Week 32: Lose Yourself

I have become a bit obsessed with music recently. I am starting to run  jog (what? 3 minutes counts...) and I want upbeat music to listen to. I have never enjoyed rap music....until recently. Eminem has a few songs that I love, one of them is "Lose Yourself":

Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

When this song plays I think about everything I am working towards -- my weight loss goals, my fitness goals, my career goals, my dating goals, ALL of it. In that moment, if THAT was my one opportunity, would I slow down? Would I take a break? Would I give up? NO. I would push through. So that's what I do. When this song comes on, I don't stop. It doesn't matter how tired I am, how weak I feel, or how close I am to collapsing, I don't stop.

We all have moments when we want to quit. Moments when we think we could not possibly go a step further. Moments when we are so fed up with trying so hard for so long that we no longer care about the consequences. Those are the moments that define us. Those are the moments that we get to show our strength. Those are the moments that we get to reach out to someone ELSE and help them with their moment. 

My point in this is that reaching your goals (ANY goals) is never going to be easy and there will always be obstacles, but obstacles are not an excuse to quit. Instead, they are an opportunity to get stronger. 

Now for my week :) 

If you don't know who TOM is, read the hints. I'm fine when TOM stays for a few days, but I'm not fine when he's just on his way. Being a woman is hard enough without trying to lose weight when your body is retaining water for no other purpose than to retain water. You cramp, you feel bloated, and you are ridiculously tired. I could BARELY get out of bed on Wednesday, AND it was a 4:30am morning AND I had a 45 minute cardio session calling my name. I reluctantly got up, went to the gym, and managed 30 minutes before I nearly collapsed. I worked 1/2 a day, went home, and SLEPT. These days will happen. They suck, but they happen. I also missed Thursday evening's workout because I got super busy with church stuff (and I may have had a LOT on my mind) and went to a haunted house instead... So, I missed a total of 2.25 workouts.

I'll put the spreadsheet totals up on Monday (I don't have access to excel till then). I was a little nervous for this mornings weigh in. My goal was 3 lbs. 

Last week: 233.2. This week: 230.4. Equals: -2.8.

I'm pleased with that! For missing 2.25 workouts, I will accept this. I still need to average 3lbs/week to hit my big goal, but I can make it up this week. HOWEVER, I get a mani/pedi when I'm under 230 and I BARELY missed it. AND 2 of my friends were going for mani/pedis today. After my 6 mile hike, a subway sandwhich, and some chicken, corn, and pineapple, I decided to weigh myself in again. This does NOT count towards this weeks weigh in, but....

229.6........AAHHHHHH!!!!!! So yes. I got a mani/pedi. 

BUT the most EXCITING part is that I have now lost 60.0 LBS. Honestly, I was terrified that I would get caught in the 50's and wouldn't find a way out. But I am already at 60 LBS. 70 - watch out! I'm on my way!

Week 31:Tight Schedule?

For the next 11 weeks I will be working out 9x/week. I understand that I may have the occasional interruption, but I am hopeful they will be rare.

Monday/Wednesday/Friday
4:30am: Wake up!
5:00am: Cardio @ LA Fitness
6:15am: Shower
7:30am: Commute to ASU
8:00am: Work
5:00pm: Physical Therapy/Personal Training (PT) (Cardio/Weights on Wednesday)
7:30pm: Teach Bagpipes (Band Rehersal on Friday)
9:30pm: Sleep

Tuesday/Thursday
6:00am: Wake up!
7:00am: Commute to ASU
7:30am: Institute
8:00am: Work
5:00pm: Cardio @ LA Fitness
6:00pm: Errands :(
7:30pm: Foam Roll
8:30pm: Sleep

Saturday
5:30am: Wake up!
6:30am: Pick up sister (Thanks for hiking with me every week!)
7:00am: Hike
11:00am: Cinderella (errands, clean, cook, etc..)
4:00pm: FREE TIME!!! HALLELUJAH!!

