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!

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!

Day 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15

So the whole long weekened I only got my laptop out to write once, and even then my uncle started talking to me about my writing, and I ended up closing my laptop to continue the conversation.  The weekend was definitely a little more "action packed" than I was expecting!  Here's the breakdown: 

(I'm going to start with Day 10, because my last "Day Ten" entry was made at 7:30am and could hardly encompass the whole day):

Day Ten:

Ben and I packed up the car, and were on the road by 9:30am.  We packed grapes, cheese, boiled eggs, 100 calorie granola bars, and cruton-like-chip things, that were 90 calories for 17 chips.

All in all the drive went about as well as an 11 hour drive can go - we snacked most the day, stopping once for a 6" subway sandwich just for something a little more substantial.  As well we picked up a 12 pack of 500ml water bottles, and drank 7 of them between the two of us by the time we made it to the farm.  Then we had some soup and stirfry rice for dinner with my grandparents before heading to bed after a very exhausting day.  Needless to say, no working out today.

Oh - and Baba didn't say anything about my weight when she saw me, but Gido said "Man, you never change... well maybe a little thicker" 

Day Eleven:

We got up early and had my Gido's porridge for breakfast, and then my Uncle Russ arrived, and we went out on the Skidoo's for a bit.  It was so much fun!!  And my core and biceps definitely got a workout riding on the back of Ben's ski-doo when we were following Uncle Russ.  When you are driving your own Ski-doo, you sit in such a position that makes you feel very much "one with the skidoo" so when you gun it, you don't feel like you are going to fall off.  When you are the passenger, you are sitting on the back of the skidoo with a padded metal bar on either side of your hips to hang on to.  You also cannot see what's going on immediately in front of you, so when your driver takes a turn, or goes off a jump, you can't move with the machine because you can't see it coming, so your ride ends up being a lot of stabilizing yourself, and trying to keep your whole core tight so you don't fall to one side, while you hold on to the metal bars for dear life.  It's stressful.  Fun, but stressful.

Lunch was home made borchst, perogies, and lazy holopshe (lazy cabbage rolls) - it was delicious!  ... I probably over did it, but in my defense it's been 3 years since I've had Baba's home made perogies.

For dinner, we had more Borchst, chicken, and a salad among lots of other things.  The think about Baba is that she doesn't know how to have 1 protein, one carb, and one veg in her meals, she ends up pulling 8 different things for dinner, and even if you have just a little bit of everything, you still end up with a full plate.  Plus every meal has to have some sort of dessert.  For this particular dessert it was a thick slice of a very very big cake (the slice that was put in front of me was an inch thick, 6 inches tall, and 4 inches wide, and was topped with a large scoop of ice cream and strawberries. - it was delicious, but not at all on the healthy side). 

After dinner, we all played cards together, and I was reminded of how much I used to love playing cards with my grandparents at the farm - it's such a wonderful memory I have.  We ended up playing until 11, when we were so exhausted, we went to bed and fell asleep immediately.  Once again - no workout done. 


Day Twelve:

We got up, and once again enjoyed Gido's Porridge to start off the day.  I suggested that we head into town to pick up some Shishlike (Marinated Lamb).  Side story:  I grew up eating this specific Shishlike - it's amazing BBQ'd, and every time we came to the farm my dad would always make a trip in to town to put several packages to tide us over for the next few months in between visits.  It's so delicious, and only one guy makes it, and sells it at the Canora grocery store.  It's "Terry's Shishlike"  The last time we were up to the farm 3 years ago, we decided to forgo buying a package because of the $20 a pack price tag, but I was adamant that we would be picking some up this time around, as it was always a childhood favorite of mine, and it was so rare that I got to have some.  So we headed into town, and decided to also pick up some Chop Suey from the Chinese restaurant in town for lunch.  And as per the norm, Baba couldn't just serve the Chop Suey, we had to have a second stir fry, plus a chicken noodle soup to start with, and cucumbers, and pickles and left overs from other meals. 

Then we went on the Skidoo's again until the sky started to get a little darker, then we turned in, had the rest of the chop suey for dinner, and then played cards until bed time. 

At one point Baba put a plate of cookies and mini cinabun things on the table, and told Ben and I to eat some Delicacies - Gido responded with "Why you give Delicacies? they aren't delicate!".  *sigh*  I suppose I should be used to it by now, that's just how they are.  My uncle actually got the brunt of it this time around, as he's gained some weight in his stomach, and Baba made several comments the whole weekend about his weight.  At one point we were playing cards, and Uncle Russ ended up throwing out all the cards that Baba needed, so she said jokingly "change places!"  And then added "no, you can't move something so chubby"  which is when I jumped in "Baba - you can't say that to people, that's really mean!"  And Uncle Russ added "And don't call me chubby, if you want to insult me, just call me fat!"

As sad as it is, it actually made me feel a little bit better knowing I wasn't the only one that got the comments.  Oh well - that's how they are.  

On that note, there was no workout that day, although my abs and arms were quite sore that morning from riding on the back of the Skidoo the first day.

Day Thirteen:

Driving Day.  We got up at 8 (sask time) and once again started our day with Porridge.  Then after loading the car and saying our goodbyes were were on our way (with a couple bags of perogies  - and the recipe!)  Unfortunately in leaving we didn't have as many healthy options to snack on as the eggs, and cheese and such were devoured on the first trip, so we had a couple granola bars, and a few handfulls of "chip like things" until we got to Saskatoon (around 1pm).  Then we stopped for lunch - I had a chicken taco, with "mexi fries" and Ben opted for an A&W burger - there were slim pickings in the mall we found - only 4 places to get food in total, one was a coffee and dessert place, one was Taco Time, one was A&W, and one was a pizza/italian place. 

Then we headed into Rosetown to stop in at our friends place - Brett and Amanda.  We enjoyed a tea and cookies with them before hitting the road again at 3:30pm. 

