Weight Loss Wednesday - Small Victories

Here's my happy feet in my new shoes:

I'm so excited - I can't wait till I have money and can get more :)  I weighed myself at Mom's again and her scale said 186.  So maybe a 1 lb. muscle gain from bootcamp?

I've been doing Zumba and will probably do some circuit training next week to mix it up some.  I've been trying to limit my carbs to about 100 grams a day - not too horribly hard since I've mostly been craving proteins anyway.  Not too much to report this week.  I don't want to be taking my measurements every week since there wouldn't be much change - I like surprising myself with big numbers.  So here's me in my dress at the wedding - an outdoor wedding during a heatwave.

Oh yes, one more small victory - I can wrap a 48" towel around myself and it closes completely from the bust to the hip.  Still have a small open triangle at the upper thigh, but I've gotten away from the Super Sized towels I needed to cover me :)

Oh P.S. Big shout out Happy Birthday to Mom today!

Weight Loss Wednesday - Shake It!

Shush already!  I know it's not Wednesday - just pretend.  So when I left Bootcamp last Friday, I stepped on the scale and it said 188.4.  Either Mom's scale is wrong, or I gained 3 lbs of muscle in 3 weeks.  Let's go with 3 lbs of muscle.  My measurements were as follows:

Bust: 43"                0"
Waist: 39"             -1"
Hips: 47"               -.25"
Arms: 14.25"         -.5"

Compared with the last set of measurements:
Start:                                      6/20:                                       Change:
Bust 43.5"                              43"                                              - .5"
Waist 41.5"                            40"                                              -1.5"
Hips 49"                                 47.25                                           -1.75"
Arm 15"                                 14.75                                           - .25"

Not bad for 3 weeks, especially with all that large muscle group work.  This week I've gone back to my DVD/TV routines, since now I have to kick my own butt.  My beautiful, gorgeous, skinny but also had 4 kids sister is a Zumba instructor.  She lives 3000 miles away, or else I would let her kick my butt (only for exercise reasons!).  But she was kind of enough to hook me up with some DVDs.  Zumba's been kicking my butt this week!  I just want to say that if you do 50 minutes of Zumba 5 days a week, you will lose inches - it just melts away.  If you don't know what it is, it's basically Latin dancing - salsa, meringue, some hip hop, all set to routines.  If you shake your butt while you are doing all this jumping around, you can actually feel your waist getting smaller.

These are my measurements this morning:
Bust: 42"                -1"
Waist: 38"              -1"
Hips: 46"                -1"
Arms: 13.75"         -.5"
I'm not kidding!!!!  The bootcamp measurements were taken Friday.  I took these this morning - I haven't done today's Zumba yet!  But I will in 10 minutes when I finish.

Small Victory:  I loved stilettos as a teen.  I used to vacuum the house in them - I wore them everywhere.  I haven't been able to wear any skinny heel for 15 years - even if it was only 1.5".  I've been stuck with flats, until the Wedge Revolution happened a couple of years ago.  Thank goodness for the 70s - wedges and platforms have given me the illusion that I was in heels for last 3 years.

Over the weekend, hubby wanted to go to Steinmart to buy a dress shirt for a wedding we are going to on Saturday.  I saw these shoes and I've been dying to try on a pair in this style for about a year, but could never get up the nerve.  I mean what's the point, I'll love how they look and then I'll break my ankle 45 seconds later.

Yep, Fergalicious!  I tried them on anyway.  They felt great and I COULD WALK in them without any problem!  I pranced around the store for 5 minutes without incident.  I couldn't believe it.  I can usually tell in less than 30 seconds that a heel is too narrow or too high to support my weight.  I was practically in tears!  I didn't buy them - not enough money on hand.  Maybe it was fluke.  So I went to RackRoom yesterday for Test 2.  I tried these on:

They had music on in the store - I danced inconspicuously between aisles for 5 minutes, then walked around for another 10.  No problems!  My high, narrow heel wearing days are back!  I am SOOOOO excited!  Thank you Bootcamp!  Thank you Zumba!  You are making my dreams come true!  After Saturday's wedding, I'll post a picture of me in the heels I bought for myself (neither of these).  Well, gotta go - Beto and his Calypso beat are calling me :)

Weight Loss Wednesday - Boot Camp Week 2 & 3

Okay, well I took last week off from blogging, but I did have an abbreviated Boot Camp.  They gave us Monday off for the holiday and boy, did I need it!  The 3 days off gave me time to languish in my pain and heal up a bit.  Once we started up again, I was still very sore after the workouts but I felt like my endurance was improving.

