She's a Brick (School) House: weightloss

Showing posts with label weightloss. Show all posts

Showing posts with label weightloss. Show all posts

Friday, September 7, 2007

Tada! Swimsuit Pictures

I know it's been a long time since I last posted, but I did not forget the promise of pictures. For my "after" picture, click onward!

Do I get some kind of award now? Not for the weight loss...for being brave enough to post a swimsuit picture on the web!

So much has happened in the last month and a half that the idea of posting about it all right now is making me want to take a nap. Hence, that's all you get for now.
Adios!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Week 12 - The Finish Line!

Today was the final weigh in for my company's weight loss challenge. There will be another 12 weeks of workouts, but no more competition. I am quite proud of myself and my results. So proud that I may even have a friend take a picture of me in my bathing suit this weekend so I can post it here next week.

I am down 2.6 lbs from last week, bringing me to a total loss of 15.2 lbs! I know I could have lost more if I didn't bail on the workouts the last few weeks due to school and the whole schedule/stress thing. However, it would have been really easy for me to let those same factors get me to start eating like crap and gain a ton of weight back. I am really proud that I didn't let that happen.

My pants that I've worn for nearly every weigh in day are literally falling off of me now. I've lost 6 centimeters off my waist and 8 centimeters off my thigh. Eight centimeters is slightly over three inches! My thighs are smaller now then they were when I was twenty or thirty pounds lighter! They are still big, as you will see when I post the swimsuit pictures, but I am delighted that they are smaller.

Now I'm off to go to the beach all weekend! Thanks for checking in on me!

Friday, July 13, 2007

Is this thing on? Tap tap tap...

Wow-it's been a while since I posted. I'm sure I will make up for it soon, because in a few weeks I will have internet access at home! We've already received our DSL modem, we're just waiting for the service to be activated. Then I promise I will be a posting fool. My wonderful hubby bought me a new laptop for my birthday!!! I've been dying to use it to update y'all, but, again, still waiting for the internet at home. I have had no time to write at work due to homework and -shocker- actual work. The only reason I am writing here now is that it is 4:15 on a Friday and my work ethic has left the building.

My summer classes are still humming along. Accounting ended last week. The final that I was so worried about turned out to be easier than I thought. I got 106% (there were bonus points). That means that I got 100% or more on EVERY test, quiz, and assignment in that class. If that sounds like bragging, oh well. I am very proud of how I did. My professor gave me a recommendation to send in with my transfer application to Towson University and is trying to talk me into going into the accounting field. This weekend I'm visiting my brother who is a CPA (and lawyer-brains definitely run in my family). I'm going to get his opinion and I'm also interviewing a girl closer to my age who works for an accounting firm. No decisions yet though.

My ceramics class is still going on for one more week. As stressed out as I was a few weeks ago in this class, I'm sad that it is ending. The last two weeks everything has started to click. The good thing is that I will still have access to the studio for the rest of the summer and my professor will be there on Mondays and Wednesdays. Hopefully I will actually have some free time to take advantage of that.

My US History class started this past Monday (it's M-T-TH). My husband and I are taking it together. It is nice to see each other once again! We've barely had any time together since the summer started. He is supposed to be cheerleading me through this class since it's one of my least favorite subjects, but I actually like the class so far. Our teacher is insane. Not in a bad way-he's just full of personality, wears shorts and Crocs, talks in funny accents, and tells wacky personal stories. I was a little scared the first night but he grew on me. He's really good at getting things back on track after a tangent which is great since we have a lot of discussions in class. We have a lot of writing assignments, but I'm trying to go with the flow instead of letting that freak me out. Frequent short writing assignments are what kicked off the beginning of my academic demise. I guess this is my chance to show I'm over that.

That's all there is to say about school. As for the weight loss competition, I haven't worked out in two weeks! It feels more like two months. A lot of stress is making it's way out of my life though, so I'm going to get back on track. This week was the week 11 weigh-in. I'm up 1.6 lbs from two weeks ago (weight=194.8lbs), but that's less than I thought I gained. I'd love to lose 5lbs by the final weigh-in next Friday, but I'm not going to cry if I don't. I made the cut to continue for another 12 weeks, so I have plenty of time to lose more weight.

So now y'all know what I've been up to! Have a great weekend! I promise I'll be back with more frequent (and shorter) posts as soon as Verizon turns on my DSL.

Adios!

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

The Skinny

I didn't have a chance to update this Friday with my weigh-in results because I was busy getting in a car accident. I'm fine, everyone is fine, it's just one more headache to pile onto everything else. I don't have much else to say about that except, "Sigh...."

