Hello again old friend!
I've thought about this blog a lot - I thought about returning to write a few things down, but haven't because quite frankly I didn't feel like I had anything of value to contribute. No final results, no amazing transformation picture - no stats. I'm still struggling. Still working on the last of the baby weight, before I can even start to tackle the weight I was when I began this blog in the first place!
It's a little heart breaking actually. Re-reading my first few posts, seeing how upset I was sitting at 207 pounds - adamant that I will never see that number again, and yet here I am at 213 pounds, and I would be thrilled to see 207 again. Heartbreaking. That's really all I can describe it as.
I've come a long way mind you - and I can't ignore all my hard work as of late - 213 actually makes me pretty happy considering the bigger numbers that have popped up on the scale this year.
The night I went into labour carrying my baby girl my scale read 245. 4 days later when I got home from the hospital without the baby my scale read 239. That's right - I gave birth to an 8 pound 7 oz baby and lost 6 pounds - the hell?
By the time I got through my 6 week C-section recovery time frame my scale read 220. Since then, it's all me - sadly I was unable to breast feed - which burns an additional 500+ calories a day just making milk for your little one, so everything I've been able to lose has been through my own eating and working out.
Currently as I sit here at 213 I have set that same first goal again to break 200 by my birthday (Aug 27th). Frankly I would love to blow 200 out of the water and see 189 by the end of August, but I'm trying not to go too big and set myself up for failure.
Since I'm back in the weight loss mind set I find I'm struggling with all the "tips and advice" I see around me all the time. You know the one's...
"Eat every 3 hours"
"You should eat 6 small meals a day"
"You should stick to a lower caloric intake"
"Count Calories so you know how much you are putting in your body"
to name a few.
And I suppose the reason why I keep doing the weight loss dance is because I hate the rules. All those rules. I despise measuring my food. I hate using a scale to ensure I'm getting exactly 4oz of protein, and I feel like a spectacle trying to add up how many calories I'm allowed for the whole day and ensuring I'm not going over it. And don't even get me started on trying to ensure I'm eating every couple hours!
The truth of the matter is, I'm a pretty laid back person, and I find weight loss high maintenance. I have a love for life, and I don't like to be restricted in any way. I just discovered a new fitness blog called Nerd Fitness and the creater is a huge supporter of the Paleo Diet - which in a nut shell is just to eat the way hunter/gatherers did - food that did not need to be processed to consume (no grains or dairy) just veggies, fruit and protein. Now I have a real issue with turning my nose up at dairy, but the grains I can totally do. As it is Ben and I try to eat relatively gluten free during the week as we find we end up with more energy and less belly bloat, but Paleo aside the best part about this blog is that he states "it's okay to miss a meal, eat when you are hungry and as much as you want" bells went off when I read that! I love that kind of thing! I can totally get behind that!
That was a selling feature for me - not just of Paleo eating, but just of a way of healthy eating! Never before have I heard (read) someone tell me that it's okay to miss a meal if you want! Personally I love intermittent fasting, but so many people in the health and fitness world as well as in my own life have judged me for it that I just choose not to tell people about it.
My kind of diet is one where I can eat a big plate full of healthy yummy food when I'm hungry, and not stress about eating stupid little 100 calorie snacks throughout the day if I don't have time! I have an 8 month old baby girl! I miss meals all the time when I'm busy with her, and eating at 8am, 12pm and 5pm just doesnt' always fit in my day! Sometimes, breakfast is at 10:45am in the morning after Inara has gone down for a nap, and lunch is a snack at 2:30pm before dinner at 5pm when Ben gets home. I spent so long feeling guilty about eating that way, and here is a guy telling me that's okay! I kind of want to hug him!
It's basically what I've been doing all along, but having someone tell me it's okay, and it's a way that I can eat and still lose weight is a huge relief! I've been beating myself up over my eating and time and time again I've been lying in bed at the end of the day fighting to sleep, and re-working my fitness and eating plan over and over again "I need to get up at 7am and have a protein shake..." "If I make a lot of little snacks throughout the day then I can make sure I'm always snacking on something while looking after Inara" etc. It's exhausting! And quite frankly I just don't work that way! I don't get up early in the morning, my schedule is rarely the same day in and day out, and I suck as pre-planning snack foods! I have enough to do!
So here's my new plan: to hell with "Lunch hour". I will eat when I'm hungry - if that's at 7am, so be it! If it's closer to 11am - awesome. I always kind of felt like I was doing the oposite of what I needed to do by eating all the time - I kind of like the feeling of being hungry. Not in an eating disorder sort of way, but rather, I feel like if I wait until I feel that empty feeling and hear that low growl, then I know I'm eating because I'm hungry, not because I'm bored, or that I have a craving, but because I'm actually running on empty. And as someone who has struggled with a lot of food issues all my life - I feel like this is the best thing I can do for myself. Stop, (collaborate) and Listen to my body.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Friday, December 14, 2012
I'm back!
Hello again Friends!
So last I posted I announced my pregnancy and the growing of our little family - And now, 9 months later I'm happy to say my beautiful daughter was born November 8th at a healthy 8 pounds 7 ounces. The pregnancy went wonderfully, but there was a complication with delivery resulting in an emergency C-Section - but I have a healthy baby girl, so there are no complaints from me!