We got into Lloydmister at 5:30pm (Alberta time) and stopped for dinner at KFC - not a proud moment that's for sure, but I was looking for some sort of "finger food" since I was driving at that time, and I didn't want to mess with a drippy burger.  Unfortunately though, I forgot that immediately when I saw a poster for a meal called the Epic Crunch Meal, and my fat kid took over.  This meal was bag of fries, a bag of popcorn chicken, and a "crunch chicken burger" served with a pop and a Crunchy Kit Kat Bar.  It was all kinds of bad for you - but I clearly wasn't thinking about that - and for some reason being on the road all day makes you hungry, or at least bored so you eat more than you normally would. 

I started with my popcorn chicken - meh.  The fries were meh too, and I didn't end up finishing them - then Ben unwrapped my sandwhich for me to eat while I drove - and I was SO FULL of MAYO that I had it all over my face with each bite (Ben was on napkin duty a couple times to help me out).  I only ate half of it before throwing it back in the box and asking Ben to put it away.  All in all - disgusting.  That's probably the reason that was my first time going to KFC in 5 years... 

We got back to Edmonton at about 9:45pm, and although during the drive I had every intention of working out when I got home by the time I arrived there, I was hurting so bad from driving that I just wanted to curl up somewhere and go to bed.

Day Fourteen:

 Back to work today, and back to drinking water!  The thing about the farm is, they have to have their water brought in, as their well was contaminated, and the water can only be used for washing clothes and such now, they rely on water cooler jugs that my uncle brings them for drinking water, so I didn't want to go as hard as I usually do on their water, since it was such an ordeal to bring fresh water out to them.  As well drinking a lot of water, and driving 11 hours through Saskatchewan doesn't exactly work - I don't know about you - but I'm not a fan of squatting in a ditch beside the car along the Trans Can highway, so I merely sipped water now and then, but didn't drink my daily requirement at all. 

So Tuesday morning I got a coffee (this time purely to help wake me up), and filled up my water bottle, and drank water the whole day.  I know my weight is up as a result of this weekend, and after drinking so much water as of late I'm bloated, and feel sluggish and gross, but I'm back into my working out constantly, and Ben and I are back to eating light to counteract the heavy foods we consumed on the weekend. 

Tuesday night I had my Pump and Groove class again, and Jessica worked us hard using resistance bands until our arms were burning, and our legs were shaking.  It was horrible at the time, but I loved every second of it.  There's nothing quite like a good burn to get back into the swing of things!  Unfortunately though, I'm still quite bloated from the weekend, and basically "starting" drinking enough water all over again, so I was very bloated at the class and actually suffered from some awful cramps during some of the routines, but I managed to make it through! 

Day Fifteen:

Today I'm still bloated and still chugging water, and I'm looking forward to a great workout tonight.  I think I'm going to concentrate on some HIIT Cardio, like a Turbo Fire DVD tonight, something to get me moving (and sweating... a lot)

I haven't checked my weight, because I know full well I'm up.  I can feel it in my clothing, and I can see it in my bloated tummy - I'll do my weight in and measurements on Friday morning, but until then, I'm just going to work my ass off to see a good number Friday morning.  This evening I'm thinking I'm going to do some hard cardio right when I get home, followed by some more weights while watching Survivor again :)

I'll get back to my 205 from last Friday in no time!  

Day Ten - Week One Results

So it's 7:43am.  Ben and I are driving to Sask to visit my Baba and Gido for this long weekend, so naturally having a little extra time to sleep in meant that I woke up at 7am and couldnt' sleep for my extra alloted hour.  So instead I got up, and took my weight and measurements! 

So here we have it - the first number is my original measurements from Feb 9th, the second is this morning:



Weight:  208   /   205.7   (WOOOOO!!!!!!)


Measurements

Right Arm:  14 1/2"   /   14"

Left Arm:  14 1/2"  /  14 1/2"

Chest:  40"  /  38 1/2"

Waist (Belly Button):  38 1/2"  /  37 1/2"

Hips:  45 1/2"  /  45"

Right Thigh:  26"  /  25 1/2"

Left Thigh:  26"  /  25"

WOW!!  I gotta admit, I was not at all expecting to see results like that in one week, but I'll take them!!  I'm so excited!! 

7 days - 2.3 pounds lost,  5 1/2"  lost!!!  I'm so proud of myself!!!

Seeing results like this just propels me to worker harder, to keep eating right, and to see myself keep shrinking!!!!   I'm so happy right now!!! 

I'm so close to breaking 200, and already my body is changing for the better!!   Yay!!  Nothing is going to ruin my mood today!!!


And as if I needed some more, here's some Motivation:

Day Nine - Fit Test start of week two

So last night marks one week in my journey.  So I decided that it was only fitting that I did the Fit Test again to see how I've improved in a week of working out daily!

So here you have it!  The first 3 numbers are the first three times I've done the fit test - and then the last one is my 1 week test results:

Squat Jumps - 30  -  31  -  18  -  32
(woo!  Increased that!)

Pushups - 26 (knees)  -  28 knees  -  24 knees - 31 (13 on toes, 18 on knees)
That's right - I did as many as I could do on my toes before dropping to my knees when my arms couldn't hold up - I love it!!


Burpees - 11  -  10  -  8 - 13
Yup, I still hate these - but I managed to hate 2 more than my best time this time around...   I'm hoping the lighter I get, the easier these get!!!


High Knees - 66  -  100  -  80 - 109
Right until the timer beeped!  I'm surprised, I wasn't expecting to improve on this score considering that if I did 100 in 50 seconds, that's 2 a second - but apparently I pushed a little harder and went a little "super speed" in there too!

Switch Lunges - 28 (16 jumping, 12 mod stepping out)  - 28 modified  -  19 mod  -  25 mod
I straight up stepped these. and I went a little slower to get a good lung in there before I stepped up again.  In terms of the modified versions of these, I'm not expecting the time to get better. 

Tuck Jumps - 13  -  18  -  13 - 23
I was a little amazed at this one - I hate tuck jumps and wasn't expecting to improve any!


Tricep Dips - 9  -  14  -  12  -  17
I'm quite happy with the improvement on this one - there's nothing sexier than a lady with a toned pair of arms, and it looks like I'm well on my way!