My weigh-in went great. I'm down to 193.2 lbs, for a total loss of 14.2 lbs. I'm looking forward to hitting and passing the 15 lb mark. There are three weeks left of the original competition, and then we begin the second 12 weeks. Even though I've been missing workouts left and right, I've been eating for weight loss because this competition keeps it at the front of my mind.

My classes for summer session I are now in the home stretch. Tonight I get back my last two Accounting tests and then go home to study. The final for that class is on Thursday. I'm nervous about it because it is a school exam, i.e. our teacher didn't write it. There were a lot of sections that we quickly whizzed over, so I'm going to be upset if those are tested heavily on the final.

There are a few weeks left of my Ceramics class and I'm finally starting to like it. I still think it is stressful and an insane amount of work compared to the course length and class time, but I'm starting to make some good looking pieces. Right now I have an eighteen inch tall vase drying that starts with a 5 inch diameter heart base, expands out to about eight inches, and comes back in to 5 inches. I wanted to glaze it a dark red, but apparently reds are hard to acheive in the kiln. That whole piece was done in coil, but last night I made boxes out of slabs and they were so easy. If this whole class were done in slab, I'd want to take it every semester. As for the wheel, that's another story. The wheel and I are still not speaking. Once this class is over and most of my stuff is glazed and fired, I'll post pictures.

Over and out. It's back to work time.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Just the Facts

I'm at work and in the middle of finishing my Ceramics homework before I have to leave for class. So instead of a lengthy post, here are today's highlights:

I went to my workout. ON TIME.
My trainer is back.
I sweat a lot (see above).
I went to kickboxing on Saturday.
I sweat a lot (see above).
I packed plenty of healthy food for today, including breakfast.

Now, back to my homework...

Friday, June 22, 2007

Naughty, Naughty

Some people have been noticing the lack of posts this week. This was due to two factors: 1-I am very busy with my summer classes and spend most of my lunch hours doing homework instead of updating my blog, 2-I have been a naughty, naughty girl in regards to the weight-loss competition and I knew if I posted anything, I'd have to fess up. Ah well, since I am down again this week, I'll come clean.

The big badness is that I skipped my Wednesday and Friday workouts again. I know. I'm terrible. I wish I didn't like sleep so much or that I could bring back the insomnia I had a few months ago. My mornings are a mess-if I don't get up at the same insanely early time as my husband, I sleep right through the later alarm. It wasn't as much of an issue before, but with the late classes I am just so tired. Hopefully I can make it through the next few weeks without gaining weight or getting fired. My late classes end soon and the next class gets out before 9pm. I am definitely looking forward to the 2 weeks in August that I will be free of classes. Since we are too poor for a vacation, I will be drinking ice cold diet soda and watching TV on DVD. I miss TV.

Speaking of school, I have excellent news from my accounting class. Last night we got back our first full test and .....drum roll..... I had the highest grade out of both classes that my teacher teaches (over 60 students). I only got one question wrong, which was worth 1.5 points, but I got the 2 point bonus question right, so my score was 106.5 out of 106. My teacher came over during break and asked if I work in accounting (I don't). I told him I was taking the class for fun out of curiosity. When he left the room, everyone wanted to know who had gotten the highest grade (he had written the score on the front board). I was shrinking down in my seat, but the woman next to me sold me out. Then she started telling everyone that I'm so nice and I help her out all the time. It's true. She and another student have been saving me a seat between them so they can ask me questions. It makes me feel good. I love helping people.

Another warm fuzzy moment happened later in the class when I was helping the woman who blew my cover. She stopped me and said, "You should be a teacher. You're so calm and patient and the way you explain things makes them make sense." I almost started crying because my number 2 reason for finishing college is so that I can teach. The number one reason is to put my past mistakes behind me. Anyway, when she said that to me so genuinely, it made me so happy. I happy now just writing about it. Warm fuzzies!

To get back to my confession of naughtiness, I ate about 20 pounds of sugar this week. During the day I ate only healthy foods, but I ate very small amounts. One day, all I ate until 11pm was a chicken breast and a piece of cheese. That night, I hit the Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches again. I don't usually have much of a sweet tooth, but the last two weeks I've gotten into this weird pattern where I'm not hungry all day and then I want sweets at night. The good and bad thing is that I've continued to lose weight. The only negative thing is that I've been tired, but I've been tired ever since classes started. This weekend I plan on preparing several days of prepacked meals for next week. I also plan to go to kickboxing class tomorrow (for real this time).