So far this week, we've been concentrating on heavy lifting and large muscle groups, so my knee is whacked again, but there's only 2 more days and I can consider myself a survivor.  I definitely feel muscle building, but I don't feel any inch loss - we'll see when I measure next week.  I like the idea of the Boot Camp.  I may do it again in the winter after I've had a chance to whittle away at the fat more.  I definitely don't want to build everything I have into muscle - need to lose more inches first.

Still disliking the skinny people there, but I feel progress is being made, so giving myself a pat on the lats for not ending up flat on the floor :)

I Feel Amazing!

I did it!  I made it through a whole week of bootcamp.  It was REALLY hard and I even thought about skipping out of it one night.  I was really sore all week.  Now after day 5 is complete, I'm not nearly as sore.  I still can't complete each exercise repetitions until the end, but I didn't collapse and I pushed myself to my limit. 

I feel great!  I've been getting amazing sleep and waking up fully refreshed an hour earlier than usual.  My food cravings are regulating what I eat and I'm finding that it's working.  I've been craving proteins and fruits on a more consistent basis.  I am eating carbs, but they are portion controlled.  I don't feel stuffed or sluggish.

My summer Latin and Chemistry classes are finished also.  And I managed to get the final grading done right away, so I feel mentally relieved as well.  I have so many summer projects I want to get to - a teacher's manual for Latin that I'm writing for homeschoolers, lesson planning for the new school year, sewing projects for my shop, and lots of fact finding for the American History class I'm teaching this Fall.

I'm ready to take it all on - I feel good mentally and physically.  Next weekend, I'm taking my boys on vacation to the annual sci-fi convention - so psyched!  Feeling good feels good :)  Still busier than I should be, but I feel like I'm taking care of me.

Weight Loss Wednesday - Boot Camp Week 1

I'm broken.  I'm writing as I'm getting to go in for day 3 of 5 this week and I'm already broken.  I shudder to think what would've happened to me if I hadn't started working out a month ago!  Most of the people doing this have done it many times and are within their correct body weight ranges, which of course, makes me feel horribly inferior.  They are sweating and puffing as much as I am - the difference is that they are completing each set of exercises.  I'm not.  I would be in the hospital if I tried to keep up.  What have they done to me so far?

Day 1 Strength
5 Stations - 5 minutes each, 3 exercises each, 50 reps each exercise.
So this was not on machines, but rather these hideous moves like Mountain Climbers and Burpees, planks and sprints, and all sorts of jumping around and using things like kettle bells and rubber tubes.
Very sweaty and not so bad until I woke up the next morning and couldn't move well.

Day 2 Conditioning
6 Stations - 2 exercises each, 45 seconds spent on each one - twice
This was supposed to be the light day, I was told.  Bah!  Jumping jacks, push ups, reverse lifts and lunges, etc.  More sweat and a quickly deteriorating knee last night.  I think I've already made the decision to not go to Thursday's class, because I'm worried about my knee.  We'll see how I feel after Day 3's workout.

Day 3 Strength
6 stations - 1 exercise, 50 seconds, 10 second rest to move to the next station - 4 rounds
Oh sweet blessed relief!  It was arms day!  Okay, yes I still sweat like a pig, and was shaking from the effort; but at least my knee was spared.  We did rows, lifts, plank rows, and other nifty things involving weights and bands.  I was silently cursing - others were grunting out loud with each exertion.  Sweat was flying everywhere - quite nasty if you ask me.  BUT, I did it!  And since my knee got a reprieve, I will go tomorrow night.

P.S. They have a scale there.  I didn't get on it - I'm a little frightened.  Maybe I'll do it next week.  Blaise says I look like I should be losing 1 pound a day from all the sweat that comes off me.  Wouldn't that be nice?

Friday Foodie: A Typical Day of Organics

In today's Friday Foodie, I thought I'd share with you a typical day in my diet.  Now, when I use the word "diet", I don't mean that I'm on some menu trying to lose weight or even counting calories.  I'm just letting you know what a food day is like for me.  I'm choosing yesterday's meals because it was a particularly busy day and I didn't feel like cooking.  I'm sure many people can relate to that!

After workout and shower, I had a 20 oz. glass of water and 2 hard boiled eggs with salt.  I find that I really crave proteins only after my workout.  Just that little bit fills me up until lunchtime.  The days that I ignore my protein craving and have cereal instead, I'm usually ready for a snack 2 hours later.