Sunday
8-9:00am: Wake up :)
11:00am: Church
3:00pm: Prepare food for the week
5:00pm: Relax.

REPEAT.

Last week was my first week on this schedule. While I am not a fan of waking up at 4:30am, I am a fan of working out in the morning.

My nutrition was GREAT this week. I even logged my food on MyFitnessPal. I started to get dizzy during my workout on Friday night and realized I had only consumed 713 calories for the day....oops. Fridays are always hard, but this one was even worse. If I did not have good options for lunch in the past (no fridge/freezer, nothing prepared, etc...) I would just grab a burger, now I just have a protein shake. Unfortunately, protein doesn't have the calories I need.

I never track what I eat on the weekends. I don't go totally off plan and eat whatever I see, but I allow myself two days of not planning. I've started a habit of getting a subway sandwich after my Saturday hike, eating my normal breakfast meal a few hours later, and working in lean protein during the rest of the day. Sundays I depend on protein bars, protein powder, and whatever I am preparing for the next week (usually turkey tacos). I'll allow myself to have things like chips and guac or a lean cut steak, and whatever fruit sounds good. This past weekend I made some no sugar pumpkin spice cookies and they turned out SO good. I also made Chris Powell's Peanut Butter Power Bricks. They are DELISH. The only bad thing about the peanut butter bricks is that they have honey and peanut butter in them, so you have to be careful to not indulge too much.

4 LBS. YEAH!!! I want SO SO badly to be under 200 by January 1st - that gives me 11 weeks to lose 34 lbs. This is an average of just over 3 lbs a week. That is a LOT. I have averaged 1.8 lbs a week. That is why I will be working out 9x a week for the next 11 weeks. I am skipping Thanksgiving. I am skipping Halloween goodies. I know Christmas is going to be SO hard, but I have to keep my goals in mind. I know this goal might be too much of a stretch. If I can't hit 199 by January 1st I will at least get there before January 31st.

But I'm going to try for January 1st.

Many of you have asked for progress pictures. I have put these on the page "pictures" and will continue to update this monthly. I was pleasantly surprised at the physical change since 282 lbs. I hope 190 will be just as great :)

6 Months is a Long Time

I sprained my ankle on my hike last weekend, so I decided to take the fitness side easy this week. I put in less than an hour of cardio and less than 90 minutes of weights. In hindsight, I could have done more weights. I guess cardio has become such a staple of my routine that I don’t think about doing weights without it. My nutrition, however, was pretty close to perfect. I ate at my ward’s FHE on Monday (I usually skip all food related activities) and although I tried to stay healthy and on plan, I probably ate more than I would have if I had prepared it myself.

One small nutrition mishap (really, it was miniscule) and a week of low physical activity, and I still lost 1.8lbs. That makes me feel…..wonderful. I know that my weight loss last week had almost nothing to do with my fitness and everything to do with my nutrition; this is SUCH a motivator to stay on track with food. I really do enjoy the fitness. It may be difficult to wake up at 4:30am or spend my evenings at the gym instead of vegging in front of the TV, but I enjoy fitness more than I enjoy not eating out with friends, preparing every meal, and skipping the dessert. I needed this motivation to stay on track with what I eat.

I threw away 4 bags of clothes this weekend. Some days I feel smaller, other days I don’t, but those 4 bags prove that I am. I have lost 6 dress sizes, medium shirts (although they are tight) fit better than extra-large shirts (which now drown me), and workout clothes I bought over the summer are becoming too big. I know this is all great, wonderful, fantastic!, but I keep looking at the future and it makes this so much harder. I have lost 50lbs in 6 months, which means it will take at least another 6 months for the next 50lbs, and then I’m still not done. I know I need to take this one step at a time, one day at a time, one pound at a time, but 6 months suddenly feels like a check point that gets farther away the faster I run.