And now for the numbers. As of today, I weigh 196.2 lbs. That's 1.2 lbs down from last week. My pants are very loose.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Monday, June 18, 2007

The Little Engine That's Still Trying

Today marks the beginning of week 8 of the Weight-loss Challenge. There's good news and bad news, but definitely more good than bad. The bad news is that yesterday I did not go to the kickboxing class I was so excited about. I thought that I was going to be alone on Fathers' Day, but my husband finished his commitments early and was home all day with me. I couldn't resist having a leisurely Sunday snuggle with my hubby instead of going boxing at 10am. I also couldn't resist my pillow and the air conditioning. Apparently I hadn't thought the Sunday morning exercise thing through too clearly. That's the bad news. The good news is everything else!

I had a great weekend. I spent Saturday downtown with my mom and, even though she was still critical of my temporarily blond hair, she kept telling me how much of a difference she notices in my body. She said that my hips are getting smaller and smaller, which is great, because that's where most of my fat lives. Sunday I got to be showered with compliments again (ah-such a life), this time by my husband. We were hugging and he kept running his hands up and down my sides, saying how small my waist is getting and that I'm getting my nice curves back. I weigh more than I did a year or two ago, but I'm getting excited about my figure again, even in the 190s. Strength training makes such a difference. I found some measurements from 2 years ago and although I was 20 pounds lighter, my arms were an inch bigger and my thighs were two inches bigger. (My waist was smaller, but I'm working on that now.)

The fact that I still managed to lose weight last week despite falling off the exercise wagon was great, but I don't want to push my luck. Accordingly, I went to my workout this morning. My regular trainer is on vacation this week, so we have a substitute. She's a girl close to my age who teaches a lot of the Tuesday/Thursday groups. I've mentioned here before that I am very attached to my workout group members and I don't really like working out with other groups. Apparently the same thing applies to trainers. This girl is very nice, but she's also very petite and perky, which is not the best thing for me at 8am on a Monday morning. I'm not looking for a drill sergeant, but every time she chirped, "You're doing great! Way to go!" all I could hear in my head was "Shut up. Shut up. Please shut up!" It's not her fault, I am just the epitome of not being a morning person. Ask my mom, aka "Suzy Sunshine." Chipperness in the morning makes me want to throw things. Jeff, please come back from vacation soon!

More good news: the powers that be have decided to extend the weight loss program for an additional 12 weeks for the top 50 participants. I think I'm around number 25, so it looks like I'll be getting another three months of training. The second round will be ending in mid-October. That will be great because I'll have guidance/hand-holding/training through the season change. Hopefully after a total of 24 weeks of training I will have such good habits that I won't succumb to the temptation to start eating and sleeping more in the Fall. If I continue losing my average of 1.5 pounds per week, I could lose another 24 pounds by then. That would put me in the low 170s which has been my average weight since 1993. Ideally I'd lose more than that, but with these smaller thighs I've been building, I'm sure 170 will look much better than I remember.

That's all folks. I have Ceramics tonight. Hopefully I will get out before 11pm, unlike last week. In case I haven't mentioned it, Accounting is much more fun than Ceramics.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Week 7: Weigh In

I almost skipped my weigh-in today. I even wore my jeans instead of the thin black pants I usually wear on Fridays, because it was a mental nose thumbing at weighing in. It's kind of hard to rebel against yourself though, so I decided to go to weigh-in at 3:30pm even though I was sure I had gained this week and even though I was wearing heavy jeans. I missed two workouts this week (Wednesday and today) so I was prepared for a gain. BUT........

I lost weight this week! Apparently my adherence to my diet made up for my lack of exercise. I lost .6lbs this week, bringing me to 197.4lbs with jeans on (so probably more like 2lbs down without them). When I looked at the scale I yelled, "What?," but I'll take the loss even if it doesn't make sense. What this means, people, is that I have officially lost 10lbs. I am pleased.

I can't wait for my kickboxing class on Sunday. Rawr!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Update: Classes

I can't believe it's Thursday already. I haven't posted in a few days, because my new schedule is absolutely nuts. On paper it didn't look so bad, but I forgot to figure in two things: homework and sleep. Accounting is not so bad: I've been doing my homework at lunchtime and in class. My Ceramics assignments are much more involved inside and outside of class. Last night, I did not leave campus until 11:15pm and that was only so my husband could stop worrying about where I was. Sleep these days seems to be something I only do when I should be getting to work or to my workout.

I've been exhausted all week. Being in class until 10 or 11pm is much different than watching TV until that hour. When I get home I'm still all wound up, so I end up staying up for another hour or two to relax. Getting up at 6:30am yesterday to make it to my workout was out of the question. I didn't even make it in to work today until 10:30am. Thank goodness I only have these classes for another five weeks. I'm taking another class during the second summer session, but it gets out at 8:40pm. I'll be able to get to bed at a decent hour and do things like cook and do laundry (the other reason I missed Wednesday's workout is that my gym clothes were all so dirty they could have walked downtown on their own).