3.5 hours later, it's lunch time.  I made a salad with green and red leaf organic lettuce (never use iceberg - it has no nutrients; it's just a ball of crunchy water), black olives, dried cranberries, bacon bits, organic tomatoes, shredded colby jack, and sliced chicken I had grilled the night before.  Quick, easy, and no heat necessary!  I had blue cheese dressing - not light, just regular yummy blue cheese dressing :)

3 hours later, got home from school and the kiddies were screaming for smoothies.  Why not?  I used frozen blueberries, 100% Juice Cherry Pomegranate juice (for extra vitamins!), and raspberry sherbet.  Delish and filling!

3 hours later, chicken sausage cooked and crumbled, sauteed onions over hash browns (potatoes run through my salad shooter) and a side of scrambled organic eggs with cheese.

2 hours later, 2 handfuls of baked Cheese Nips while watching Eureka.

At some point during the day, I had about 4 other glasses of water, 1 glass of iced tea, and half a glass of grape Fanta.  I try not to fight my cravings - that just makes them spiral out of control.  I'm not an emotional eater, so I usually only eat when I'm hungry.  I try to make sure that my portions are within recommended guidelines, but that doesn't always work - most of the time it does though.  I just can't put off eating until I'm starving because that's when I eat waaayyyy too much.

So that's it :)

Weight Loss Wednesday - Baby Steps

Well, I'm actually amazed that I've made it this far. Usually, I would've given up by now, since I hate sweating and I'm tired from the one million things I have to do. So Yay me! Small victory - I'm still working out 4 or 5 mornings a week. On Mon/Wed/Fri, I usually go for the 45 - 60 minute workout, Pilates, Yoga, or some Core strength routine. Tues/Thurs (I have school classes at 10am) I do 25-30 minute cardio - jump around, dance/sculpt. Comcast has a variety of workouts in the On Demand section, and they vary every 3-4 weeks. I also found that ExerciseTV has a few free downloadable workout plans. You can more if you buy a subscription, but the free ones correspond to the On Demand workouts, so it takes the guesswork out of it. I have one that I want to start, but I'm waiting.

Back in October, I had bought a Groupon deal for one of my local gyms - 3 week Express Bootcamp. They were completely overwhelmed by the number of deals bought and are just now getting to me. My Bootcamp starts on Monday, 6/27. I figure that will kick my butt pretty fiercely, so ExerciseTV can wait a month. I'm actually a little scared about this bootcamp. They SAY all fitness levels, but I don't believe that. So I'm really glad that I've already been working out for a month, because this blog might've been coming to you from the hospital.

So you want to know how I'm progressing?

Start:                                    6/20:                                 Change:
Bust 43.5"                            43"                                          - .5"
Waist 41.5"                          40"                                         -1.5"
Hips 49"                               47.25                                    -1.75"
Arm 15"                             14.75                                        - .25"
I think I'm ready to go down one size in underwear, but I'm gonna hold out a little while longer :) Wanted to share a little tidbit with you - I read somewhere on the web a couple of years ago that if you stick with your workout during PMS week, you actually lose 30% more fat that week than any other week of the month. Don't remember where I saw that, but I'm going with it.

So there it is, I'll give you more stats AFTER the Bootcamp (provided I'm not writing from the hospital!)

Weight Loss Wednesday - No Pain, No Loss

Oh! Dear lord, please save me from sweat! I hate sweating; it's so un-ladylike! Also, please save me from the boredom of DVD workouts. I have 3. How many times can I rotate them to make them interesting and useful. Here's a little tidbit for you Weight Loss Warriors, doing the same workout day after day results in less.... results. That's right. If you walk every day, your body becomes used to the movements and the movements become less effective as a weight loss mechanism. How do you know? You're not sore.

Remember that addage, "No pain, no gain." It's actually true. When you've done the first workout, you are sore the next day. When you've done the same workout day after day, you're not sore the next day any more. Why? Muscle memory.

Oh save me from muscle memory! You have to vary the workout type, and be sore. If you're not sore twice a week, it's not working anymore to the efficiency that it first was. So you are now asking this Weight Loss Warrior what she's doing now.

On May 18th, I turned on my streaming Netflix (to my Roku player - see my Cutting the Cable series) on to a Crunch Pilates series video. It kicked my ass - my 185 lb ass, that hasn't exercised in at least 3 years. I was sore the next day, and worse - the day after that. We had a family trip so I couldn't exercise again until the next week - excuse I know, but I don't have spousal support in this endeavor, so I have to work out when he's not around. So lesson to you, do what you have to do when nobody's looking if you don't have support. Hold yourself accountable to supportive friends or the general public (like I've suckered you into).

So week 2 entailed the same workout and I was sore the next day, but not so much. Changed it up on day 2, definitely sore the next day. So I took that day off. I started up again the next week on Monday. I did a different Pilates video, but didn't feel as sore - see how quickly the body adjusts. Went back to the first video on Tuesday - I know, I was just testing - call it the scientist in me. I took Wednesday off. Then on Thursday did a 3rd different Pilates video - a tiny bit sore. On Friday, I did a cardio dance video. I was slightly sore after that, which meant I would feel it the next day. Progress. Ugh! The price to be a goddess.

So my pattern will have to change daily, because I cannot afford days that I'm not sore. I only have a finite amount of time. School, and the hectic schedule that goes along with it, starts again in August.

I'll let you know next week how my inch stats are doing.

Weight Loss Wednesday - Changing the Essentials

Okay, so this really is Part III in my series, but I'm not going to keep numbering them since these are likely to go on forever, so I'll try to subtitle them with a relevant subject pertinent to my ongoing journey. I last left you with meeting my friend Jenny, who gave me a book to read. That book was "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" by Barbara Kingsolver. I have already posted on this blog about the impact that this book made on my life. I immediately went out and began buying local farm foods and whatever organic products I could find at a reasonable price (for a one-income family of 6).

I've always been a cook-from-scratch girl, so it wasn't too much of a switch for me - only ingredient-wise. I've always spent an hour cooking dinner, thinking about what I'm going to make right after breakfast. As I was making this food source change for my family, my children were at the ages of 12, 9, 6, and 3. I was very happy that they all embraced it well. We began buying pasture-raised meat, and joined a CSA. We started a home garden in our very regulated sub-division.

At this point in my constant weight loss journey, I just became concerned with eating locally and healthfully. My brother-in-law told me about Dr. Douglass' website and I started reading that and putting together what I knew about how people ate in pre-industrial times. It all began to make sense. Eliminate the preserved, enriched, and chemical additive foods, and simply make whatever you want from wholesome, fresh ingredients. "What does that mean?", you ask. That means that low-fat margarine is so much worse for you than real butter ever would be. I'll get into those things in future posts, so don't go away :)

Anyway, back to the present, it's been about 3 years since I went strictly natural, organic with my food ingredients. During that time, I have actually gotten so busy with homeschooling, teaching classes for the outside world, and managing my online dress shop that exercising has become a non-existent factor in my life. So what do I weigh now?

185 lbs.

Not perfect, by any stretch. I'm still 5'4", although those heels in the picture make me 5'8" - heehee! However, I hadn't stepped on a scale in over 3 years because it's my enemy and I get obsessed with it. My scale doesn't even have working batteries. I used my mom's scale last month while visiting for a museum trip. I was stunned! I was fully expecting 210lbs since I don't exercise. I don't eat less, I just eat food that I know where it's been, where it was grown, how it was grown, and what I did with it once it got to me.

So now that my hectic school schedule is over for now, I'm on the exercise bandwagon. I want to be 165 lbs or less. I'm actually more concerned with inch loss than a number on the scale - especially because I'll have to go use a scale at a store to check it. I began exercising on May 17th, but only did one day that week because I forgot hubby took the next 2 days off work. I don't exercise when he's home - I feel self-conscious and he makes the occasional failure type of comment. But that probably worked out okay, because I sort of eased into it. Starting stats:
Bust: 43.5"
Waist: 41.5"
Hips: 49"
Arms: 15"

Ask me how I'm doing beyond the posts I'm going to make. I won't lie to you. If you know me personally, you know I'm brutally honest, even with myself. This is my constant struggle - weight loss. The one thing in my life I don't do well but I'm not afraid to try. Let me know I'm not alone, comment with your failures and successes. If a friend of yours is going through this same struggle, invite them to read along and comment on what works for them.

And by the way, I want everyone to know, that I truly believe beauty comes in all sizes. I love making dresses for plus-sized women because I think the world thinks we should all be in muu-muus. We have a sense of fashion and want to show off our assets - and yes, everyone has a least one. Stay tuned, walk with me, I promise it won't be all bliss :)

Weight Loss Woes - Part II

I maintained that steady 175lbs for the next 3 years and became pregnant with my second son. Yes, I was paranoid about more weight gain, so I was diligently counting every morsel that went into my mouth. I delivered an 8 lb 2 oz boy with only a 15lb weight gain. I was thrilled - on both counts! But that still left me at 175-180lbs.