Sit Ups - 16  -  14  -  11  -  24
Holy Improvement Batman!!  I felt awesome doing these!  I easily could have continued!!



All in all, I'm pretty stoked for those results!!  Go Me!!

I think I'm going to continue to incorporate a fit test into my Thursday workouts as a rule, and I sure as hell feel exhausted afterward, and I know doing these plyometric explosive exercises are definitely burning fat!!

After my workout, I jumped in the shower, and then Ben and I went out for some Karaoke with some of my favorite people!  (I had a diet coke, and water the whole night!  I was good!) All in all, a fantastic night!!!

Motivation:

Day Eight

Dinner with friends last night was awesome!!  I did eat a little more than I had originally planned, and there was home made apple crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert that our friends brought, so I did indulge in that too - but when they headed home, and Ben asked if I wanted to watch Survivor I immediately responded "I have to workout first"  which I'm proud of.

Normally working out would be a secondary thought - but these days I'm pretty proud of myself for making it first and foremost.  I'm not going to lose any weight having my health, diet and exercise sit on the back burner (which it has for a lot of years already).  That being said, I also didn't want to be up until midnight again, so I multi-tasked.  I worked out while watching Survivor!

Exhibit A:

I did Chest presses, Bicep curls, Fly's, and Arnolds with 10 pound dumbbells all while watching the first episode of the new Survivor.  I didn't count reps, and I wasn't aiming for a specific number, I just kept lifting until I reached exhaustion.  Then after a minute of rest, I did it again.

Anyone who says they don't have time to workout, and yet they never miss their favorite show is full of crap!  Invest in a pair of Dumbbells (it's typically $1 per pound, so $20 would get you to two 10 pound dumbbells) and lift while you watch!  Another night I did crunches and core stabilizers while on a Yoga ball watching TV!  Working out doesn't mean you have to give up your favorite things!  And it's taken me a long time to figure that out - but I know it now. 

Tonight I'm doing the Fit Test again - possibly twice depending on how I feel, and then I'm going to get showered and cleaned up, and hit up Karaoke with some friends - where I will once again, drink water :)

Oh - and I had a coffee today too (still with half the calories) and everything is working again :p.   I'm going to weigh myself tomorrow and take measurements again, as that will be one full week since starting this Journey.  And I want to see my progress!!  I'm not expecting much, typically the beginning goes slowly, but after the first couple weeks of keeping up with the eating and working out, the weight will drop off me!! I can't wait to take more pictures!  (Pictures will be a monthly thing for me, as I don't want to get frustrated by not being able to see changes right away in a weekly picture). 

I received a compliment today from a good friend.  She looked at my "Before" pictures, and said "you have a really muscular body! Honestly from the side you almost look like a fitness model. I’m sure you will have no problem dropping the weight with a bit of work"  That totally made my day.  It's true - I am quite muscular, but I do certainly have my jiggly bits too - the trick is to shave off the jiggle and let the Muscle show through!

Motivation:

Day Seven - the TMI Day

****Okay, I'm putting this warning out here right from the start.  This entry will be getting a little more into the TMI section.  As a part of weight loss, and just a healthy lifestyle in general, and nitty gritty details count too.  So anyone reading this who doesn't want to know that personal stuff about me - Skip this next Section, and Look for the "Start Reading here".   




So yesterday, aside form the 2 brownies, and the one chocolate I ate, I ate very light.  In fact I have been eating pretty light for the last couple days so I was anticipating today to be the morning the scale dropped a little more - but it didn't.  This morning the scale still read 206.7.  I didn't understand it then, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized why my weight is stagnant.

I haven't pooped recently.

And by Recently, I mean since Saturday.

With it being Wednesday, I have some serious back up going on.  (I told you this would be TMI).

Then in thinking on it some more, I figured out what I had changed, that also changed my natural bodily functions.  The Coffee.  I cut out coffee starting on Thursday.  I have almost gone a week without coffee, and I have gone 4 days without a BM.  So there's my weight stall.

My eating has been great, and I've been drinking tons of water, but clearly my body needs what Ben lovingly refers to as "the Flusher" -  my morning cup of Joe.  I have found that my body needs extreme measures to function properly - such a eating a giant bowl of green grapes to myself, eating a daily avocado, or drinking a large cup of coffee.  Normal high fiber eating doesn't work for me.  So maybe I was a little too hasty to cut the coffee so quickly.  So as I type this right now, sitting at my desk, I have a full cup of coffee in front of me that I'm waiting to cool.  But this time, I put in half of the amount of sugar and creamer that I usually use - meaning this is a 75 calorie drink, and I can work with that.  It may not taste as good as it usually does, and chances are, I'm not going to enjoy it as much - but if it means that I can get back to a daily constitutional - then I'll give it a try.




Start Reading Here (if you want to skip the TMI part)

That out of the way, lets talk about my workout last night!  I must admit, it wasn't the most intense workout I've done so far.  A while back I saw a Groupon for Shaun T's Rockin Body DVD's for $20.  Since I'm always on the look out for new and fun workouts (and I love me some Shaun T) I bought it.  I mean seriously - what's $20?  It FINALLY arrived yesterday (after about 5-6 weeks waiting), so I decided to pop it in, and see what Shaun T had in store for me.  I did the Mark Move and Groove workout (15 minutes) and most of the Party Express workout (25 minutes).  My knee was giving me some issues from earlier in the day, so I cut my Party Express workout short so I didn't do any further damage.  Mark Move and Groove totally felt like a beginner "learn to dance" video.  It was a lot of slow steps and repetition.  And I was fully aware that it wasn't going to be the intensity that I needed.  15 minutes were up and I hadn't even broken a sweat.

So I decided to pop in Party Express.  This was more like it!  Right off the bat the energy was so much higher, and there were more moves, and quicker changes in between - including some high kicks!  Thank goodness, I was a little worried that the Rockin Body workout would just not work for me!  I made it about 12 minutes in before I started to get a twinge in my knee whenever I bent it - and fearing a week in my knee brace, I cooled down early and shut off the DVD.

