Progress Pics - Long Overdue

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Well after a month a of Biggest Loser challenge, I am really starting to see results. In my last blog, I mentioned how I did my measurements for my first month and was down 0.75" in my waist. Now I see how. My before and afters are below!

Front View (January vs February)


My thighs look tighter... yay!

Side View (January vs February)

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February stands for FIYAH!!!

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

February stands for FIYAH!!! I am feeling super hyped right now. Last night, I decided to mix up my workout. I have been sorely missing my Turbo Jam DVDs which I gave to my mom and sister to kick off their workout routine.....They of course have not used them at all, but I figure I can always buy a new one. Anyway, I used netflix to rent Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown DVD. After poring through the reviews on Amazon, I still was not convinced of buying. There were a lot of people complaining about these dvds. But, I should have known that Jillian would not let me down. I tried out Level 1 last night and it was awesome! A complete change of pace from my normal workouts, yet still very challenging. It was fun and laid back as well. My abs are really feeling the burn this morning and all those chaturanga pushups have my triceps aflame. LOVE IT!!! This is definitely becoming a regular.

Then, because it was my last chance workout night, I knew that I needed to blast through some final calories before this morning's weigh in. My knees have been bugging me so I did not want to do the high impact BFBM video. I happened across a tae bo dvd I had gotten for $3 that was collecting dust - Billy's Favorite Moves. The first time I did this dvd I was not that impressed. But, I guess you really do get out what you put in. I was feeling the energy this time and had a great time and a good workout.

Plus, per my reward schedule, I just officially bought the yoga meltdown DVD and a set of Billy's Tae Bo Bootcamp series (they were dirt cheap on amazon and I couldn't resist). I can't wait to get a new rotation going.

Of course, on to the weigh in: WTF IS WRONG WITH MY SCALE???!!! I have had this scale forever and it has never given me any problems. I can step on the scale ten times in a row and it always gives me the same reading. The consistency was perfect and so reliable. Then this morning, I saw an awesome number on the scale. When I stepped on again to verify, it went up by 0.6lbs, then again by another 0.4, then by an additional 1lb!!! All in all, the last time I stepped on it was 2 lbs higher than the initial reading!! I was so upset. I don't know what to believe. I decided to weigh myself on my body fat scale. That scale is always about 1.3lbs less than my weight watchers scale. So I used that reading and added the 1.3. That put me at 133.6lbs (the same as yesterday on the WW scale). I am still unsure of what to believe..... Harrumph!

Either way that means that I am about to earn my next reward... New Undies. I just have to maintain my loss next week to get it. Next up is a new book.

Pound 1 - 136 - 1 Hour Massage, sooo necessary
Pound 2 - 135 - A new workout DVD
Pound 3 - 134 - New Undies

I am still tracking well. I think that is making a big difference for me. I feel that my abs are much tighter. In fact, as part of my BLC challenge I did my measurements for the end of January.

Waist - 27" (down 0.75" from Beginning of January, mostly post-holiday bloating)
Thigh - 21.75" (same)
hips - 36.75" (down 0.5")

Omg, I can't wait to get back into 26" territory on my waist. That would make me a solid size 4 with most designers. This month, I am REALLLY REALLLLY REALLLLLY aiming to get under 130lbs!! I would be elated! I do have some major obstacles ahead this month. Two weekends of traveling, valentine's day, restaurant week (I am going to dinner tomorrow. Three courses and the menu is a foodie's wet dream! I can't wait, but I know it's not going to be good for the plan), taxes/financial aid apps, and major decisions about grad school which means stress.

Oh well, bring it on! Sorry for all the exclamation points... I am just so excited =)

This week's workout schedule:
Wed - 30DS Level 3 + 1
Thu - 5 Miles Tempo Run
Fri - Billy's favorite moves
Sat - 10 mile run
Sun - Zumba
Mon - 5 Mile Run
Tue - NMTZ

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Musings

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Okay, so I am feeling really good about February. I am getting my former mojo back for sure! Check out my fitness minutes for January. I finally cross the 1,000 monthly minutes mark with 1,163 minutes. Higher than any month since August! I still can't believe that I let it get that bad....