But now I have to get back to business. I have a new goal, and a new timeline. On April 18th 2013 - I will be standing on the beach in Mexico beside a dear friend supporting her in her marriage to another dear friend. I not only have a dress to look good in - but a bathing suit!! eep!
Unfortunately I'm starting worse off than my previous "Before" photos and measurements because of my little pumpkin. I gained 33 pounds in my pregnancy, and I'm already down 20 - meaning I have 13 that I have to lose just to get me back down to the 207 that I started with earlier this year when I started this blog. I also have a couple extra inches on all of my measurements as well, but especially on the belly.
It takes a lot of skin to stretch to this:
So now unfortunately I'm left with a bit of a "mommy tummy" where I have a few inches of skin that is super squishy and collects right in the front of my stomach and sort of "flaps" downward.
Needless to say, I'm a little self conscious about this new body change, and I want it gone! Especially if I need to go swim suit shopping in the next little bit here! As of right now - I will be opting for a one piece bathing suit for the first time in 10 years unless I can tone up this tummy!!
I don't even care about the stretch marks! I want the skin flap gone!
Now because I had a C-Section, I have to do things a little differently - I haven't been able to jump into working out again, because I'm not allowed to! The truth of the mater is a C-Section is a pretty major surgery cutting through all sorts of muscles and such - so you need to let yourself heal for a minimum of 6 weeks - but possibly longer. I'm not allowed to lift anything heavier than my baby - which means anything over 10 pounds is out of the question. As well - I can't do any exercises that involved my stomach at this point (so... most all of them - you know when a fitness instructor tells you to engage your core? yeah... that).
Which means I'm still sitting in limbo until my OB clears me to hit the weights again. My appointment with her is January 2nd, so hopefully she has some good news for me! Until then - I need to do something, as I can't just sit here idle knowing I have a small timeline to get back in shape that is fast approaching. How fast you ask? Well I have 12 weeks before I have to take my bridesmaid dress in to be altered. 14 weeks if I pay a fee of $25 to get the alterations rushed, and 16 weeks before I pack a bag to board the plane.
A lot can happen in 12 weeks! in 2010 I went from 202 pounds to 185 in 12 weeks just in time for my own wedding!! And that's actually my goal this time around, I want to be 185 by Mexico - meaning I have 12 weeks to lose 35 pounds - totally doable, except I can't workout yet for at least another 3 weeks... meaning now I have 9 weeks, and that scares the crap out of me!
So in the meantime, I'm trying a new product called Zaggora Hotpants - I know it sounds lame, but hear me out. This company makes workout clothing that is similar to wearing a wetsuit - it holds the heat next to your skin, and causes you to sweat 4X more than any other clothing - take a look at the scientific evidence of how it works. Basically, holding in the sweat means your body temperature increases, which means you increase your energy expenditure and thus burn more calories. I was skeptical, of course - and the company understands that - so they ask that each person who buys from them tries the 2 week challenge, where they take their measurements, and then wear the garments for 30 minutes of activity everyday for 2 weeks, and then take their measurements again. And the testimonials speak volumns! But I'm going to put my "Hot Pants' through the ultimate two week test - I'm not going to workout in them on a daily basis (because I can't) I'm just going to wear them around the house while I feed my daughter, and empty the dishwasher and fold laundry - and then I'll take my measurements again in 2 weeks.
I always wondered if the people who had good results in the 2 week challenge were because of the clothes, or the exercise. So I figure this would be a pretty good test to see! I'm taking the exercise out of the equation, and I'm relying completely on the clothing. I might as well - I can't do anything else for the next 2 weeks!
The products I bought were the Flares, and the Body Blazer. The flares are almost exactly like trying to pull on a wetsuit - they are skin tight pants that go down to your ankle - it takes some work to get them on, let me tell you:
Next is the body blazer which is a sort of zip up long sleeved jacked - another fight to get into! Once everything is on it's quite comfortable, and fits you like a second skin - it even keeps you warm:
The only thing I really don't like about the outfit is the neoprene sort of sound it makes when you move - the rushing, shhhhh sound as you move your arms and legs, so I tend to put an old crappy pair of yoga pants over the flares so I don't get the thigh rubbing shush as I walk down the hall. As a bonus my full body suit kind of makes me feel like an Avenger... and I'm okay with that.
I weighed myself this morning, and I took all my measurements - it was a little depressing seeing my new starting mark - but I guess that's what happens when you get pregnant weighing the most you've ever weighed... now I have a new "most ever". This better be the last time! I also took pictures, but I'm not brave enough to post them just yet - I need a little time to make myself feel a little better about my body image before I start passing these one's around. I've always been pudgy, and although my stomach has been bigger than some, it's never been saggy or squishy - and that's something I am extremely self conscious about. I'm built like my dad - I may be big, but I'm firm - I never look as big as I actually am because I carry it pretty solidly - until now. So until the squish starts to get smaller and I can post up some results photos along side the "Before"s, I just need to keep them to myself. It was hard to take a picture today, and even harder to look at it after.