I'm a little sad that I didn't have a crazy intense workout, like previous days, but at the same time I need some "active rest" days as well, so that's what I'll count yesterday, since it was the 6th day in a row of working out.

Last night was also Biggest Loser night, (Ben and I watch it every Tuesday, usually after my Pump and Groove class, but there was no class yesterday as they are on a break this week).  This was the first time since the series started that I haven't felt bad about myself while watching people the same size as me work their asses off to make a life change.  It made me feel really good about myself actually.  I also downed a lot of water during the show, and just felt lighter climbing into bed at the end of the night, rather than heavier.   

Tonight we have friends coming over for dinner, and we're making meatloaf, potatoes, and salad (so a little on the heavier side of our regular meals - we're totally chicken stir fry people).  So I'm going to make sure to have a small portion of meatloaf and up my veggies instead.

I'm also going to do a weight training workout too just because tomorrow I plan on doing the Fit Test again, and since yesterday was also Cardio, I'm going to mix it up with some strength training in between.  (I also want to give my knee another day to rest before I have to start doing high knees, burpees, and jump squats again.  I'm excited to do the Fit Test!  I will post all my scores again but I'm almost certain I'm going to have some awesome numbers!!

Also, I'm going to have my first big weight loss challenge coming up this weekend, as Ben and I are heading to Saskatchewan to visit my Baba and Gido, and where there's Baba, there's Ukrainian food, and lots of it.  I plan to bring my 5 pound dumbbells and my yoga mat, and do some exercise when I'm there, but I know eating is going to be the most difficult challenge for me.  Ukrainian Baba's don't understand the meaning of the sentence "I don't want seconds".  I'm also really excited because I haven't seen my grandparents since our wedding reception in July 2010, and we haven't been out to the Farm since shortly after we were engaged in 2009 (when Ben met my entire extended family on my Dad's side, and did phenomenal!).

I guess I'm also nervous because my Baba has always been a "call it as I see it" sort of a person, and ever since I was a little girl she has been criticizing my weight, which used to send me into a downward spiral of self loathing and emotional eating - which is really a vicious cycle.  I'm so worried that she is going to comment on my size, and I don't know if I can take it right now.  The last time she saw me, I was 20 pounds lighter, and although I've been working really hard to get this weight off me - all she is going to see is 200 pound Heather walk through her door.  

My cousin Kim once told me, that before heading home to the farm to see Baba and Gido, she asked her Fiance "Okay, do I look too fat?  or Too Skinny - tell me now so I can be prepared for what Baba will say".  As far as I can tell Kim has never had any sort of struggle with her weight.  She has always been beautiful slender and toned, but she got the comments too - I think all us girls did.  

This is horrible, I'm making my Baba out to sound like such a horrid person.  She's really not - she's a wonderful loving woman, she just doesn't have the same societal filter the rest of us have.  If you gain weight, she will ask you why, not to be cruel and uncaring, but just out of curiosity.  My other cousin Krysta (Kim's sister) lost weight for her wedding, and Baba said to her "Krysta, you look so great!  You used to be so fat!"  Of course the rest of us probably would have given the compliment like this:  "Krysta, you look so great!  You've lost so much weight!"  or "You are so tiny!".  But not Baba.

I'm hoping I'm now at the place in my life when I can laugh about it...  but we'll see what she says when she sees me.  I have never been able to take comments about my weight lightly, and considering I have been overweight 97% of my life, you would think I could deal by now - but nope.  Heather turns into Heffer really easily when you are in elementary school, and although I've built myself a very tough skin, and it may look like it doesn't effect me, it still cuts deep, and those wounds take a long time to heal. 

Well Now.  This became one hell of a depressing Blog Entry.  Go me!

Anyway - self esteem aside - my uncle Russ told me he's going to get out the Ski-Doo's for when we are out there, so I'm pretty thrilled for that!  The last time I was on a Ski-doo I think I was 7 or 8, so this should be a fun time!  Ben's parents lent us their snow suits too - which is awesome because I only have a dress jacket (peti-coat).  I think all in all this will be an awesome weekend!!  I can just get a little "in my head" at times and worry about every little thing, but I think we're going to have a blast!   

Also - They don't have internet at the farm, in fact they don't even have a computer, so I won't be posting daily blog entries, but I will be bringing my laptop and writing every day, but unfortunately you will just have to wait for Monday night for me to post them all!

Here's your daily dose of Motivation!  (I think this is fitting)

Day Six - Valentines Day

The world is chocolate covered today.  It's damn hard to stick to a healthy eating regime when everyone is offering you goodies!

I started off the morning early - I know, I was just as surprised as you are, but somehow, someway I woke up at 7am this morning, rather than my usual 7:30-7:45 with much poking and prodding from the Hubby.  I was wide awake, and alert, so we left for work earlier than usual and my very first initial thought was "Hunny, lets swing by McDonalds and I'll buy my valentine breakfast!"  Which is a sweet sentiment, but not when you factor in that my "usual" is 750 calories, which is more than half of my daily allotment.  And Ben's usual totals a whopping 1150 calories!!!  So Healthy Heather stopped the fattening thoughts of my little inner Fat Kid, and I didn't suggest anything of the sort to Ben, and we headed to work as usual. 

Once we got there however, the treats were already there - starting with 2 bite brownies the secretary had brought in, and placed out at the coffee bar for everyone to take.  I first had my apple, and a boiled egg for breakfast.  Then one brownie.  Only one.  ... or two.  I had resolved for only one, and made myself blueberry tea rather than having coffee (go me!) but then the tea left a god awful taste in my mouth, so I grabbed a brownie to change the flavour.  It is now 2:15pm and I haven't had another brownie.  I'm proud of myself - that's 4 hours with the bite size temptations sitting there calling my name, and I haven't bothered to even wander over there!  This is success for me - the old Heather would have eaten half the tray all on my own  (half?  Heather who are we kidding?  I would have Hovered the whole thing!).  Just before Christmas I brought in the same brownies to share with everyone, and I think I had 7 or 8 of them! 