On one hand, I feel bad. I am slacking on my workouts and food preparation. I am sucking at my job and spending half my work hours sleeping or doing homework. On the other hand, I'm sticking to my priorities, so screw the guilt. I want to be skinny and have enough money to keep my house, but my number one priority right now is to finish school. If I have to find another job or it takes an extra six months to lose the weight, so be it. As long as I'm making progress toward my degree and not slacking off in my classes, I'm ok with that. I don't feel ashamed of my weight or my career progress. I do feel very ashamed of the way I conducted and demolished my academic career. So if I fix that, I will have much more happy happy joy joy to spread to the other areas of my life.

So there, I said it. I am prepared to accept failure at two very important things in order to succeed at what is most important to me. Just because the idea makes me hyperventilate doesn't mean I don't accept it. I'm not saying I'm giving up on the job and the weight-loss, I just know I can't put enough effort towards them to do well. I guess it's penance. I get to do school the hard way now since I dropped out of school five times and threw away a $40,000/year scholarship when I had the chance to do things the easy way. Ah, well. My eventual graduation party will be much more kick ass than if I would have had it five years ago. My hubby and my nieces will be there now and I have a huge backyard. I may even make my cats wear party hats.

Monday, June 11, 2007

I Like To Hit Things

Saturday afternoon, I attended my first cardio kickboxing class. If there were ever a workout made for me, this is it. I was expecting a cardio class where we'd be standing in rows and punching the air, but it was so much better than that. We got to wear boxing gloves and whale on the heavy bags. Punches and roundhouse kicks are much more fun when you are actually hitting something. It was an intense workout, but I didn't want it to end. As soon as the hour was up, I called my husband and told him I wanted a heavy bag for my birthday. Having this class once a week is not enough. I am in love....with kicking ass.

This morning's workout seemed boring compared to the kickboxing class, but at least I made it (almost) on time. I got to tell my trainer the results from Friday's weigh-in-he was proud. We added one new exercise to our routine today, which Jeff referred to as "hop-hop-squat." It's exactly what it sounds like. I didn't think it would be very difficult since squats have been getting easy for me, but after doing them for a minute straight my legs were burning. At one point I caught my reflection as I was coming up out of a squat and...I think I saw a thigh muscle. I'm not used to seeing muscles in my legs. I can always feel them, but they are hard to see with all the fat covering them up.

This weekend I started to get a lot of comments on my weight loss. It is so good to know that other people can see it. I can tell a difference, but I'm consciously checking myself out in the mirror looking for one. It means much more coming from someone else. I was a little down yesterday after seeing myself in some pictures and thinking, "I still look huge!," but I guess I am still huge. That doesn't take anything away from my weight loss though, and I have another 6+ weeks of guided workouts to shrink through. The power of positive thinking helped me last week, so I'm going to stick with it.

Damien, the head trainer, sent out a spreadsheet with the results of the top twenty people so far. I didn't make the top twenty, but it was good inspiration to see where everyone is. I need to step up my efforts. This weekend was the third weekend in a row where I took both days off the diet. That has got to stop. It hasn't really hurt my results yet, but I imagine I'd lose more without, say, the four slices of pizza I ate last night. It shouldn't be too hard to buckle down on the weekends as long as I head into them with a plan. This weekend I'm going to kickboxing on Sunday, but there is a good chance it will be followed with alcohol. I'm not sure what else to do on Fathers' Day since my dad recently died and both grandfathers are gone, too, so drinking it is! I figure if I hit the bag hard enough in class I won't need to drink as much.

Tonight I have my first Ceramics class. I'm excited to find out what we'll be doing. I'm sure the class is going to be fun, because I am having a blast in my Accounting class. Yes, I said I am having a blast in my Accounting class. It's not as much fun as I used to have in Calculus, but I dig it. I'm such a numbers person. I love it when problems have answers. I wish life was more like math.

Friday, June 8, 2007

The Coolness

In middle school, my nickname was Coolness, or sometimes The Coolness. Granted, only one friend called me that, but she wrote it all over my books, so I think it still counts. The last time I've thought about that nickname was when I was sharing some old school pictures with my husband. Today I'm thinking about it because it's official-I am The Coolness. I've just returned from my six week weigh in and I rocked the heck out of it.