Anyway - here we go again with measurements:
Weight: 220
Right arm: 15"
Left arm: 15"
Chest: 41"
Belly Button: 41"
Hips: 48"
Right thigh: 27 1/2"
Left thigh: 27"
So from my last "starting point" I have an additional 8 1/2" to lose - it could be worse - I just need to get the okay from my doctor and then throw myself into working out on a daily basis again. Last time around I lost 14 inches in a week - I can do this. I sure hope the Hot Pants work :) It would be nice to start off my workouts already down a few inches!
So last I posted I announced my pregnancy and the growing of our little family - And now, 9 months later I'm happy to say my beautiful daughter was born November 8th at a healthy 8 pounds 7 ounces. The pregnancy went wonderfully, but there was a complication with delivery resulting in an emergency C-Section - but I have a healthy baby girl, so there are no complaints from me!
But now I have to get back to business. I have a new goal, and a new timeline. On April 18th 2013 - I will be standing on the beach in Mexico beside a dear friend supporting her in her marriage to another dear friend. I not only have a dress to look good in - but a bathing suit!! eep!
Unfortunately I'm starting worse off than my previous "Before" photos and measurements because of my little pumpkin. I gained 33 pounds in my pregnancy, and I'm already down 20 - meaning I have 13 that I have to lose just to get me back down to the 207 that I started with earlier this year when I started this blog. I also have a couple extra inches on all of my measurements as well, but especially on the belly.
It takes a lot of skin to stretch to this:
So now unfortunately I'm left with a bit of a "mommy tummy" where I have a few inches of skin that is super squishy and collects right in the front of my stomach and sort of "flaps" downward.
Needless to say, I'm a little self conscious about this new body change, and I want it gone! Especially if I need to go swim suit shopping in the next little bit here! As of right now - I will be opting for a one piece bathing suit for the first time in 10 years unless I can tone up this tummy!!
I don't even care about the stretch marks! I want the skin flap gone!
Now because I had a C-Section, I have to do things a little differently - I haven't been able to jump into working out again, because I'm not allowed to! The truth of the mater is a C-Section is a pretty major surgery cutting through all sorts of muscles and such - so you need to let yourself heal for a minimum of 6 weeks - but possibly longer. I'm not allowed to lift anything heavier than my baby - which means anything over 10 pounds is out of the question. As well - I can't do any exercises that involved my stomach at this point (so... most all of them - you know when a fitness instructor tells you to engage your core? yeah... that).
Which means I'm still sitting in limbo until my OB clears me to hit the weights again. My appointment with her is January 2nd, so hopefully she has some good news for me! Until then - I need to do something, as I can't just sit here idle knowing I have a small timeline to get back in shape that is fast approaching. How fast you ask? Well I have 12 weeks before I have to take my bridesmaid dress in to be altered. 14 weeks if I pay a fee of $25 to get the alterations rushed, and 16 weeks before I pack a bag to board the plane.
A lot can happen in 12 weeks! in 2010 I went from 202 pounds to 185 in 12 weeks just in time for my own wedding!! And that's actually my goal this time around, I want to be 185 by Mexico - meaning I have 12 weeks to lose 35 pounds - totally doable, except I can't workout yet for at least another 3 weeks... meaning now I have 9 weeks, and that scares the crap out of me!
So in the meantime, I'm trying a new product called Zaggora Hotpants - I know it sounds lame, but hear me out. This company makes workout clothing that is similar to wearing a wetsuit - it holds the heat next to your skin, and causes you to sweat 4X more than any other clothing - take a look at the scientific evidence of how it works. Basically, holding in the sweat means your body temperature increases, which means you increase your energy expenditure and thus burn more calories. I was skeptical, of course - and the company understands that - so they ask that each person who buys from them tries the 2 week challenge, where they take their measurements, and then wear the garments for 30 minutes of activity everyday for 2 weeks, and then take their measurements again. And the testimonials speak volumns! But I'm going to put my "Hot Pants' through the ultimate two week test - I'm not going to workout in them on a daily basis (because I can't) I'm just going to wear them around the house while I feed my daughter, and empty the dishwasher and fold laundry - and then I'll take my measurements again in 2 weeks.
I always wondered if the people who had good results in the 2 week challenge were because of the clothes, or the exercise. So I figure this would be a pretty good test to see! I'm taking the exercise out of the equation, and I'm relying completely on the clothing. I might as well - I can't do anything else for the next 2 weeks!
The products I bought were the Flares, and the Body Blazer. The flares are almost exactly like trying to pull on a wetsuit - they are skin tight pants that go down to your ankle - it takes some work to get them on, let me tell you:
Next is the body blazer which is a sort of zip up long sleeved jacked - another fight to get into! Once everything is on it's quite comfortable, and fits you like a second skin - it even keeps you warm:
The only thing I really don't like about the outfit is the neoprene sort of sound it makes when you move - the rushing, shhhhh sound as you move your arms and legs, so I tend to put an old crappy pair of yoga pants over the flares so I don't get the thigh rubbing shush as I walk down the hall. As a bonus my full body suit kind of makes me feel like an Avenger... and I'm okay with that.