Then one of my employees came in with Lindt Chocolate Hearts for everyone, and placed two on my desk while I was on a phone call.  Now the fat kid in me would eagerly grab both hearts and shove them in my mouth before anyone knew they were there.  But I was good - of course I"m not going to turn down lindt, since it's my favorite, but I am going to share - so I did.  I immediately took one heart and brought it to Ben.  then I slowly savored the second heart.  Totally.  Worth.  It.

I'm now sipping water and feeling very pleased with myself.  Today is definitely not an easy day for me, especially because of my severe Chocolate Addiction, but I think I've handled myself quite well considering!

Oh - and I weighed myself this morning, and I'm 206.7 - so I'm still on track for losing weight!  I'm expecting my weight to drop again this week!  :)  I'm feeling awesome, and working out every night is fast becoming one of my favorite de-stressers!  I cant' wait for the snow to melt so I can start running again!


Motivation:

(I want arms like those!):

Day Five

Another successful day without coffee!  And a Monday no less!  I'm on a roll! 

I'm feeling awesome!  I mean, all last night I had a headache from a bleach related incident involving our laundry machine, but headache aside, I feel good!  I'm feeling good about my food choices, and I feel good about how much I've been working out!  In fact I'm back to finding workouts to be fun! 

I've found Pinterest to be a fabulous tool in helping to keep things interesting, and I have found some great tips, tricks, inspiration and workouts on that site!  It definitely takes the guess work out of - well anything.  I'm completely and totally a Pinterest addict, and damn proud of it!

My workout tonight was this:

Damn.  My arms were shaking by the end!  It was a super quick workout totaling 10 minutes duration, but man did my arms get a workout!

I started off with the first 10 pushups military style - and boy was that 10th pushup hard to get too!  Then I did my 20 tricep dips and then moved on to bicep curls.  For the curls, I used 5 pound weights for no other reason than convenience. 

 
See we have these nifty Bowflex adjustable weights in our "gym" in our basement, but they were ALL THE WAY DOWNSTAIRS!!  (and my calves are still feeling a little sore going down the stairs).  But luckily my 5 pounds were already upstairs and conveniently right next to me - so I did the curls with them.  I could have done the curls with 7 or 10 pounds, but I went with the fives out of sheer laziness.  To increase the intensity though, I did very slow curls tightening my muscles the whole way.  By the 23rd curl, my arms were definitely burning, so I'm happy with my "light weight" choice.

The 40 second plank was a beast though, and I got to 35 shaky seconds before my knees hit the mat, and I rested for 2 seconds before popping back up to complete my 40 second hold.  I'm still saying it counts.  I have to start somewhere...

The 50 tucks were difficult as well as my abs were already mad at me for the last plank hold, so I split my 50 tucks into two 25 sets.  And then it was time for the plank again.  This one I did on my knees - I'll need to work up to doing both sets on my toes, but for now, since my midsection resembles that of a member of the Pilsbury family, I'm comfortable with my knee plank for tonight.

I also did my push ups on my knees.  After 60 super slow intense bicep curls, my arms were weak!

Tomorrow I may need Ben to wash my hair for me - depending on whether or not I can life my arms above my head with the strength of my own body.  We'll see how that goes for me.

 I finished my night off with a couple hard boiled eggs for protein (that I cooked while I worked out - how's that for multitasking??!)  And sitting back with my laptop to write this blog entry.  Now it's 10:45, which leaves me plenty of time for a decent nights sleep - so until tomorrow, I leave you! 

Motivation:

Day Four

Well I'm certainly feeling my workout from yesterday!!  My calves are so sore from those 8 jumping sets!! Ben went out to his parents place early this morning, so I took over the bed and slept in till 10 - it was glorious!  I actually did wake up at both 8 and 9 and each time decided that I wasn't done enjoying the comfort of our bed, nor was I ready to attempt to stand when I could already feel I was in for some pain today.  By the time I did decide to get out of bed (after spending another hour cuddling with my very lovey cat) I had successfully stretched my calves to a point where there was still pain, but not so much that I'm limping. 

I bummed around the house, and went on Pintrest, and waited for Hubby to come home, and then we went for a very long walk to enjoy the unseasonable warm day we are experiencing!  The skies are blue, the sun is bright and warm, and it's Hoodie weather through and through! 

We tracked our path and our kilometers on our RunKeeper app and went wherever we felt like going, exploring what our new area had to offer, and ended up on these awesome paths that run through the ravine, some that we didn't even know existed! 

Before we knew it, we had walked 6.25 kilometers!!  We both feel fantastic, and my calves are every feeling much better!

Already in just 4 days, I'm feeling fantastically better about myself!  I've been eating better, working out daily, and I feel awesome! 

I have also decided a reward for myself when I reach my 170 goal - I mean, along with being Melissa's Thin model for her workshop, I'm also going to buy myself a dress.  A tight figure hugging dress that shows all the curves! 

This Dress:

I have never before bought myself such a tight dress, but I know that I can achieve this goal, and this dress will look stunning on me!! 


Here's a little motivation to help me get there!

Day Three

So first off, I have a confession to make.  I didn't workout last night.  I have discovered very early on, that I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination.  So getting up first thing to workout, is just not happening.  That being said, Melissa and I made a pact that we will workout before going to bed at night so we get some sort of activity in at some point in the day.  Day two, and I already broke that.  Crap.

Last night was my dear friends Birthday, and we were all going out to dinner to celebrate at an East Indian Buffet Restaurant.  I know - dangerous.  I went in there with only the best intentions.  I avoided the Chai, and any sort of alcoholic beverage or pop, and opted for water (go me!).  Then it came time to eat.  I thought I had done really well, I took a bunch of salad (I think I was the only one in our group who did), and I only took no more than about 2/3 of a cup of basmati rice, and spread it very thin on my plate, and then loaded up on a chick pea sauce, Palak Paneer (indian cottage cheese and spinach - my fav!), and butter chicken (which is ultimately a tomato sauce with chicken and spice)  I avoided everything deep fried and had 1/2 piece of naan bread, which was so thin it was crunchy (I avoided the doughy ones).  Even when it came time for dessert I had 1/4 cup of rice pudding and a plate with a few grapes and pineapple chunks (I didn't even indulge in the chocolate fountain!).