When I walked up to weigh in, Damien, the head trainer who is leading this whole program, said, "When you get on that scale, I want to see 199 point something!" To which I replied that I did, too. So I got on the scale and, drum roll, please, I weighed in at 198 lbs and my body fat was down almost another full percent. After I made my way around the room to collect my high fives, I got my measurements taken. They do everything in centimeters so I won't post the detailed numbers until I get a nice little conversion chart going, but I've lost 2 inches off my waist and 2.5 inches off my thigh over the past six weeks. My total weight loss over the past six weeks is 9.4 lbs. Ah, it is good being The Coolness. Time to go home and flaunt my shrinking self in front of my husband.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Tada! Pictures

First things first: I haven't been doing so well at the getting up at 6:30am thing this week. I missed my workout yesterday and I was so late to work that I couldn't leave to go to the 11am workout. I feel bad about it, but I'm moving on. That's all I'm saying about that. Now on to the fun stuff-pictures!

Here is possibly the grossest picture of me ever, taken the weekend before the challenge started. As grainy and out of focus as it is, you can still tell I'm lumpy and dumpy (that's really me-I've dyed my hair blond for the summer).

207.4 lbs

Here's a picture from about two weeks into the competition. Help! There's too much face on my face!

204ish lbs

Here is a picture that I took today. Still a lot of extra face, but it's looking much better. 200ish lbs

Alas, here is a picture of me from 2005 when I first lost weight on the South Beach diet. I was at my lowest weight since 7th grade. Look-I'm eating pie in the picture. It was the beginning of the end. (Granted, it was a month after my father died-I needed pie.)

164 lbs

So there you have it. I'm not anywhere close to my goal weight yet, but I'm making progress. My goal weight is 135 lbs. I might look like a stick figure at that point, but I've never been close enough to tell. I chose that goal because when I was in the 160s, I still clearly had at least another 20 lbs to lose based on the fat deposits left on my thighs. If I reach 135 lbs, it will put me in the middle of the healthy weight range for my height. Right now, however, I would just love to get back down to 165 lbs. I wore a size 10 at that point and have a ton of great clothes for that size.

I've been eating great the last few days, despite missing my workout. I have another workout tomorrow and I am going to a kickboxing class on Saturday. I'm slowly working my way toward skinny. We'll see how close I'm getting tomorrow. It's weigh-in day and they are also taking our measurements. Also, starting next week , we'll be able to access a spreadsheet that shows where we stand in the competition. Everyone will be assigned a number to keep things anonymous on the chart. I'm doing this more to lose weight than win money, but I still can't wait to see where I stand.

Monday, June 4, 2007

No Skeletons In My Closet-Only Fat People

Last night I ate three Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches. Earlier in the day I ate an entire burrito from Chipotle. In between, for a snack, I drank 4 glasses of juice. Saturday, my husband and I ate and entire loaf of garlic bread in one sitting. For the rest of the day, all I 'ate' was vodka and beer. Oh, and Swedish fish. And some taco dip. Friday night, we ate giant heaps of greasy Chinese food. Just in case anyone reading this thought that I never pig out, now you know. This weekend, I hogged out.

The one good thing I can report food-wise is that my husband and I finally went to the store to restock our kitchen. We bought a 12 pound bag of frozen tilapia fillets to add some variety to the chicken or chicken that we eat whenever I actually cook. We also raided the frozen veggie case and the deli counter. Once my classes start (TOMORROW!), I'll be eating my dinner in the car while I drive to school. Sandwiches and roll ups are the only things I could think of that are portable enough. Tonight I am going to make something up with tilapia, lemon, and tomatoes to enjoy my last fork and knife dinner for a while.

My husband is helping me get through the disgusting cookies and cream protein powder so that we can buy a better flavor. He tried it with milk and said it tastes like the milk that's left after you dip cookies into it. I tried it with milk today and I still think it's disgusting. I am gladly donating it to the "get my husband to eat breakfast" cause.

My approach to exercise lately has been better than my approach to food, but not as good as it should be. I haven't missed any training sessions, but I didn't do any extra cardio last week or over the weekend. I will do some tonight no matter what, because I was late to my training this morning and because I won't be able to work out after work once classes start.

Losing weight is hard. I realized this last week when I was feeling pouty and wondering why I'd been putting in so much work and not seeing the results I want. I realized that the answer isn't in finding what I'm doing wrong (unless you look at this past weekend, but I had my epiphany before that), but in accepting that this is is going to take a long time and a lot of work, and sticking with it. Throwing a tantrum in my head about how I think I should be losing weight faster isn't going to make that happen. If it's going to come off slowly, it's going to come off slowly, but it won't come off at all if I quit because I think slow weight loss isn't fair. Which reminds me of my favorite quote from my favorite movie, "Labyrinth." The main character says, "It's not fair!" and Jareth the goblin king says, "You say that so often. I wonder what your basis for comparison is." Ah, "Labyrinth." I'm convinced that movie contains all the secrets of life.