I have been tracking!!! Yay!!!! I think the thing I am looking forward to most is having historically data.

Sun - 1942 (eek!)
Mon - 1569
Tue - Aiming for 1486

My eating seems to naturally converge to the 1450-1550 range. I just need to reduce the number of my high cal days. I should definitely be able to stick with my 1500 cal average goal.

Plus, I have new motivation. It's Victoria's Secret bathing suit season again! Yay! A couple years ago, I took the plunge and bought a monokini. Well, this year my goal is to buy a REAL bikini. This will be the first time that I have ever worn one before. I've already picked one out. It is going to be my reward for hitting a healthy BMI - 127. I would be ecstatic if I could get it by the end of March when I am going to Cali. Check it out.



I weighed in at 133.6 this morning. I would be SOOOO happy if it stuck for tomorrow's BLC weigh-in. I am crossing my fingers and drinking lots of water. Gotta flush out the toxins, haha. Wish me luck!

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No More Half A$$ing! February Edition

Monday, January 31, 2011

This morning I woke up a little discouraged. At the moment, I did not realize why. But it is now clear to me. Today is January 31st meaning that another month is beginning and I feel like my progress has been stunted. Based on this morning weigh-in, I have lost about 2 pounds for the month of January. It is a little disheartening what little progress I have made. And even more heart-breaking is that I know that it is my fault. I have been half-a$$ my lifestyle lately. Even though I have seen my friends and family start to step up and be inspired by my weight loss journey, I find myself letting myself and them down with the choices I know that I have no business making.

I caught up with one of my friends last week who I hadn't seen since the summer and she had lost 40lbs! I was so happy for her. Something really clicked for her and she was on her way. My other friend and I went to Zumba class together, she's been asking my advice on eating tips and she has started running ... OUTSIDE! It's incredible to see the spark spreading and I am so happy to have been a part of it.

BUT..... I feel like I am shining my light it is blocked by a greasy glass shade and I know I can do better than that. Strangely this realization was partially prompted by my shopping trip. I have a love hate relationship with shopping. I love clothes and feeling good about myself and my presentation, but I also feel a lot of anxiety and insecurity when I do go shopping which means that I avoid it or when I go, I don't buy anything. Hence why I have very few clothes and especially few clothes that I am proud of. Anyway, a group of my co-workers decided to make a shopping trip to the outlet mall outside of the city. It was AMAZING! I am not really a brand-conscious person, but these clothes were gorgeous. It was a strange relief that I was able to shop un-self-consciously with a group of skinny girls. I used to avoid designer stores because I figured that they wouldn't carry my size. I ended up buying so many great pieces at ridiculous discounts. It was the first time that I have ever come home from shopping and felt at peace with every single purchase (including my splurgy new turquoise purse =).

While I was happy with how everything went, it made me realize how unhappy I have been in holding back on my shopping. I currently have one pair of jeans that I bought for $10 7 months ago and that is a size too big. It is not cute, but I haven't invested in new one's for all this time out of fear that I would lose more and essentially waste my money. I am tired of holding back. I found myself being profoundly frustrated by the fact that I could not enjoy my clothes because I was always waiting to go down to the next size or to FINALLY be in maintenance. One of the girls I was shopping with did not even try on anything. She grabbed from the rack and took it straight to the register. Mind you, there are no returns at these stores. I ached with jealousy at the thought of actually knowing my size for once!!

Okay, that was a VERY long way of explaining why I woke up kind of down this morning. Oh and not to mention that I did not get in my 8-mile run this weekend. I will have to do it tonight on the dreadmill.

Okay Okay, I will stop rambling (this blog is very stream of consciousness). The point is... I need to recommit to my healthy lifestyle - ESPECIALLY when it comes to food. That is what has been holding me back. January was my best month in terms of exercise in MONTHS! So, I should have lost more. I didn't because of my poor eating choices.

So yesterday was . I tracked ALLLLL of my food intake for yesterday. Something I haven't done in months. At 1942 calories, it was not pretty. I was very liberal with my estimations though using a three cheese and bacon omelette from Friendly's to estimate the calories for a simple cheese and bacon omelette with a side salad from a french bistro. It's highly unlikely that the omelette was that bad. But, I figure over estimation is best.

So, I have gone back to basics. I actually checked on my calorie differential report for the first time in months and saw that my BMR is now about 1680. I want to lose a pound a week, which means that (assuming that I burn 2300 calories working out) I can eat an average of 1500 calories per day. This seems reasonable to me. I'll admit I am a little worried. I guess I am scared of being hungry, since I haven't been at all before. I am scared of needing the willpower to resist things. I guess my eating mindset has been very maintenance like. I eat nutritious foods when I want and how much I want. It has worked pretty nicely with regards to maintenance (with the exception of eating non-nutritious foods during the holidays, eek!). Another issue is I still haven't gotten a handle on how to balance my calories on workout days. I am planning to run 8 miles tonight so I doubt 1500 will cut it and even sounds unhealthy considering that I will burn 900-1000 cals during the workout.... But I don't want to eat more, because I already went over yesterday. BLEH! I think I will try some form of calorie cycling. Planning my workouts and corresponding caloric intake for the week.

I realized I hadn't set monthly goals in forever.

Here they are for February:

1) Another 1,000 monthly fitness minutes badge
2) Tracking my food 24 out of 28 days of the month
3) With exactly four weeks in the month, I want to be 4 pounds down. This will put me right above 130.
4) Complete my run training program 3 times per week.
5) THIS IS A BIGGIE (and I almost forgot it...) Alcohol only 2 times in February. One is for valentines....I have realized how alcohol really throws me off of my game and my tolerance is rock bottom now. It's embarassing, haha.

I have my next BLC weigh-in and measurements on Wednesday. That way I will have a base line.

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Speed Work and Pampering

Friday, January 28, 2011

Warning: boring blog here.

I woke up this morning feeling peaceful. I had a great night last night hanging out with friends. Even better, I was super proud of myself for getting in my workout. One of my biggest reasons for preferring to workout in the morning is that then the workout doesn't interfere with evening plans. Well I didn't wake up early enough yesterday and I knew that my friends and I were supposed to go to this happy hour. I left work early and got home fast and went straight for the gym. I was determined to get my workout done and stay true to my commitment even if it did mean being over an hour late for the event in the end.

Even better than that, yesterday was my speed work run for my half marathon training. I had to kick it up to 7.6 mph for two 1 mile intervals of a 5 mile run. It was tough. I had to really focus on my breathe and regulating my heart rate. I had gone fast before but never for a full mile. I felt so good about myself afterward. I feel lean and strong again. This morning I measured my body fat at 23.8%. It's going down again. It's amazing how I can basically read my body fat levels just by how I feel. I feel sloppy and lethargic when it is increasing.

This week I have fallen back in love with salads. Surprisingly, I found that eating salads meant that my fat intake was MUCH higher than normal. (Side Note: Hurray for tracking!! I have actually tracked for a few days this week. Unheard of!) Most of my toppings on salads are packed with (healthy) fats - olive oil, walnuts, avocados, some cheeses. Accordingly, my carb intake has been much lower as well. So far, I feel okay. I haven't been able to tell a difference in energy, but my stomach does tend to be less settled. It deals with carbs very efficiently, fat... not so much. Oh, well. I will ride the salad train as long as possible. Maybe I can get more definition in my abs!

Also, I am super excited for this weekend. I have lots of fun plans

Here are the plans for this weekend:
Mani/Pedi - CHECK!
Girls Shopping Trip - CHECK!
1 Hour Hot Oil Massage - CHECK!
Zumba - CHECK!
Brunch plans - CHECK!
8 Mile Long Run - CHECK!

I have scheduled my massage for Saturday as part of my reward. Also, I found a local studio that has a Zumba class on Sunday morning. I figured I'd try the live version before committing to getting the DVDs. And one of my good friends will be joining me there. Tonight I am going for a desperately needed pedicure. Good times!

P.S. I have crossed 2000 calories burned for the second week in a row. Tomorrow is my Cats weigh-in. I am really hoping I can see 133ish. Tonight, the plan is to do BL Bootcamp. Maybe I'll add yoga meltdown if I still have energy.

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