I weighed myself this morning, and I took all my measurements - it was a little depressing seeing my new starting mark - but I guess that's what happens when you get pregnant weighing the most you've ever weighed... now I have a new "most ever". This better be the last time! I also took pictures, but I'm not brave enough to post them just yet - I need a little time to make myself feel a little better about my body image before I start passing these one's around. I've always been pudgy, and although my stomach has been bigger than some, it's never been saggy or squishy - and that's something I am extremely self conscious about. I'm built like my dad - I may be big, but I'm firm - I never look as big as I actually am because I carry it pretty solidly - until now. So until the squish starts to get smaller and I can post up some results photos along side the "Before"s, I just need to keep them to myself. It was hard to take a picture today, and even harder to look at it after.
Anyway - here we go again with measurements:
Weight: 220
Right arm: 15"
Left arm: 15"
Chest: 41"
Belly Button: 41"
Hips: 48"
Right thigh: 27 1/2"
Left thigh: 27"
So from my last "starting point" I have an additional 8 1/2" to lose - it could be worse - I just need to get the okay from my doctor and then throw myself into working out on a daily basis again. Last time around I lost 14 inches in a week - I can do this. I sure hope the Hot Pants work :) It would be nice to start off my workouts already down a few inches!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
No longer the Skinny Model
So I have failed my goal. I will not be playing the role of Melissa's Skinny Model at the end of May. Come May 26th, I won't be 170 pounds, or a size 8, but rather I will be 16 weeks pregnant!!!!
This is the reason for my absence from the Blog. How could I possibly keep updating my weight loss and inches lost, when I'm at the point where things are starting to get bigger?
It would have been nice to lose the weight, and get some nice tight muscles before starting my journey into motherhood - but at the same time, Ben and I had already been trying for 4 months, so I'm pretty ecstatic! Plus this means I won't be giving birth in the middle of Graham and Ashton's wedding, or have to waddle around Mexico 8 months pregnant in +35 degree heat. The timing of our little one is actually, in a word, perfect!
I'm due November 6th (although Ben's hoping I go into labour a day sooner for a "Remember Remember" baby...). I will give myself the rest of November to slowly get into a working out routine again, and then I have Dec, Jan, Feb, and March to kick my ass back into gear so I can arrive in Mexico on April 14th looking hot! I live for hot weather! I would be content to live a week just in a bikini rocking a gorgeous deep tan, but I know that if I'm flabby and self conscious, that's not going to happen. And who want's to go to Mexico and cover UP their body?!? Not me!
Now this isnt' to say that I've stopped working out currently - not at all actually, although I must admit I have slowed down with my efforts. - as things grow, things hurt, and I've found my Cardio classes are causing me more pain than good at this time (jumping = No go for the tender girls) - also, a pregnant lady in a hot room spells nausea and fainting. I JUST managed to make it through my last Pump and Groove class without darting for the bathroom door, but I came really close a couple times.
Ben and I have still been going for long walks around our neighborhood, and exploring the paths nearby, and as I feel in my personal opinion. today is officially the first day of spring (it's beautiful out there!) I have plans to strap on the Vibrams and start running again. I would love to run throughout my whole pregnancy, if I can anyway! as I get bigger I might end up trading my running shoes for waddling/walking shoes - but I want to do my best while I still can.
I have been looking forward to running all winter, and this is one time where I wish I had a membership to someplace with a track (although that's certainly not in the budget, especially right about now, because I"m on my way to claiming EI and extra's will definitely be a thing of the past.) But provided the ice is melted, I can still run on the sidewalks, and I intend to!
Running gave me such a great freedom. Just putting on my ipod, and losing myself in my thoughts - it's a happy place of mine.
So right now, although I'm not losing weight, and in fact my scale is going up, and my inches are starting to increase, I couldn't be happier! I don't think I've ever been happier to get bigger in my life before! It's worth it though. I can't wait until I can tell the rest of the world my happy little secret :)
This is the reason for my absence from the Blog. How could I possibly keep updating my weight loss and inches lost, when I'm at the point where things are starting to get bigger?
It would have been nice to lose the weight, and get some nice tight muscles before starting my journey into motherhood - but at the same time, Ben and I had already been trying for 4 months, so I'm pretty ecstatic! Plus this means I won't be giving birth in the middle of Graham and Ashton's wedding, or have to waddle around Mexico 8 months pregnant in +35 degree heat. The timing of our little one is actually, in a word, perfect!
I'm due November 6th (although Ben's hoping I go into labour a day sooner for a "Remember Remember" baby...). I will give myself the rest of November to slowly get into a working out routine again, and then I have Dec, Jan, Feb, and March to kick my ass back into gear so I can arrive in Mexico on April 14th looking hot! I live for hot weather! I would be content to live a week just in a bikini rocking a gorgeous deep tan, but I know that if I'm flabby and self conscious, that's not going to happen. And who want's to go to Mexico and cover UP their body?!? Not me!
Now this isnt' to say that I've stopped working out currently - not at all actually, although I must admit I have slowed down with my efforts. - as things grow, things hurt, and I've found my Cardio classes are causing me more pain than good at this time (jumping = No go for the tender girls) - also, a pregnant lady in a hot room spells nausea and fainting. I JUST managed to make it through my last Pump and Groove class without darting for the bathroom door, but I came really close a couple times.