My workout this morning was brief since I was late, but I'm still sore. We didn't do anything particularly challenging (other than 10 minutes of ab work with no rest), but my shoulders and thighs are killing me. Maybe it is the lack of nutrition this weekend. Hopefully that means that if I eat right, I won't be sore on Wednesday.

This Friday is the halfway point in the competition. I feel like I've lost my mojo. If you see it, please send it my way so that I can have a stellar week and break 200 lbs by Friday.

Friday, June 1, 2007

Quick Update: Weigh-In #5

I didn't post yesterday, because my boss let us leave the office early. We still don't have internet at my house, but sometimes our laptop picks up a neighbor's connection. This is going to be brief because I'm writing it with the laptop balanced on top of our cats' playhouse since that is the only place we're getting a connection. I feel oh so high tech.

The workout yesterday was ok. I made it there on time for the 9am class. I just didn't have much energy and the rest of my group was dragging too. We got a good workout, but it seemed to take forever. The highpoint was when the tiniest girl in my class was wowed by my ability to do wall squats and carry on a conversation at the same time as if it was nothing at all. Jeff told her it's because I'm 'not messing around.' Yes, I work hard at the workouts-even this week when I was barely doing anything else right.

There's no question that I've gained muscle. This week I gained almost a pound, but I lost another percent of body fat. Weight: 201.4 lbs. Body fat: 40.6%. I know the secret to losing weight while building muscle is added cardio, but I didn't do any of that this week. I walked for hours last weekend, but those were also the days I drank and ate greasy food. Next week is a new week and I know what to do.

That's all, folks. My cat is kicking me off of her house now. Happy weekend!

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Thank You, Internet

My covert ops at the bookstore yesterday were a success. I managed to obtain the real ISBN numbers of my textbooks and ordered them online today. I still ended up spending around $150, but that meant I got all four books for less than the price of one, which was $178 in the bookstore. My husband lucked out and found his online for $1 each, so the internet saved us some big bucks. School starts next week. This is real. Eek.

I have a few confessions to make. I haven't played DDR at all this week, in spite of my plans. I've been sitting very still under the ceiling fan in our living room trying to stay cool. Last night, I didn't want to heat up the house by baking chicken so all I ate for dinner was a bag of frozen broccoli that I microwaved and sprinkled with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. I definitely didn't meet my protein requirements, but I wasn't going near those shakes again.

Today's food was much better. I had cottage cheese for a late breakfast, a Lean Cuisine with 22 grams of protein for lunch, South Beach bars for my snack, and I'm going to get chicken or steak with a salad or steamed veggies for dinner when we go out tonight. I have no idea what the scale will say tomorrow considering it's taken me so long to get my act together this week. However, I vow to keep my cool, even if the number stays the same or goes up.

A few weeks ago, my husband made the point that this whole process is more about the end result than the weekly weigh ins. As long as I don't give up, the end result will be a smaller me. A smaller, but stronger, me.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Dreams Can Come True

This morning I dreamt that I slept late and missed my workout and ended up having to join the 11am class. Then I woke up early, like I usually do when I have dreams like this. When I laid back down to catch another 15 minutes of snooze, however, I slept late and missed my workout and ended up having to join the 11am class.

The workout was good, although I missed my group. One of the people in the 11am class was surly and another left pools of sweat on everything. Our trainer actually had to tell the sweater to go get a towel-it was that bad. As for the workout, we did one circuit of legs and then spent the bulk of the time on our arms. Nothing fancy, just a variety of presses, curls, and pull downs. At the end of class we did a short ab section that was basic, but really worked every muscle in my gut. I think the intensity was because I was moving through a wider range of motion now that my abs are getting stronger.

It felt so good to work out again. I moved around a lot this weekend, but it wasn't the same as an intense guided workout. My body is happy today. In fact, extra happy, because Jeff let me warm up on the elliptical machine instead of doing jumping jacks! I got there early, so I did 15 minutes on the elliptical instead of 2 minutes of jumping jacks, but it was worth it. I have blisters on my feet from a pair of evil sandals I wore yesterday and I don't want to jump on them.

I'm a little worried about this week's weigh in even though I'm only shooting for a pound. My eating has been off for the last few days and I desperately need to go grocery shopping, so I'm still not back on track. I didn't have anything for breakfast today, but I picked up a salad for lunch and sardines for a snack. I have food for dinner, but I don't know what I'll eat tomorrow if I don't get to the store.

I don't know if I'll have time to go to the store tonight, though, because I need to swing by my school after work. Classes start next week and I need to order my books and get a form signed for my student loan deferment. I tried to look for my books online, but the college is listing some cryptic ISBN number that isn't showing up in any searches. I have a feeling it doesn't match what's actually on the book. Since I need to get my deferment form signed in person, I'm going to do some detective work at the bookstore while I'm on campus.

As excited as I am about all of my new endeavors, I'm getting nervous about my soon to be packed schedule. Really I'll only be utilizing time formerly wasted in front of the TV, but it's still scary. At least the summer classes are only five weeks long.

Does hyperventilating burn calories?

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The Good, The Bad, and The Meh

The Good:
I spent a solid two thirds of this holiday weekend walking around outside. Saturday we went to Brew at the Zoo and walked around the vendors stalls and ventured into the zoo for a long walk. Animals are extra interesting when you've been drinking. Especially the odd ones: "Wait, does that deer have stripes? What the.." On Sunday we woke up early to go to Six Flags. It wasn't crowded at all, so we didn't waste time standing in lines. We covered the whole park at least twice. There was so much walking that I passed out on the couch as soon as we got home at 10pm.

The Bad:
My eating was all over the place this weekend. I barely had an appetite, so my eating schedule was way off. The only thing that made me want to eat was drinking, which only made me want to eat bad food. I haven't filled in my food diary for the past three days yet. It wasn't pretty. I don't think my total calories were excessively high, but the food choices and timing were bad. The only upshot is that it made me feel slow and icky, so I'm craving green peppers now. Green peppers are the only thing I want to eat though, which brings us to "the meh".

The Meh:
In order to keep my protein intake high despite my low appetite, I bought a huge tub of protein powder to make shakes. However, it tastes terrible and is giving me even less of an appetite. The guy at the store said that this is his favorite brand and one of the best flavors, but we apparently have different taste. The powder is cookies and cream flavor and tastes like melted ice cream. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so I can barely choke it down. Unfortunately, holding my nose and chugging is more appealing to me right now than eating a plate of eggs or chicken. I'd even be up for an IV drip instead of eating. On one hand, this is better than over eating. On the other hand, an alien has clearly possessed my body. How else could I not want to eat?

The Etc.:
I was too pooped from the weekend to workout yesterday, and our training was cancelled due to the holiday. Tonight I'm going to do an hour of DDR. My body needs to shake and sweat out the alcohol and grease of the weekend. I can't wait to get back to training tomorrow. The most weight lifting I did this weekend was doing squats with my husband on my back because I was in a silly mood.

I did end up buying shorts on Friday, although it took nearly three hours at Target to find them. I didn't want capris, nor did I want denim underwear. Denim underwear is all they were selling in the Juniors department. I found one pair in a decent length in the misses section (if you can call it a section-it was one rack), but they were acid wash. Apparently, I time travelled since I was there so long. Eventually I went to the women's/plus size section and found some nice denim shorts in a cut and color from this decade. I bought a pair in 16W and wore them with a belt. I may have to continue cinching these forever, because I refuse to wear shorts with less than a one inch inseam, even if I'm in a size 6.

In happier shorts related news, I didn't feel self-conscious at all wearing them all day Saturday and Sunday in public. No pictures to show though-all I have are pictures of animals' behinds (remember, I was drinking at the zoo).

On Monday morning, my husband was rubbing my leg and he stopped, shocked, and put both hands around my thigh. He said my thighs are getting much smaller. Ahem. He said my thighs are getting much smaller! I'm still floating over this comment (this is the same husband who bought me roses on Saturday-he's the best). I had asked him to tell me as soon as he noticed any changes, but he hadn't said anything yet. Every time I pull out another shirt that fits anew, he just kind of grunts & nods. So, this genuine comment about my least favorite body part is just wonderful.

Having a plan of action last week brought me great results. Here's this week's plan: South Beach Phase I plus icky protein shake, DDR for an hour every night until the weekend. I'm only trying for one pound of loss this week since I know the weekend didn't go well. It will be a quality pound though, because it will put me under 200 lbs.

Hey, did you hear the one about my thighs getting smaller? Can I tell you again???

Friday, May 25, 2007

Bom Chicka Wow Wow!

I am so happy! The day started off with me waking up late and thinking I was going to be late for my workout, but I actually got there early and got fantastic parking. The workout was interesting, but my happiness really kicked in afterwards when I changed into my work clothes. Today I am wearing a button down shirt that a few months ago did not fit at all. Right now, it is buttoned all the way up and it is LOOSE! I had to put tape between the buttons at my chest, not because it was so tight they were pulling, but because it was so loose it was hanging open. I have never had that issue with a shirt before. I'm extra excited, because I didn't think I could button the top two buttons (I brought a camisole to wear underneath). The last time I wore it was on Easter and I could only (barely) button one button near the waist. Today, I'm all buttoned. I feel awesome!