On a more positive note, I have some new goals. I currently hate running. Really, HATE it. Absolutely not a fan. HOWEVER, I want to love running and the first step to loving running is to run. I want to run a 5k before I hit my one year (April 19^th), a 10k before my birthday (July 13^th), and a half marathon in 2013. I believe that this is 100% possible, but I do need to get to work. I am also hoping that working towards fitness goals will help me to take this one step at a time instead of trying to tackle 6 months’ worth of work overnight.

Finally, my short term goal is to be at 215 by December 8, 2012. This means that I have just over 8 weeks to lose 22 lbs. I need to be losing 3lbs a week to meet this goal. So, if any of you try to tempt me with sugar, fat, fried greasy food, etc… you may get smacked in the face with a fish. However, if any of you want to hang out at the gym, the trail, the track, or take a quick 5 mile walk to discover new fun, you may become my new BFF.

Week 29: 16 miles

I walked the long way home from my ward's softball games on Tuesday (3 miles), my roommate and I walked to the grocery store for some bananas on Wednesday (2 miles), and I took the long way to the mall and then Whole Foods on Thursday (5.6 miles) for a grand total of more than 10 miles. And that was just during the week. I wrapped it all up with a 6 mile hike on Saturday. I was getting sick of the gym and loving the weather. I wanted to be outside but I still need to be careful with my knee so my activities are limited. I did a small amount of jogging during my walks, but I learned that running outside is much harder than running on a treadmill. I like walking. A lot. I wish I could like running as much as I like walking.

I also like sugar. A lot. Cookies especially. Chocolate chip, peanut butter, butterscotch, shortbread...yum. And I really like the holidays. Pumpkin EVERYTHING. Pumpkin bread. Pumpkin pie. Pumpkin hot chocolate. Pumpkin crepes. Pumpkin muffins. Pumpkin cookies. Cookies.. and TOFFEE, and caramel, and homemade candies, and peppermint, and those peppermint kisses.. Okay. You get the idea. I love sugar and I love all the sugary treats that come with the holidays. I also love that I am more active, that I can move easier, that I have lost 4 dress sizes, that I look and feel better. Oh the dilemmas. I have decided that I will enjoy the holidays next year MUCH more if I have met my goals. So this year, I am going to enjoy them a different way. I will not eat sugar (like cookies, muffins, cookies, pies, cookies...) until January. I feel like this is a BIG commitment. I am A-OKAY with sugar alternatives (like stevia and xylitol), and this will help me stay on my goal. My WONDERFUL friend and healthy side kick Emily turned me onto sugar free chocolate. It is perfect for my sweet tooth. I can do this. It's just three months. Heck, maybe it will turn into a lot longer then that. But for now, it is at LEAST three months.

Last week was my first week without sugar. I also drank a lot of water. And as you have read I did a lot of walking. I weighed in on Friday morning and I was 0.6 lbs away from hitting my halfway mark to my first big goal. I was PERFECT on Friday. I did NOT want to screw it up. I drank so much water. Ate perfectly. Worked hard. And was EXHAUSTED by the end of the day (it was an exhausting week). Drum roll please.....

I'VE LOST 50 LBS!!!!!!!!!! Wow. Typing that felt so much better than saying it did. It just feels so much more real. I have lost 50 lbs. 50 LBS!! My first big goal is 190 and I am MORE than HALFWAY there. Do you know how long I have dreamt about losing 50 lbs?! If I would have started then...maybe I'd be done now. But if I didn't start when I did, I probably wouldn't even be halfway. 50 lbs..

It took me 45 lbs for me to find a way to cook salmon that I actually like. I still don't have the chicken down (at least not without adding absurd amounts of cream). I want to cook my chicken fast and the good chicken recipes seem to take TIME to prepare. If you know of good recipes that are quick and EASY (I'm a horrible cook..) please let me know!

I am so excited for the next 50 lbs. I have huge plans for when I hit that goal. I will make it through this holiday season without getting off track. I hope to hit my goal by February. I'm a rockstar. I can do this.