Ben and I have still been going for long walks around our neighborhood, and exploring the paths nearby, and as I feel in my personal opinion. today is officially the first day of spring (it's beautiful out there!) I have plans to strap on the Vibrams and start running again. I would love to run throughout my whole pregnancy, if I can anyway! as I get bigger I might end up trading my running shoes for waddling/walking shoes - but I want to do my best while I still can.
I have been looking forward to running all winter, and this is one time where I wish I had a membership to someplace with a track (although that's certainly not in the budget, especially right about now, because I"m on my way to claiming EI and extra's will definitely be a thing of the past.) But provided the ice is melted, I can still run on the sidewalks, and I intend to!
Running gave me such a great freedom. Just putting on my ipod, and losing myself in my thoughts - it's a happy place of mine.
So right now, although I'm not losing weight, and in fact my scale is going up, and my inches are starting to increase, I couldn't be happier! I don't think I've ever been happier to get bigger in my life before! It's worth it though. I can't wait until I can tell the rest of the world my happy little secret :)
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
March 13 Update
I have good news, and Bad news...
The Bad News is that shortly after making that last post I came down with a really bad cold, and ended up opting out of working out for about a week while I recovered - this also included staying home from my pump and Groove class on Tuesday, because I had a horrific sinus headache (that even kept me home from work for the first time in 2 years as well). All in all, I felt pretty crappy about the whole thing, not just the cold, but not being able to work out - I love working out. I love how I feel when I workout, and I love feeling sore muscles the next day, and feeling my body change. So going without that for the last week has had me a little down, however I don't regret taking the time off, because my cold only lasted a week, and I'm almost 100% right now as I type this, so clearly in taking the time off and allowing myself to get better greatly reduced the amount of time I was stuck feeling like crap.
Now here's the Good News! I have both maintained weight and inches lost through my sick week, so I didn't take two steps forward one step back, and now I have to do some catch up, I'm continuing on right from where I was! I can deal with that. Sure I didn't lose anything, but I didn't gain anything either, and I'm okay with stats like that.
On Friday (once I was feeling much better, obviously) I proposed a challenge to myself - I wrote up a Facebook status that said "For every Like this status gets between now and 9am Saturday, I will do 3 pushups...Go" in hindsight that was probably a mistake....
Within 10 minutes I had over 20 likes. By that evening I was up to 40, and by the time I woke up the next morning, and counted down to 9am, I was sitting at a whopping 51 Likes. Yup. 51 Likes... that's 153 Pushups.
... What have I done? Looking back, 1 pushup for every like probably would have been more doable... especially when some of my friends were sharing my facebook status, so as many people as possible would like it... Bastards!
The most pushups I've ever done in one continuous time was 38 - and it was military style, when I was a good 25 pounds lighter, and did pushups on every workout. These days I'm doing about 11 pushups Military Style before my arms shake uncontrollably and I drop to my knees. However I can do a decent amount on my knees. So even though initially I was going to try my damndest to do all the pushups on my toes, once the numbers got past 20 I knew that wasnt' possible, so I resolved to do "girly" pushups for now.
I also decided that I needed to break the 153 into 3 pushup sessions of 51 each, as I knew there was no way I could do all 153 in one day!
On Sunday, Ben and I went for a nice 4K walk around out block, and when we return, I set up the video camera, and did my first set of 51 pushups. I was actually surprised at how well I was doing, I got to about 46 before my arms started shaking, but with a little struggling, and some gasping, I pushed through to 51. However in looking at the video, I probably could go down lower. That's the thing about a lot of moves, you don't know how your form looks unless you have a large mirror, or a video camera handy.
Don't get me wrong, I still go low enough for my arms to be in line with my shoulders in a right angle before lifting up again, but I'm not touching my chest to the floor, like I potentially should.
That was actually the first and only thing Ben said about my accomplishment "you're not going low enough - I think you are going to be called on that" Not, "Good for you, doing 51 consecutive pushups!" Just that I didn't go low enough. Oh well.
In watching this video above - you can see that when she does the pushups from the side, she doesn't go all the way down - that's how I did my push-ups, however when they change the view from the front, you can see she is now going all the way to the floor. Meh, I'll try to work on going lower to the floor, but in the meantime I'm not re-doing that first set. They still count as far as I'm concerned.
Last night, there was no workout, because just as we got home, we got a call from friends of ours inviting us to go to the Oilers game with them, so we ate and left. We ended up getting home about 10:30, and I went right to bed. No time for a workout there.
Tonight however, is another Pump and Groove class (my second last actually - but I do have a class I can makeup as a result of missing Pump and Groove last week, so I think I'll drop in to something later this week). I'm excited for Pump and Groove, I quite like the class, I love the workout I get, and the fact that I end up whimpering near the end of the toning sessions! I found that because I workout so often, some of the classes don't quite give me the burn that I crave. Sure I sweat. But I sweat in a warm room when I'm sitting perfectly still too - I want the sore muscles, the burn! The Fatigue! I love it! Pump and Groove does that for me! I can't wait!
The Bad News is that shortly after making that last post I came down with a really bad cold, and ended up opting out of working out for about a week while I recovered - this also included staying home from my pump and Groove class on Tuesday, because I had a horrific sinus headache (that even kept me home from work for the first time in 2 years as well). All in all, I felt pretty crappy about the whole thing, not just the cold, but not being able to work out - I love working out. I love how I feel when I workout, and I love feeling sore muscles the next day, and feeling my body change. So going without that for the last week has had me a little down, however I don't regret taking the time off, because my cold only lasted a week, and I'm almost 100% right now as I type this, so clearly in taking the time off and allowing myself to get better greatly reduced the amount of time I was stuck feeling like crap.
Now here's the Good News! I have both maintained weight and inches lost through my sick week, so I didn't take two steps forward one step back, and now I have to do some catch up, I'm continuing on right from where I was! I can deal with that. Sure I didn't lose anything, but I didn't gain anything either, and I'm okay with stats like that.
On Friday (once I was feeling much better, obviously) I proposed a challenge to myself - I wrote up a Facebook status that said "For every Like this status gets between now and 9am Saturday, I will do 3 pushups...Go" in hindsight that was probably a mistake....
Within 10 minutes I had over 20 likes. By that evening I was up to 40, and by the time I woke up the next morning, and counted down to 9am, I was sitting at a whopping 51 Likes. Yup. 51 Likes... that's 153 Pushups.
... What have I done? Looking back, 1 pushup for every like probably would have been more doable... especially when some of my friends were sharing my facebook status, so as many people as possible would like it... Bastards!
The most pushups I've ever done in one continuous time was 38 - and it was military style, when I was a good 25 pounds lighter, and did pushups on every workout. These days I'm doing about 11 pushups Military Style before my arms shake uncontrollably and I drop to my knees. However I can do a decent amount on my knees. So even though initially I was going to try my damndest to do all the pushups on my toes, once the numbers got past 20 I knew that wasnt' possible, so I resolved to do "girly" pushups for now.
I also decided that I needed to break the 153 into 3 pushup sessions of 51 each, as I knew there was no way I could do all 153 in one day!
On Sunday, Ben and I went for a nice 4K walk around out block, and when we return, I set up the video camera, and did my first set of 51 pushups. I was actually surprised at how well I was doing, I got to about 46 before my arms started shaking, but with a little struggling, and some gasping, I pushed through to 51. However in looking at the video, I probably could go down lower. That's the thing about a lot of moves, you don't know how your form looks unless you have a large mirror, or a video camera handy.
Don't get me wrong, I still go low enough for my arms to be in line with my shoulders in a right angle before lifting up again, but I'm not touching my chest to the floor, like I potentially should.
That was actually the first and only thing Ben said about my accomplishment "you're not going low enough - I think you are going to be called on that" Not, "Good for you, doing 51 consecutive pushups!" Just that I didn't go low enough. Oh well.
In watching this video above - you can see that when she does the pushups from the side, she doesn't go all the way down - that's how I did my push-ups, however when they change the view from the front, you can see she is now going all the way to the floor. Meh, I'll try to work on going lower to the floor, but in the meantime I'm not re-doing that first set. They still count as far as I'm concerned.
Last night, there was no workout, because just as we got home, we got a call from friends of ours inviting us to go to the Oilers game with them, so we ate and left. We ended up getting home about 10:30, and I went right to bed. No time for a workout there.
Tonight however, is another Pump and Groove class (my second last actually - but I do have a class I can makeup as a result of missing Pump and Groove last week, so I think I'll drop in to something later this week). I'm excited for Pump and Groove, I quite like the class, I love the workout I get, and the fact that I end up whimpering near the end of the toning sessions! I found that because I workout so often, some of the classes don't quite give me the burn that I crave. Sure I sweat. But I sweat in a warm room when I'm sitting perfectly still too - I want the sore muscles, the burn! The Fatigue! I love it! Pump and Groove does that for me! I can't wait!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Feb 29-March 1 and results!
So I was right - Tuesday's Pump and Groove class was awesome, and one hell of a workout!!! We did Reggaeton, Old School, African and Contemporary with a lot of squats and toning in between! I was so tired by the end!!!
Wednesday Feb 29th - Leap Day!!
We got an extra day this year!! And I used it by... not working out. The reason for that, is that we were driving Ben's parents to the airport very very early the next morning. We went directly from work to his parents place, and had dinner, and watched a little TV before going to bed early. Then the alarm went off at 3:45am, and we got up and drove them to the airport before heading back to our house for another 45 minutes of sleep before work on Thursday.
Thursday March 1 -
We were so tired after work, but we still had a great dinner (Hubby makes a mean chicken stirfry!!) and I was still adament that I was going to workout before hitting the hay, so I did this workout again:
And then just as I was about to put my stuff away, one of my favorite workout songs came on my iPod:
....so I started doing Squats. I counted to 30 before I stopped counting and just resolved to do squats to the end of the song. I'm sure I did at least 50 more on top of my first 30! I was definitely sweating by the time that song ended!! It felt great!!!
Friday March 2,
Today is Results Day!!
So the first number is my original measurements on Day 1 (Feb 8th), the second number is Feb 9, and the third is this morning on March 2.
Weight: 208 / 205.7 / 207
Measurements
Right Arm: 14 1/2" / 14" / 13"
Left Arm: 14 1/2" / 14 1/2" / 13 1/2"
Chest: 40" / 38 1/2" / 37"
Waist (Belly Button): 38 1/2" / 37 1/2" / 35 1/2"
Hips: 45 1/2" / 45" / 43 1/2"
Right Thigh: 26" / 25 1/2" / 23 3/4"
Left Thigh: 26" / 25" / 24"
So my Weight isn't really going anywhere, while my measurements are going down, so clearly I'm replacing flab with Muscle! I'm okay with that!! My scale could read 300 pounds for all I care as long as I am a size 8 I would be thrilled!!!
So I'm pretty happy - clearly I'm doing something right! Having lost 14 3/4" in 3 weeks I'm doing JUST FINE!!!
Wooooo!! Happy Friday!!!
Motivation:
Wednesday Feb 29th - Leap Day!!
We got an extra day this year!! And I used it by... not working out. The reason for that, is that we were driving Ben's parents to the airport very very early the next morning. We went directly from work to his parents place, and had dinner, and watched a little TV before going to bed early. Then the alarm went off at 3:45am, and we got up and drove them to the airport before heading back to our house for another 45 minutes of sleep before work on Thursday.
Thursday March 1 -
We were so tired after work, but we still had a great dinner (Hubby makes a mean chicken stirfry!!) and I was still adament that I was going to workout before hitting the hay, so I did this workout again:
....so I started doing Squats. I counted to 30 before I stopped counting and just resolved to do squats to the end of the song. I'm sure I did at least 50 more on top of my first 30! I was definitely sweating by the time that song ended!! It felt great!!!
Friday March 2,
Today is Results Day!!
So the first number is my original measurements on Day 1 (Feb 8th), the second number is Feb 9, and the third is this morning on March 2.
Weight: 208 / 205.7 / 207
Measurements
Right Arm: 14 1/2" / 14" / 13"
Left Arm: 14 1/2" / 14 1/2" / 13 1/2"
Chest: 40" / 38 1/2" / 37"
Waist (Belly Button): 38 1/2" / 37 1/2" / 35 1/2"
Hips: 45 1/2" / 45" / 43 1/2"
Right Thigh: 26" / 25 1/2" / 23 3/4"
Left Thigh: 26" / 25" / 24"
So my Weight isn't really going anywhere, while my measurements are going down, so clearly I'm replacing flab with Muscle! I'm okay with that!! My scale could read 300 pounds for all I care as long as I am a size 8 I would be thrilled!!!
So I'm pretty happy - clearly I'm doing something right! Having lost 14 3/4" in 3 weeks I'm doing JUST FINE!!!
Wooooo!! Happy Friday!!!
Motivation:
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Feb 28, 2012
I'm sorry dear blog... I have been neglecting you.
Here's a quick recap:
Thursday February 23th
I had the house to myself as Ben went to a friends place to watch the game, so I popped in my Rock it Out DVD and worked out with Shaun T.
"This rock-and-roll strength routine will shape, sculpt, and tone your new lean body from head to toe while it sends your metabolism soaring."
Fabulous! Just what I need!
I grabbed my 5 pound dumbbells and pushed play. It started out easy enough with a lot of jumping and ab work, and then they reached for the weights.
First it started with Sumo Squats - then after many squats, he lowered into one squat and held the pose while lifting the arms with the weights into flys. and more flys... and more flys... Then there were squats and flys, then there were leg extensions and flys, then there were more squat holding flys, then more leg extension flys with your legs and arms bent this time...
.... I actually stopped the DVD. I was whimpering. After about a 1 minute rest, I restarted it, and completed the set. then we switched arms - thank God!! I ended up pausing the DVD on that arm too... ouch!! I dont know why, but I wasn't expecting such a good workout! I like it though, Shaun T is awesome and fun, and my arms and shoulders were certainly hurting the next day!!
Friday February 24th
Alas, I missed my workout. We went straight from work to Ben's parents house, and didn't get home until about 10 pm :(
Saturday February 25th
Ben and I woke up to a LOT of snow, and luckily our neighbour had a snow blower and did our front walk, and our driveway for us so Ben could drive me to a shoot. Then once we got home again, the snow was all back, and Ben and I went out there with shovels and did everything, the sidewalk infront of our house, the front walk, the sidewalk that goes around the North, East, and South side of our house, our Deck, Our back sidewalk (we have a walkway through our yard), and then both our entire driveway, AND our neighbours entire driveway (as a thank you for the snowblowing earlier). ... It took us about an hour - and we were super sore after. THAT was my workout. It counts, the muscles were still sore the next morning.
Sunday February 26th
I had another shoot with Melissa, so Ben took me over there for 10:30, and picked me up at 5pm - it was a long day and both Melissa and I were exhausted. But while I was bad, and gave in to the couch and the Oscars, Melissa worked her ass off doing another Brazillian Butt Lift DVD - I'm proud of her... not so proud of me. I skipped my workout for today.
Monday February 27th
I made up for lost time and did a pyramid workout consisting of jumping jacks, pushups and squats in concession. I started with 10 jumping jacks, then immediately into 10 pushups, then 10 squats, then 9 jumping jacks... you can see where this is going. It only took me about 15 minutes to run through, but I was tired and sweaty by the end, and figured out that it was 55 of each exercise without stopping, and I'm happy with that!
Then Dinner consisted of chicken, and spinach salad, with a handful of homemade baked potato fries. Then we spent the rest of the evening making 13 dozen perogies. It was a good night!
Tuesday February 28th
So this morning, I finally weighed myself again - 207.2 Yeah. I was expecting that. weight and bloat has always been slow to come off me - and while Ben and I ate the same things in Saskatchewan, and we both came back about 2-5 pounds heavier, it takes him a day and a half to lose it, and me a solid 2 weeks! I just have to keep working at it. I know that what I'm doing is the right thing, my main focus is to not give up if I'm not immediately seeing results - which is a weakness of mine.
Tonight is Pump and Groove again, and I know it's going to be a kick ass workout - it always is! I just have to eat light for dinner tonight, so I am not dealing with the same bloat I had last week!
Here's a quick recap:
Thursday February 23th
I had the house to myself as Ben went to a friends place to watch the game, so I popped in my Rock it Out DVD and worked out with Shaun T.
"This rock-and-roll strength routine will shape, sculpt, and tone your new lean body from head to toe while it sends your metabolism soaring."
Fabulous! Just what I need!
I grabbed my 5 pound dumbbells and pushed play. It started out easy enough with a lot of jumping and ab work, and then they reached for the weights.
First it started with Sumo Squats - then after many squats, he lowered into one squat and held the pose while lifting the arms with the weights into flys. and more flys... and more flys... Then there were squats and flys, then there were leg extensions and flys, then there were more squat holding flys, then more leg extension flys with your legs and arms bent this time...
.... I actually stopped the DVD. I was whimpering. After about a 1 minute rest, I restarted it, and completed the set. then we switched arms - thank God!! I ended up pausing the DVD on that arm too... ouch!! I dont know why, but I wasn't expecting such a good workout! I like it though, Shaun T is awesome and fun, and my arms and shoulders were certainly hurting the next day!!
Friday February 24th
Alas, I missed my workout. We went straight from work to Ben's parents house, and didn't get home until about 10 pm :(
Saturday February 25th
Ben and I woke up to a LOT of snow, and luckily our neighbour had a snow blower and did our front walk, and our driveway for us so Ben could drive me to a shoot. Then once we got home again, the snow was all back, and Ben and I went out there with shovels and did everything, the sidewalk infront of our house, the front walk, the sidewalk that goes around the North, East, and South side of our house, our Deck, Our back sidewalk (we have a walkway through our yard), and then both our entire driveway, AND our neighbours entire driveway (as a thank you for the snowblowing earlier). ... It took us about an hour - and we were super sore after. THAT was my workout. It counts, the muscles were still sore the next morning.
Sunday February 26th
I had another shoot with Melissa, so Ben took me over there for 10:30, and picked me up at 5pm - it was a long day and both Melissa and I were exhausted. But while I was bad, and gave in to the couch and the Oscars, Melissa worked her ass off doing another Brazillian Butt Lift DVD - I'm proud of her... not so proud of me. I skipped my workout for today.
Monday February 27th
I made up for lost time and did a pyramid workout consisting of jumping jacks, pushups and squats in concession. I started with 10 jumping jacks, then immediately into 10 pushups, then 10 squats, then 9 jumping jacks... you can see where this is going. It only took me about 15 minutes to run through, but I was tired and sweaty by the end, and figured out that it was 55 of each exercise without stopping, and I'm happy with that!
Then Dinner consisted of chicken, and spinach salad, with a handful of homemade baked potato fries. Then we spent the rest of the evening making 13 dozen perogies. It was a good night!
Tuesday February 28th
So this morning, I finally weighed myself again - 207.2 Yeah. I was expecting that. weight and bloat has always been slow to come off me - and while Ben and I ate the same things in Saskatchewan, and we both came back about 2-5 pounds heavier, it takes him a day and a half to lose it, and me a solid 2 weeks! I just have to keep working at it. I know that what I'm doing is the right thing, my main focus is to not give up if I'm not immediately seeing results - which is a weakness of mine.
Tonight is Pump and Groove again, and I know it's going to be a kick ass workout - it always is! I just have to eat light for dinner tonight, so I am not dealing with the same bloat I had last week!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Switching to the Date - Feb 22, 2012
Boy is it ever hard to remember if I'm on Day 15 or 16 or what!! So from here on out, I'm just going to post the dates as the title. It's just a little easier to track!!
So I kind of crapped out of the cardio routine that I had planned on doing - I got a case of the lazies, and instead watched TV while I lifted weights while sitting. I know... not what I had intended to do... but there you have it. I still felt the burn, and did some good.
Dinner was rather light with a small piece of trout some home made pot stickers, and rice with spinach - it felt good eating healthy again. It was definitely needed!
So I kind of crapped out of the cardio routine that I had planned on doing - I got a case of the lazies, and instead watched TV while I lifted weights while sitting. I know... not what I had intended to do... but there you have it. I still felt the burn, and did some good.
Dinner was rather light with a small piece of trout some home made pot stickers, and rice with spinach - it felt good eating healthy again. It was definitely needed!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)