I was full, but feeling fine for most of the night, and then all of a sudden I got a crippling pain in my side.  I got really bloated and started breaking into a cold sweat.  I was certain I was going to throw up, but when I went to the bathroom, nothing happened.  Ben and I drove home, and the whole time, I had my hand over my mouth to prevent myself from throwing up.  Once we got home, I curled up in bed and took some pepto.  The shooting pain in my stomach was unbearable, and I felt I was one burp away from losing my whole dinner.  So rather than working out, we popped in a movie, and I waiting for my nausea and pain to subside before finally going to bed at 11pm. 

This morning I felt good, the bloat was gone, and I didn't even gain any weight!  Looking back, I'm thinking that perhaps the pineapple and grapes might have fermented in my stomach and combined with the rest of the food my body couldn't handle the extra gas and acid.  That's my thought anyway.

This morning I went much lighter on the food side, breakfast was a protein shake with frozen strawberries and cranberries, and lunch will be a homemade chicken burger will all the fixings (minus the bun), and I don't know about dinner yet, but I might enjoy a green smoothie with Melissa later on too.

To make up for yesterdays lack of exercise, I did an awesome workout today!  I found this on the BodyRock.tv website, and thought it looked like a decent body weight workout.  In my opinion Body weight is where it's at - I can squat 200 pounds, can you?  haha.  I also hate when I don't have the right equipment, so I love BodyRock for that reason, all of their exercises take very minimal equipment, so you can usually sub out, if there happens to be something you don't have. 

Here was the original workout:


Warm Up Strength Routine: Complete 4 Sets of the below

15 x Body Weight Squats
15 x Exercise Ball Roll Outs
15 x Shoulder Press
15 x Back Extensions Over the Ball

Followed by 8 sets of 50sec work /10secs rest 

Do one of the below for the 8 rounds:

Skipping, High Knees, Prisoner Squat Jumps, Jog/run On Spot, Box Step Ups, Switch Lunges, Burpees, Squat Jumps

Cool Down Strength Exercises: Complete 4 Sets of the below

15 x Bodyweight Squats
15 x Push Ups
15 x Reverse Pull Ups

I only made slight modifications:


Rather than doing a Reverse Pull up, I replaced that exercise with Chest fly's on a Ball  Just because I didn't have anything to do the reverse Pull Up with.  And I did my pushups on my knees because I'm not yet at a place where I can do the full toe push ups for the entire workout.  

As for the 8 minutes/sets of cardio I ended up doing several of the exercises because I couldn't do just one or two at this point.  So this is what I did (50 seconds of each with a 10 second break between):

Skipping Rope (I didn't have a rope, I just mimicked it)

Jumping Jacks

Skipping Rope

Switch Lunges

Jumping Jacks

High Knees

Skipping Rope

High Knees / Butt Kicks (reverse the knee to the back to kick yourself in the butt - I did half and half)

This workout was a little harder than I was thinking because when I first looked at it, I saw 15 reps, and seem to have failed to noticed the 4 sets, so I definitely got very tired while going through everything.  But I also pushed myself harder because I had more to do as well.  A couple times I told myself I would only do 3 sets, or I would only do 6 minutes of cardio instead of the full 8, and once I got there, I just kept going, because to me, being able to say that I did everything was way better than saying that I did less because it was too hard.

I did it.  I did the whole thing, and I feel awesome about it!!

Motivation:

Day Two

I had a great day yesterday!  I didn't have a coffee, and instead upped my water intake, as well I did an awesome workout, and got plenty of sleep last night. 

I'm feeling good today!  Even more so, because this morning my scale read 206.2!!  1.8 Pounds down so far!  Just by making a couple little changes :)  I'm only 7 pounds away from my first goal of breaking 200!!  I can do it!! 


I have a secret weapon.  A couple actually. 

The first is my Partner in Pretty, Melissa - who is on this journey with me!  We have been keeping each other in check, and making sure we do our workouts.  Last night when I got home from work, I was suffering from a stomach ache from being bloated as a result of the extra water, so I laid down for a bit and ended up falling asleep for a couple hours.  When I work up at 8:30pm, I had a text message saying "Wow.  Fit Test = Hard.  Did you do it yet?  I'm going to do round 2 now"  Just seeing that, and knowing that I wasn't alone in this, and that I had someone else busting their ass right along side me did wonders for my own motivation, and I strapped on my shoes and set my timer for my own workout. 

Speaking of Shoes...  I just bought a new pair last night.  I am now the proud owner of a pair of Komodo Sport Vibrams!!! 

I know - they look weird.  But I kind of love them!!  My biggest problem when I run is that my toes swell up and overlap each other, which means I get a blister every single time I run!  It's annoying, especially if you want to go out every day, but can't because you are waiting for a blister to heal!  I found out about Vibrams in the summer when I was running, and I have been wanting a pair ever since!  Luckily, I have amazing family, and Ben's parents bought me a GC for my birthday to go buy myself a pair!  I knew these shoes would be awesome for running in, but it didn't occur to me that they would probably be awesome to work out in too! 

Conventional running shoes are equipped with supports and shock absorbers to protect your foot, but unfortunately, as a result of this, feet are typically pretty weak.  I was made very aware of this in a Yoga class where I was trying to hold up my body weight on a single leg, and I was wiggling and wobbling all over the place.  My foot and ankle started to burn just because it was too weak to perform the task at hand!  I wanted a firm footing, but my feet had spent too many years allowing the shoe to do all the work for them, and they didn't develop any of their own muscles.  But Vibrams are designed to allow your foot to move the way nature intended, which in turn, strengthens the muscles, and improves balance and coordination! 

It's true.  I did the first fit test barefoot, and found my feet were hurting by the end, but yesterday when I did the fit test again, this time wearing my Vibrams, I felt like I had a more secure footing, and jumping and landing was way easier. 

