Woo Hoo

35 pounds! The tourtise is winning the race! Those new clothes are going to look good on me in Brazil!

Switching from the carrot to the stick (don't like carrots anyway)

In my last post of March 14th, I complained about doing everything right and not losing weight.  I find that when I do the work correctly and I do not get the "A." I get discouraged and want to quit or emotionally eat to console the agony of defeat...

I had been stuck between 22-24 pounds lost for about two months and got sick of it.  I was eating fairly well, but some days were better than others.  I was also only getting to the gym 3-4 days per week.  I had been participating in a challenge at the gym to lose weight, but when I fell behind, the incentive for the $750 was not big enough to keep me going.

 Two weeks ago, I bought tickets for Brazil this summer at the end of June and I thought I had better do something to kick myself in the butt.  I am still working out with my trainer twice a week, but I needed more....  Since the carrot was not working, I went for the stick.  I decided to enlist the help of my trainer.  If I do not email him my food journal daily, it costs me $5.  Saturdays are my hardest day to get to the gym.... if I do not go it costs me $15.  That totals $50 per week. He gets to keep whatever he gets as a tip.  So far, I have made it two weeks without giving him a dime.  I am also down 5 pounds.  This challenge ends June 28.  I have 13 more pounds to go!

For the last two weeks I have made it to the gym 5 times a week and have written down every bite of food.  I find that with someone else reading my food journal, I am more likely not to put the food in my mouth.  I don't like being scolded.  I have also stood in the front row of a step class (2 time to go ever).  It was not pretty, but according to my heart rate monitor, it was a good workout.  I had another triumph.  I forgot my tennis shoes last Friday but did not give up on the workout... I had a swimsuit so I went to the pool. 

Last, I am wearing a suit today that I have not been in for two years.  YEAH!

Slow and steady can still win the race, right?

Where is my Wagon?

The horses ran off and the wagon came unhitched.  Could someone please rehitch them to my wagon?  Where is my wagon anyway?

So I fell off the "wagon" like so many times in my life.  I went more than a week without losing weight while working out and eating right, my daughter got sick, and I felt sick too (just one of the days in question).  Did I get on my bike at home? No.  Did I make it to the gym since Tuesday? No. (swimming lessons have fallen apart for my daughter)  Did I overeat? YES.  I have been so hungry.  I gave in to my hunger last Wednesday by eating a double portion of meat, many wheat thins (probably 3 servings), and 2 wafer cookies.  Now Thursday, I did well until dinner.  We went to a fundraiser and they were serving appetizers.  It was also a wine tasting.  I had two glasses of wine and an uncountable number of appetizers including dessert.  I felt so guilty for the next 2 days and my scale was up 3 pounds too.  I am not sure how some people follow those diets where you get one cheat day to eat all and anything you want which will supposedly keep your metabolism guessing.  I seriously have a problem stopping with just one bite of dessert if there is more dessert sitting in front of me.  I am better off just not taking that first bite or just making a small serving.  I do get the feeling though that I need to figure out some way to have a small amount of dessert at least a couple of nights a week.  I made chocolate covered strawberries last night. Yumm.  I only ate two like I was supposed to and it satisfied my sweet craving.

I need to cook more and plan my meals.  I am getting tired of eating the same things.  Although I have been eating out.  Eating out is not that great though, because I stick to salads.  Anyone have any great recipes to share and have you tried any more FR recipes? 

Today, I am getting back to the gym! Clothes are in the car.  Check on me to see if I went.  My weight is back down and I have lost another half pound so I have turned things around.... again.  I am down two sizes and it is nice to go shopping in my closet. 

Thanks for all your support, I need it.  I do not go it alone well and wish I had a gym buddy.

5k anyone?!!?

So I have to say that I have been pretty uninspired this past week and HUNGRY!  I have been eating about 200 more calories than I have been a day (half of a Lara bar before and after my workout).  I have hit a plateau ( i hate them), but I know they are happen and am waiting for it to pass. It has been 1 week and no weight loss.  My workouts with my trainer twice a week have been going great. He can make the sweat pour.  We have also been using the kettlebells a lot, which I like.

I did make an appointment to get my RMR and my VO2 max done in a couple of weeks but then a meeting was scheduled at the same time.  I will reschedule.  I also got my paperwork to get my blood work done.  I need to make sure that nothing is up on that front as well. 

Now for the fun part:
So yesterday I thought I would do my own treading class.  It consists of  5 min running, 5 min active recovery, 4 min running, 4 min active recovery.... you get the picture.  They were showing National Security? in the cardio theatre in the gym.  I was worried about getting to 5 because I have not run the two weeks since I have been home and I did not run longer than 5 minutes at FR.   So I started my run for 5 minutes at a 5.2... I got to 5 minutes and I thought I am doing ok, I should go for 7.... got to 7, I am doing ok, I should got for 10... got to 10... you get the picture. I RAN for 20 minutes before taking a 2 minute recovery and then I ran again.  I ran a 5k and only walked for 3.5 minutes!!!! YEAH!  As you can see from my blog pictures, I have run before.  I did not think I had the lungs for it anymore.  My friend Kamala and I were looking for a 30 day goal and we thought there was no way that a St Patrick 5k was possible. Well... I was wrong :)

Back Again

I am not sure how the people at FR find the energy to blog every night.  I did not.  I did try to workout after dinner and had to work some nights, so that may have been part of it.  I also got very frustrated and sore.  I had a very hard time keeping a positive attitude after gaining weight after the first week.  That did not mean that I still did not give it my all.  In the back of my mind, I had this hope that  a miracle would happen and my body would make up for all the weight I held onto the first week.  I found myself not being able to focus on my successes (did I ever say how competive I am).  I kicked some butt on the hikes after the first 5 days.  I was the only one that for both of my two weeks to choose the hardest hikes on Saturday, just for the extra calorie burn.  I also ran on the treadmill for the treading class between a 5.4 and 6.5.  I did some really cool releases with the kettlebells.  I took 5 personal training classes in addition to the regular schedule. 

I lost 2.5 pounds at FR in the two weeks I was there and .5 inches from my hips and waist (I think that was a gift from Ursula).  I expected to lose at least 10 pounds from my BodyBugg.

I am 1 day away from 2 months at this and I have lost 21.5 pounds,  yet I still have problems recognizing that sucess.  Not sure why I am so hard on myself, but not losing what I expected at FR really weighs heavy on my self esteem. I feel like I failed.  Why can't I pull out of that mindset?

I need to get to the gym.  I usually feel better when I do, and I missed two workouts.

Oh, for my 20 pound reward I purchased a new gym bag for myself. It is the size of the lockers, so no more stuffing my duffle bag into the locker :)

I called this morning to get my RMR  and VO2 max tested.  So I keep moving forward, even if it feels like I am moving through mud.  Not only am I competitive, but I am stubborn too.

A day turned difficult

I have to say the day started off well.  I made it to the gym at 6am to an extra workout before breakfast.  The Monday assessment hike went well and I was able to keep up.... except for a tweek that I felt in my quad when running down a hill. It felt like a cramp so I ignored it and kept going, massaging it as I went.   Well, it continued to get worse as the day went on.  I am not sure if I pulled or tore something... it just hurts.  I am taking the night off and icing it.  It is really getting me down mentally though.  I have been dealing mentally with not losing weight (actually gaining) here but now with the thought of not being able to do everything, just stinks.  Just in a funk I guess.  I hope tomorrow is better.

Great Intentions

When I arrived at FR, I had all of the great intentions to blog daily about my calorie burn, the great food, hikes, and classes.  Instead, I have done my best just to get a shower before going to bed.  Now my days are not exactly slow here because I have been adding personal training sessions, Nutrition Appts, Massage, and Counseling in addition to all the classes.  Oh and I can't forget I have had to work about 1:30 hours per day up until today.  I got so mad and tired about work on Wednesday, I started crying when someone said it looked like I was having a rough day. 

To give you an idea, I have been burning 3500 - 4000 calories per day according to my BodyBugg. Today will be the lowest because I missed the hike to go to the Urgent Care for my asthma.  I have been down this road before and I did not want to get too sick.  I could feel it settling in my chest.  So now I have prednisone and antibiotics.  Hopefully I will be much better by Monday.

Now for the toughest part of my day.  At the Urgent Care they wanted a weight.  I thought to myself "cool"  because I am a daily weigher and I like to know where I am at all times.  Well..... It read a 3 pound weight gain!   Now I know what you are thinking.  Different scale.  I was too, in order to calm myself down. So, when I got back to FR I tried to find Essara and when I could not find her, I found the scale.  It read 3 pounds up as well.  I wanted to throw the scale out of the glass window.  I was so upset. This is Friday!  Do you realize how hard I have been working out?  I also weighed in at 3:30pm on Sunday after traveling all day.  This weight was at 10am.
This SUCKS!  Not sure what the problem is but my body needs to go back to elementary school to learn simple subtraction! 

Now for the good part of the week (may write other highlights later):  I have had two sessions with Michael.  He is a trainer that teaches Russian style kettle bells.  I have learned all kinds of releases and flips that I never would have thought I could do.  Really cool!