My goal was to go more than I did with Terri - which was 5 minutes. So at 5 minutes I was dying... sweating like I never sweat before- my heart rate was at 80% and I was only doing an average of 80 strides per minute. Luckily a song came on that I loved and I zoned out for 2 or so minutes!!! I opened my eyes and I had 3 minutes to go. I told myself come on ... you can do it.. only 3 minutes! Yes I know that sounds dorky.... but hey.. I am a 301 lb lady....... That's a lot for me! At two minutes I said you have this beat and started doing 120 strides per minute. My legs burned SO bad... My breathing was labored and my head was saying you are an idiot! :-) ..... At the 1 minute mark I cooled down to 58 strides per minute and said NO way was I stopping now.... and I finished TEN whole minutes on the machine from Hell!!!! Yippeee. Then I wobbled downstairs cuz my legs were wobbly.... and I looked at the clock - 5 minutes until the class so I said what the heck. I got a drink of water and went in. Everyone started grabbing the step risers and a big exercise ball... so I did too.... set it up in the back (ball on top of the risers)... and waited. The instructor came out with drum sticks... asked who was new.... told us to scrunch together because we had to hit our neighbors ball sometimes... and then all hell broke loose. She played this music that had a really good- but fast- beat. And we beat and drummed and did a grapevine where we went over two balls hit that one... came back hit the ball on the other side twice.... and we did squat tap (drum sticks in air) squat tap until I thought I was going to go kick her if I had the strength in my legs! Then we did this thing where you squatted hit the floor with drum sticks and then hit the side of the ball on each side with the drum sticks... we did that twice .. then you stood up and "middle side tap middle" and againnnnnnnnnnnnnn............ And we didn't STOP.... With Zumba you have time for a sip of water between songs.. noooooooooooooo not with this one... this one was 45 minutes of constant moving and banging.... And I thought I would never make it! But I did.. Thank God for the cool down session- it was 5 minutes! Then I put my stuff up and wobbled out the door and drank water and more water and more water! So I turned and looked at the machines and said Okkkkkkkkk just a few of you! I did Leg Lifts, Leg Curls, and this machine where you lay on your tummy...... and kick your leg straight out with the weighted bar... I like that one.. it stretched my legs out. And then there was this machine where you laid on your tummy with your bottom up in the air (oh brother)... and curl your legs up toward you- I did that one. And then I worked on my arms for a few machines like the rower and the chest press and some other ones I don't know the names of. NO AB SOLO today!!! Needless to say I am one tired little girl! I was going to go to Target and the grocery on the way home but Steven needed me home to switch cars before he went to bed so I had to come home.

Food for the day:

Points target 32

Breakfast - 1/2 Banana and 2 pieces of Toast = 2 pts
Snack- rest of the banana = 1 pt

Lunch = 1 cup of spaghetti with 1/2 cup of sauce = 6 pts
2 pieces of home made garlic toast (with regular bread) = 4 pts

Total points = 13 ----- 19 left

Supper= 2 bowls of Frosted Flakes Cereal= 6 pts (actually did the points finder for this and that is how much it is)

So 13 Pts left??? YYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Love and Hugs,
ME

What a week!

This week has been rough for Kentucky!!! A big ice and winter storm came our way. We have trees down everywhere and close to 280,000 without power. In Louisville alone we had 1091 power lines down. I will post pics and maybe a video when I get it downloaded on my computer. All of my family, except me, lost power- Stevens mom and brother, my brother and sis(nlaw), my momma and daddy, my mammaw and papa, and various aunts and uncles. To date all of them are still without power! Not only residential areas were without power- but so were businesses. So, unfortunately, due to Steven being sick Sunday and Monday and all heck breaking loose the rest of week- we didn't get to the gym but one day this past week. I also went Saturday of this week. But I watched what I ate and didn't stay stationary long. That with my body still working at high energy levels helped with this weeks weight and inches loss!! Check out my charts!!! I am now down to 301. I want to make this weeks major goal to be to get below 300. My plans are to eat cereal for supper every day this week (except Friday and Saturday). It's not really as drastic as it seems. I am SOOO tired of EVERYTHING to eat!!! I don't even want to think about supper. I love cereal- so I got some cheerios, sugar crisp, frosted flakes and kicks.... All are made with whole grains and have vitamins and minerals. So I will be fine. The rest of my food plan this week will be a bread and fruit or yogurt for breakfast- like toast and banana, then a fruit or veggie for snack (apple w/peanut butter or cauliflower & baby carrots) and a nice lunch. I have already planned to have spaghetti one day for lunch, chicken Caesar salad one day, Beans, potato, and spam or jowl bacon one day <-- have to watch sodium that day because spam and bacon is loaded with sodium, and home made Paninis one day. Then if I have the money I would like to eat out at Shogun one day. We have cut down eating out at lunch during the week and it feels great to eat home cooking for a change. I will attempt to post every day this week on what I ate for lunch. And then cereal for supper- I am SO happy I don't have to figure out "whats for supper" this week!!!! We will see how it goes!

SHOUT OUT to my friend who is on vacation-- HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A GREAT TIME!- Love you!!!! Be safe!

Love and Hugs, me

My head hurts :-(..... New CHARTS

Well- my head hurts today but not as bad now as it has been. I took my contacts out and that relieved some of the pressure. Maybe if I start talking about yesterday it will feel better- LOL. Yesterday was great. The girls and I hit the gym at about 9:30. The two youngest ones had to go in the “big kid’s playroom”. I thought it was going to be too little for them so I had them bring their books to read. But they said they had a playroom for the smaller ones and their playroom had two stationary bikes and a basketball court. So this was great for them. Terri got to exercise with me because she is 14 now. I think 13-15 can work out with their parents/guardians but when they turn 16 you have to start paying for them.

It was really fun. She is a great motivator. The ZUMBA class didn’t start until 11:15/11:30 so we had plenty of time to warm up. Warm up???? We did a full workout! First we hit the treadmill. I told her to set it at 15 minutes. I enjoy doing 15 minutes because I can up the speed on it and stay focused on the workout. It also allows me time to do other things. So my goals are going to change for this week. Technically the goals should have started yesterday- but I am going to up the goal for the treadmill so I didn’t meet it yesterday. Anyway….. Miss Terri started out RUNNING on the treadmill- I looked over at her and she was just booking it… I said put your thing on!!! So she is running trying to hook the safety on- LMAO. I could just see her tripping and then flying off the thing. But she got it on. I started mine on 2 mph… then quickly went up to 3 mph. I did most of the workout in between 3 and 3.5. I also ran on 4.5 for a minute straight and 4.8 for a minute and then 5.0 for about 30 seconds. When you are at 5.0….. going down to 3.5 seems great. So after running I stayed at 3.5. At the very end I went running again at 4.8 and then started the cool down phase. When I pushed cool down it went to 3.5 and then 2.8 and then 1.5. It was a great 15 minutes on it. After that we went around the track once and I showed her the rest of the gym from the track. She liked the pool!

We then went to the elliptical machine. So she starts out on this thing and is like OMG… and she actually said “O” ... “M”… “G” this is hard. LOL. But guess what I did! I did FIVE whole minutes on the thing. I was sweating more on that thing after five minutes than 15 on the treadmill. I was going in between 60 and 89 strides per minute. After that we went downstairs for the machines. I introduced her to the ABS SOLO and it is official- we both hate it! (grins) But we did it. Both of us did 20 reps of that evil thing. She plays basketball so as soon as she was sitting up straight from her sit up I noticed her turning her hands like she was shooting a basket. I tried to tell her that she had to go straight up with it- but we both had difficulty doing that because the balls are weighted. I bend my elbows too. She LOVED the Machine that I told you guys about the other day where the padded part of it rolls up and down your back. We both did a bunch of reps on that one. Then I took her to various other machines- we would try to beat each other at reps or weight… it was really fun. The last one we did was the leg press. She kept putting more and more weight on until she was pressing 130 with her legs! So was I. We kept out doing each other on the reps until we got up to 80 each – it ended in a tie!!! She did kick my butt on one of the machines. Not in weight but in reps. It was a machine that you sit down on and pull a weighted set of handles toward you and your whole body raises up and scrunches together. As you bring the handles back toward you … you turn them 90 degrees. Sort of like those push up things you see where you turn your hands as you go up and down. And it resembles a punch when you go forward. She beat me by 20 reps. Couldn’t do anymore my arms were burning!

By then it was almost time for the ZUMBA class. So we waited for the other class to get out so we could go in. I had a blast doing the class and also watching her! We were cracking up at some of the moves. I had a new instructor this week too and her moves were totally different. Very few of the moves were the same. She wore me out! So I had a very full morning. From 9:45 to 12:15 I exercised!!! My abs are still killing me! But it is worth it. My pants fit differently. I haven’t lost that much in my belt line- but above my belt line I can tell a difference in my shirts – the way they fit. They aren’t tight when they get to that part. And my butt area has lost some to and I can tell that loss in my pants.

We didn’t go to the gym today because we were all sick- my headache and Steven is sick and in bed with the stomach flu or something. Hopefully I will feel well enough to go again tomorrow. I hope he feels better tomorrow too. I don’t like going alone. I have posted the new charts above!!! CLICK on them to make them bigger. Slow weight loss. Sticking to my healthy eating will help that I am sure. But the inches are encouraging to me!!! That motivates me to keep going.

Love and Hugs,
Christy

A lot to write...

Guys... I have a lot to write tonight but I am just way too tired. Had a heck of a morning at the gym. I will explain later. It was great.

Love and Hugs all around,
me

Exercise is great for a headache- LOL

I went to the gym today not knowing what I really could do. I really wanted to be there but I had a heck of a headache! I mean a really bad one. I took meds at work (you know I am hurting if I force down evil pills) and went to sleep for two hours- but I still had one- not as bad as the one I woke up with- but still one nonetheless. I was surprised that when I got off the treadmill it was gone completely. I don't know if my blood pressure was up and the exercise made it go down or if exercise is just that therapeutic. But it was great! I was proud of the stuff I did on the treadmill today. I surpassed my goal- although I really don't know if it counts because I didn't go 30 minutes I only went 15. But it was a hectic 15! When I got on it I started out at 1 mph... 1/2 mph is too slow now. 1 is really but I want my heart rate to go up naturally. So 1 mph for 1 minute... 2 mph for 2 minutes and then I was up to 3 mph until I hit the 5 minute mark. At that time I did 3.5 for a full minute and then back down to 3.0 for 2 minutes. Then I went for 3.5 for 30 seconds and then 4.5 for a full 30 seconds! Yes I did! Then back down to 3.0 for 2 minutes and then 3.5 for a full minute, then 4.5 for 30 seconds and then 5.0 for 20 seconds!!!!!... then I died... LMAO.. nooo.... Then I started cool down 4.0, 3.0, 2.0 for the rest of the time (2 min 10 sec) and then hopped off.

We did a bunch of the machines!... I STILL love the back roll thing- it feels so good... even when Steven makes me press in my abs. We did the Rotary thing and this machine where you sit and pull up these strings and it makes your entire body go up. We did a machine called the Leg Curl- You sit down and push up on this metal thing- they have one like it on the "biggest loser". We did the Rower- Steven had it set on 70lbs and I didn't pay attention. I did 10 and was like that's heavy- he laughed at me- THPPPTTTT to him. We did 2 more arm machines and another machine that you pulled up weights with your arms. AND OMG... we did this thing called ABS something- cant remember the rest. But you lay down and put your feet under these harnesses so they cant move and you do a sit-up, grab a weighted ball, go all the way back down with your arms straight out and over your head- so that when you are completely laid down your arms are extended completely flat with your body and above your head... then you do another sit-up and throw it to make a "basket" and get another ball and do it all over again. I did 20 and thought I was gonna pass out (hee hee) but it was fun.... HARD... my arms were twitching, my abs were like HOLY HELL, and my feet were like don't blame me- I couldn't move! After the machines I told Steven I would race him upstairs and around the track and back down. He declined my offer- but said he would walk the track with me. So we went up the stairs sideways (LOL- that was fun) and started walking the track. About halfway I said we are halfway- time to jog... and started jogging and so did Steven. We turned the corner and he flat out started running! So I started too... we ALMOST made it back! But I was so out of breath we had to go around again so I could catch it..... Then we left. As we were leaving I asked him if he wanted to do the ab sit up thingie again... he said NO.. I said come on.. 10 more... LMAOROF- he wouldn't do it and I don't think I could back up my mouth. We had a great time! I was such in a good mood and my head didn't hurt and the music on the radio in the car was awesome on the way to supper... I HAD an AWESOME night!

FOOD:

Points target: 32

Breakfast- 2 pieces of toast and a small banana- 3 pts
Lunch- Peanut Butter Sandwich (2 pts for bread- 4 pts for peanut butter) and a serving size of Gold Fish (3 pts)= 9 pts

12 pts total so far = 20 pts left for supper- and boy did I need them!

I ate WAY too fast and WAY too much! I was pumped and going about 190 miles an hour- I hadn't had enough food during the day and was hungry. So- I ate a hamburger, fries, 1/2 slaw and a bowl of chili at Steak n Shake.

Hamburger = 8 pts
Fries= 6 pts
1/2 Slaw= 4 pts
Chili= 7 pts

25 pts.... YIKES

5 points over- So here is the dilemma: My doctor told me to add 5 points per day to Weight Watchers- but I usually don't, Also I have 35 flex points for the week- but I don't like to use them. So do I say I missed that goal this week- or give myself the extra 5 points or use my flex points for the overage and say I did stay within my points for the day - thus meeting my goal???? What do you guys think??

Love and Hugs,
ME... pumped up still and can't go to sleep because I am still moving. UGGGGGG 12:39-- UUUUUGGGGGGGGGGG again!!!