I think this is the start to a beautiful love affair with my shoes, and I'm hoping that come running season, my usual blisters and shin splints are a thing of the past! 

But anyway, shoe tanget aside, I didn't tell you about my other secret weapon yet!! 

The other weapon is Ben. 

Ben is my amazing husband, who is my #1 fan, and biggest cheer leader.  If I tell him "I'm not going to eat gluten this week" he just nods and says "okay", if I tell him that I want to try Hot Yoga, he's right there on the mat next to me.  If I tell him that I'm giving up meat, he supports me (even though he jokingly refers to vegetarians as hippies).  Ben backs me 110% in whatever I choose to do, and he would never question my decision unless he saw it as being harmful to me.  I'll be the first to admit, I have tried my hand at a LOT of diet and exercises trends, and I'm sure I've driven Ben crazy with my quest to be thin, but having grown up struggling with his own weight problems, he gets it.  And he's there for me, no matter what. 

Which is really all that I could ask for.  Ben is the best friend that I rant to about my weight loss struggles, and he's also at times an accomplice in diet sabotage too - but of course, not without my own permission given.  He's by my side through this whole journey, and I'm so thankful that I have him in my life. 

I once dated a man that didn't eat vegetables.  In fact he didn't really eat anything that didn't come out of a box in the freezer and have some sort of breading on it.  I gained weight with that man - naturally.  But it was impossible to lose the weight with him in my life.  He would turn his nose up at anything slightly healthy, and constantly brought home pepperoni pizza several nights a week.  He was well versed in healthy eating sabotage, and I found my frustrations grow along with my waist line.  I know all too well the difficulties of trying to make a life change when your partner isn't there along side you, which is why it means so much to me to have Ben be my rock during this journey. 

Ben and I eat very cleanly - no desserts in our house, rarely is there any pop, no junk food or pre-packaged meals.  Nothing in our fridge has ingredients that we can't spell, and we make all our meals from scratch using real ingredients.  So then, why am I fat you may be asking as you are reading this?  I have a problem with portion control.  A healthy stir fry is awesome for you, unless you eat 4 cups worth.  I'm working on it - and Ben is helping me, and I'm so very thankful for him in every way. 


So there you have it - Ben and Melissa,... and my Vibrams.  BY YOUR POWERS COMBINED... I WILL BE THIN!!


And here's a little Motivation:

The Fit Test

In my previous post, I mentioned that I did a fit test yesterday, and I posted my results.  Tonight, I did it again.... and again.  So here are all three rounds in total with a break down on how I feel about the exercises in question.  And just as an aside, of course the 3rd numbers are going to be less than the other two, as I was quite tired by the time I started the second round.  

Squat Jumps - 30  -  31  -  18

So these little darlings involve you cruching down with your finger tips touching the ground, and your ass sticking out as though you were exaggerating sitting in a chair, then you explode into a jump bringing your body straight and long and your arms straight up above your head, then you drop back into the crouching position and do it again.  There is no resting between, you just keep doing them over and over until you are exhusted.  I did one better on the first round today, than I did yesterday, but all in all I expected to see similar numbers.  I actually don't find this excercise as difficult as some of the others as I have no problems with squats and do them quite frequently.


Pushups - 26 (knees)  -  28 knees  -  24 knees

So at this point, until I build up my arm muscles again, I'm going to stick to doing my pushups on my knees, at least for the first week.  It saddens me that I went from 35 military style pushup in a row, to 28 on my knees in a year and a half, but that's what happens unfortunately.  If you don't use it, you lose it!  I go to an aerobic class on Tuesday nights, called Pump and Groove, and there is always pushups at the end of the class, I usually start on my toes and then drop to my knees after 4 or 5 depending on how much the instructor worked my arms that night (and she Loves to work the arms!).  So far I'm feeling pretty good about my numbers, and I don't know how much more I could add to them with being on my knees, as I do the pushups straight through until the timer beeps, so I think the difficulty and improvement is going to come in once I start doing them on my toes.  But I love pushups, and I have no problems with this exercise.  It's an incredible full body workout, and I think more girls should do pushups on a regular basis. 

Burpees - 11  -  10  -  8

As for Burpees... these things were invented by a sadistic trainer who hated their clients.  I hate these things with a burning passion.  I am thick and stocky, and burpees were not designed with my body type in mind.  Hauling all of my weight to the ground, then springing about 110 pounds of lower body out into a plank position, and then back in again before jumping back on your feet and lifting all 208 pounds of mass into the air only to do it all over again gets really old really quick.  That being said, I know that the exercises that are hard for me, and that are the most difficult for me to perform, are probably the ones that I need, and that are going to do the most good.  Hell, I couldn't do a single push up 2 1/2 years ago, and I hated the very thought!  Now I love them, and I love how they make my body feel.   And that right there is probably the only reason I haven't subbed in a different exercise in place of the dreaded Burpees.  Chances are - because I hate them so much, they are the best thing for me. 

High Knees - 66  -  100  -  80

No problems with High Knees, and clearly it helps that I did todays workout without a bunch of potato in my tummy as I did a whole lot better in terms of endurance.  I will gladly continue to do these, and I feel they are both difficult, and fun.

Switch Lunges - 28 (16 jumping, 12 mod stepping out)  - 28 modified  -  19 mod

You start out standing with your feet shoulder width apart, then you step forward into a deep lunge, but instead of stepping back, you instead jump, and switch your leg positions, so you land (softly) in another lunge on the other leg.  I have never been good at these.  I always make a good attempt to complete the full jump switch, but my balance combined with my crappy knees and ankles usually causes me to lose my form really quickly, and I end up hurting something.  Yesterday I started off with every intention of doing all of the reps in jumping form, but after my ankles started wobbling I knew I had the choice to either hurt myself, or switch to stepping out rather than jumping.  Perhaps size 8 Heather will be able to jump these, until then, I'll stick to stepping until I feel a little stronger.  Today when I did my workout I just did the step outs.