--------(message above is from this morning)-----------

Now it's the afternoon and I'm back from my weekly weigh in. I must say, I feel like a rock star. I'm feeling so good I might even attempt to buy a pair of shorts this afternoon to wear over Memorial Day weekend. Shorts are my most feared clothing item, even worse than bathing suits. However, it's hot, they're necessary, and I'm going to try and ride the wave of self confidence into the dressing room. Hopefully it will come back out with me. I'm going to try and get some before and in progress photos to post on here soon. The internet may soon know why I fear shorts. Oh well, I'm still a rock star.

So, how much does a rock star weigh? The answer is precisely 200.6 lbs. I've lost 3.2 lbs this week and 2% body fat. My trainer did my weigh in and gave me a ton of high fives when he saw how well I did and heard the story about my shirt. I can't wait until next week. All I need to lose is one pound and I'll be back under 200 lbs. I'm definitely going to keep up the extra cardio-it helped a lot. I'm also going to stay on South Beach Phase I. My husband agreed to join me if I make all of his food, so I'll have a partner in crime.

That's all folks! Have a great extended weekend!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Still Going Strong

I am literally working my butt off. I've been consistently putting in my hour of DDR each night and sticking to my low carb diet. My jeans are feeling looser, enough so that I wore a belt today. It's been a while since any of my belts even fit me. I'm so excited for the weigh in tomorrow. In addition to weighing in, the trainers will be taking our updated measurements. I'm expecting some great news.

I've decided that even though I've changed the diet a little bit, I'm going to keep the idea of taking a day off. This Saturday, I'm having S'mores ice cream for breakfast, heading to a beer and wine festival for lunch, and going to a pig roast at my neighbor's house for dinner. It's going to be a delicious piggy day. I even have an excuse for eating a lot: eating more a few days a week keeps your metabolism high when you're on a diet.

I deserve the indulgence. Last night, my husband was eating Chunky Monkey ice cream right next to me and I refused his offer to let me taste it. It smelled really good, but I stuck to my diet cherry coke. Tonight I will be practicing the will of steel again. We're going to see the new Pirates movie at the theater with the best popcorn around here, and I'm not having any. I can't even sneak in some nuts to snack on, because I'm staying away from them until I have proof whether they were causing my headaches or not. So far, it looks like they were, but I'm giving it a month.

On a daily basis I am wowed at my new ability to make decisions and stick to them. It might be easy for some people, but I usually get sucked in by TV or beer or tortilla chips or the couch or my kitties. I have a remarkable ability to do nothing. In the past two months, I've been so productive and focused that I feel...I don't know...it's like I'm growing up or finding myself.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

She's a Maniac...

...And She's Dancing Like She's Never Danced Before.

Last night I played another hour of DDR. I was tempted to lay on the couch all night (and did for a significant portion of it), but I got up and did my workout anyway. My husband was playing on his Nintendo DS while I boogied in front of the TV and when the screen declared I had achieved my workout goal, he said, "I can't believe you actually set that for an hour and did it." He wasn't being rude, it's just that usually once I'm on the couch, that's where he sees me for the rest of the night. This whole idea of making commitments to myself and not breaking them is very new, but I like it.

After a nice night of DDR, broccoli, TV, and kitties, I got to wake up at 6:30 am to get ready to go to my real workout. I got there early and decided to pass the time by testing out the scale that reduced me to tears last Friday. I'm trying to avoid all of the extra scale hopping, but I was pretty confident that the strict diet and extra exercise had at least gotten rid of the evil .8. Boo yah! I've lost 3 lbs! (I'm not bolding that just in case I jinx Friday.) I was so excited that I ran into the gym and interrupted the early class to tell my trainer. I was so excited that I lifted heavier weights during our workout. I was so excited that I almost got stuck in the mirror after I changed because I was so busy gazing at the hotness that is I minus three. (I know I shouldn't get so caught up in a number, but I don't know how I ever got to be over 200 lbs and I am very close to being back under it.)

Our workout today was pretty standard: jumping jacks, frogs, abs, and various weight stations. We did squats on the BOSU again, which we haven't done since way back in our first workout. I am a squatting machine now, but the BOSU still made me do them extremely slowly. Trainer Jeff remembered my comment about the wall squats from Monday, so we got to do those today, too. I still can't get over how intense wall squats with a medicine ball between your knees are. I could even feel my abs getting involved and shaking today. I love this exercise, but I think I'll wait a little while before requesting it again so no one throws a dumbbell at me.

In less than an hour, it will be time for me to go home and play DDR for another hour. I'm having salad with baked chicken for dinner. You won't hear any complaints from me, because I saw hotness in the mirror this morning. I can't believe it's been almost a month since I started this whole shebang. If the program doesn't get extended and ends in two months as was planned, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. I never thought I would utter these words, but I have an exercise routine.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)