About that time I heard about the Atkins diet, no carbs, ketones, etc. I thought that since the low-fat, calorie counting way wasn't making any difference, I would try that. I met a lady who provided weekly check-ins - check the food diary, step on the scale, here have a B6/B12 shot, pee on the ketone stick please. I did that for almost a year and lost 40 lbs. Ecstatic, yes, miserable, definitely. I'm married to a meat and potatoes guy. I can't tell you how many times I had to hear that I was punishing him by not making carbs with dinner, and just because I needed to diet, he shouldn't have to do without. So, yes, then I started making the mashed potatoes, rice, noodles, and not eating it. It sucked. But I was thin! Oh, and guess what, I was pregnant again.

Ketone lady worked with me during that pregnancy to make sure I didn't gain tremendous amounts of weight. I was walking 3 miles a day at 5am because we lived in Phoenix, and in the summer (March to November) that's the coolest part of the day - at 95-103 degrees. So I delivered a healthy 6lb 4oz girl one month early, but dang! I was only 155lbs when I walked out of the hospital. I managed to stay at that weight for another 2 years.

Then we moved. Cross country. AZ to VA. And I kept my job, which meant I was working from home. No more gym, new area, and life was just managing fires. 3 kids, an ailing parent-in-law, job stress, looking for a new job... Started a new job one year later (in an office) at 175lbs again. 3 months into that job, oh yes you guessed it, I was pregnant again. I had stopped that whole Atkins thing when we moved, since I couldn't bring Ketone Lady with me. I did start walking with a neighbor - a couple of miles a couple of times a week. Obviously that wasn't doing the trick since I put on 20 lbs within a year of my arrival.

So, I walked into the hospital on December 20, 2002 weighing in at 225 lbs and delivered an 8lb 6oz boy 7 hours later. 3 months after the birth, I was a steady 195-205 lbs. Here's a picture of me in December 2005 at about 205 lbs.

That was also the year I quit my very good Human Resources Manager job to homeschool my oldest (6th grade). Many changes that year, some good, some bad. Loss of more than half the family income - bad. Homeschooling my child and connecting in a way I never thought possible - priceless. Weight gain - bad. Spending amazing time with my toddler - excellent. Redefining myself and becoming more than I even thought I was capable - nothing short of amazing. Did I say weight gain - bad?

Then I met my friend Jenny through a knitting class I was teaching for homeschoolers. She told me to read a book. And like anything else, when I tell someone I'm going to do something, I do. That book changed my life!

Stay tuned....

Weight Loss Woes

Why does weight loss have to be so hard? I've been down this road a few times and it's very tiring and seems to have no actual destination. Starting attempt number 57 (I guess, I don't know) and taking you along for the ride.

A little background: I was not a chunky child. I was always a good weight for my height. In high school, I weighed about 95 lbs soaking wet and after a hefty McDonald's meal and wore a size 5. I was about 5'2".

That's me, 1985. I grew 2 more inches and went up a size by the time I was 18. I'm good with that. My metabolism slowed down a little around 20 - you know, Freshman 15 and all that. However, I did have a gym membership and was going at least 4 days a week. Young, spritey, no kids, money to spend, that sort of motivation. In this photo, it was my 23rd birthday and I was still comfortable with the weight I'd settled into - roughly, 5'4" and about 135-140lbs (lots of leg muscle!).

I think that dress was a 10 or 12, can't remember, but I do remember that I felt in shape and wasn't freaking out over the size of my clothes. As you may know, I'm a dressmaker (didn't make that one) so numbers by themselves don't frighten me. I don't actually care what the tag says since manufacturers can vary in sizing. Nice white makeup face too, huh? :)

So moving onto when the weight became a problem. My first child was born in 1993. My OB said, "Oh don't worry about weight gain, you'll have 9 months to put it on and 9 months to take it off." Ugh, famous last words! I gained 60 lbs during that pregnancy and had a 7lb 12oz boy. Guess what? It didn't just fall off like she said. And yes, I was exercising. Okay, so your body changes a bit with pregnancy, (and just to explain the photo - yes I put the cart before the horse). Here's me, 1994, still 5'4" and 175 lbs.

But weight! (pun - see what I did there!) There's more! Stay Tuned....