Tuck Jumps - 13  -  18  -  13

Yup - not a fan of these although still better than Burpees.  If you think of doing high knees, that's basically what this is, but both, at the same time.  You jump, and then while in the air, pull your knees up as high as you can and then land softly and do it again.  Really if we break it down, I don't like the exercises where I need to lift my weight off the ground.  Which is totally a "fattie" mentality.  So I need to work on that.  Todays round seemed to go better than yesterday though, so perhaps I am getting better at them? 

Tricep Dips - 9  -  14  -  12

These are growing on me.  I'm not a stranger to Tricep Dips, and a couple years ago when I frequented the gym more than once a year I did them regularly with my legs on a large yoga ball (which not only increases the intensity in your triceps having your legs elevated, but in order to keep your legs still on the ball, you also had to hold your core in tight.  If I remember correctly, I was either doing 2 sets of 12, or 3 sets of 10.  So considering I haven't done much in way of triceps short of tricep push ups (which suck by the way) I feel pretty good with going from 9 to 14 in 24 hours.  Even my tired round two score was higher than my initial one.  Perhaps some body parts are starting to remember? 

Sit Ups - 16  -  14  -  11

These aren't crunches, these are full on sit ups - you pull your body from lying down on the floor to a seated position, and back again, maintaining full control the whole time.  I actually like these, I like ab work (to a point - there are only so many bicycle crunches I can do before I start cursing to anyone within earshot).  The only thing I can say for my numbers going down, is that I'm still feeling the sit ups from yesterday, so my abs weren't working at full strength.  Still, I'm pretty happy with those numbers.

So there it is.  8 minutes of exhaustion and sweat, done twice.  It doesn't feel long enough - not that I want the cycle to be longer - oh hell no, by that 6 minute mark I'm pretty ready to be done, I just mean that looking back after completing the cycle 8 minutes sounds like a short amount of time for how tired and exhausted I am.  I feel like this is a 15 minute cycle.  But that being said, telling myself "go workout - it's only 8 minutes" has been working in my favour thus far.


Here's a little motivation for you (I am going to put these at the end of every blog post.  I know I'm motivated now, but there will come a day when I'm going to have to spend some time re-reading this blog to find my inspiration again, so including a few words of wisdom at the end of a post is not such a bad thing!)

this one makes me laugh

I will have definition like her

Keep pushing!!  It'll be worth it in the end!  I promise!!

What it is...

So this is a weight loss Blog.  The weight that will be lost forever, is my own.  I will post pictures, rant about struggles, and celebrated successes.  This is a journey that I have started time and time again.  This needs to be the last one.  I'm 27, these are the years I'm supposed to look back on and wish I was this size aren't they?  I will never wish for this, I don't want to see Extra Large on a tag again.  

I want to be a mom.  I want to have kids, and run around with them.  I want to be fit, and firm.  I want to see muscle definition in my arms.  I want a smaller bum, and a flat stomach.  I want to be able to grab t-shirts off the rack and buy them without trying them on first.  I want to strut around in a bikini without needing to suck in.  I want to be healthy and fit for my husband.  I want to live a long life.

And I want to be a Boudoir Model for a Photography workshop.

My amazing business partner has been asked to lead a workshop on Boudoir posing.  For it she needs both a thin model, and a plus sized model.  When she told me, I said "I'll be your plus sized model" and she responded "I would rather you be my thin model"  So I'm going to be.

I'm going to be the Skinny Model in a Boudoir workshop with 12 different photographers taking and posting my pictures.  This is my "Reward Cookie".

I have a lot of goals that I will reach on the way to my "Cookie".  And I will be sharing those goals along the way.

But first comes first.  Here is my starting point.

Yes my bum is lopsided.  This was a discovery as a result of this photo

These pictures are a little bit older, but I'm the exact same weight and size in them as I am now.  So unfortunately, it still works:


So as of February 9th 2012

Weight:  208  (size 14 - Extra Large)

Height: 5' 7"


Measurements

Right Arm:  14 1/2"

Left Arm:  14 1/2"

Chest:  40"

Waist (Belly Button):  38 1/2"

Hips:  45 1/2"

Right Thigh:  26"

Left Thigh:  26"


I have lots of goals that I want to achieve, but rather than listing them all, I'm just going to post one or two at a time.  Once I reach one goal, I'll cross it off the list, and add a new goals.  I feel this seems a little more obtainable.

Goal One:  Break 200 lbs - and maintain in the 100's for a week.
The maintaining is because I have broken 200, several times, in fact on October 30th, my scale read 199.5 - I was thrilled!!  And then Christmas and New Years Happened, and on Jan 2nd I was 213. 

Goal Two: Replace Coffee (with 3 sugars and 3 table spoons of coffee mate for a full sized travel mug) with Herbal Tea.  In order to cut out an additional 150 calories that I don't need.  I can drink tea without sugar, but I cannot drink coffee without sugar (believe me, I've tried!)

Goal Three:  Perform 20 consecutive miliary style push ups.  In the summer of 2010 my record was 35.  But these days I can only do about 6, before having to drop to my knees.  The body forgets so quickly. 


Last Night I completed this Fit Test

 And these were my scores:

Squat Jumps - 30
Pushups - 26 (knees)
Burpees - 11
High Knees - 66
Switch Lunge - 28 (16 jumping, 12 modified stepping out)
Tuck Jumps - 13
Tricep Dips - 9
Sit Ups - 16

By the end I was exhausted and wheezing, and I'm feeling a little soreness today - but I definitely felt good about myself while I was doing it! 


Tonight I'm going to complete this test again, and then after a 2 minute break, do it again, and call it my workout for today.  Wish me luck!!

This is what I'm aiming for as my "Reward Cookie"

This is 2007 Heather before the car accident that had me off work and in accident rehab for 3 months.  This Heather is 170 pounds.  Her shirt is a Medium, and her jeans are brand name size 8, and bought from a store she has never been able to shop in before then.  She is happy, and although her ribs stick out more, she is enjoying every day she doesn't have to suck in her stomach.  She's still in here, under 38 pounds of fat.  I'm going to find her.


And here's a little daily Motivation: