Lost 100

MY WEIGHT-LOSS UPDATE

After a 4 lb. weight loss last week, I lost zero lbs. this week. 

Based on my workout effort and food consumption I expected to lose 2 lbs., but didn't.  But I'm going to stay the course, it should come off this week.  I've really ramped up the exercise and am feeling stronger and stronger everyday, not to mention I'm sore!

One of the things I'm finding inspiration in right now is a sort of 'epiphany' I had while watching The Biggest Loser 2 weeks ago...It was the 'make-over show' and the contestants look amazing, especially considering where they started.  The thing that was obvious was that they were only 1/2 way done (well, maybe 2/3 or 3/4).  And I realized that's where I am.  I have had an incredible weight loss and a lot to be proud of.  But mine is an unfinished journey.  I cannot continue to just celebrate where I am, but must continue pushing forward to get to my goal.  And I will!

Happy & Healthy Monday to all of you!  Get out and get moving!

PUSHING THE WEIGHT I'VE LOST

So, as you know, I've been running with my hubby...we started running 2 minutes, walking 2 minutes, now we are up to 10-1-10-1-10!  Our neighborhood is rather hilly & several spots on our route are a doosey.

Most of the time we try to run when we have a sitter or when my brother is here, but more and more we have had to run with the kids (I received a double jogging stroller for my birthday a couple of months ago--it has a rain cover and everything so really I'm out of excuses...that's a scary feeling!).

Running with the kids in a jogging stroller is difficult, I did the math, and between the weight of the stroller and the weight of 2 kids I'm essentially pushing the weight I've lost.

It's funny, as much as I'm pretty much hating every step as we go up the big hills I always feel like it's 'poetic justice'/my cross to bear/ a reminder to never go back.

You see, even when I'm pushing the weight I've lost, it's still on wheels, having that weight on my body would be infinitely more difficult. And that leads me to the reminder that as I lose more of the excess weight I still carry...then running faster, running longer will become increasingly easier. Hey, if I'm holding my own with the pack now, what will it be like when I'm 40-50 pounds lighter?!

And as much as I curse everything I can think of as I run up those hills will the jogging stroller I can't help but think that I'm setting a good example to my daughters. When 2-year-old Sarah says, 'run faster mommy' OR 'why did you stop mommy' it's like having my own little traveling cheering section. Beyond that, when I can show the girls that mommy is happy with what her body can do, then I send the message that being healthy is about the ability to fully enjoy all aspects of life, not just fitting into a certain size.

I think of that every time my husband tells me I'm beautiful in front of my girls...I'm not a size 6, but I can run several miles, and I am stronger than and workout harder than most size 4's at the the gym, I'm healthy & have a body that allows me to do pretty much any endeavor I want & their daddy thinks I'm 'hot stuff'--maybe, just maybe my daughters won't have the body image issues so many of us have been plagued with!

But just for good measure I'm going to keep 'pushing the weight I've lost' lest I never forget the important things... We use the Chariot Cougar double jogger/converts to a bike trailer too (it's pictured above, we bought ours through REI, the outdoor/adventure company). I have found the BOB (pictured below) to be the highest ranking jogging stroller on the market...friends who have it can't say enough good stuff about it!

HI-HO, HI-HO IT'S OFF TO BOOTCAMP I GO!

I am totally stoked! Today I bought myself a birthday present. I am going to bootcamp! A military trainer guy is going to kick my butt 3 times a week for the next 4 weeks!

I felt stuck in a workout rut, so why not change things up and push myself a bit harder. Besides a bit of friendly competition may be a good thing for me. I'm pretty competitive (I want to be the best at everything, so I already know I want to be the best bootcamper--I also know that that sounds completely ridiculous).

Before you know it I'll be looking like Demi Moore in GI Jane! Yes, the movie was not the most critically acclaimed...but I LOVED it!

I'll update you on Monday as to how Day 1 went...

GOOD NEWS/ BAD NEWS

Well, I have some good news. It turns out wishing away the weight does not work...so you can cross that one off your list. And you're welcome, very glad I can be your guinea pig on that one (*dripping with sarcasm*). So that brings me to the bad news, instead of ignoring it, I'll just come out and say it--I gained a pound. I look back at my week and realize there are times I could have made better decisions, and that I'm not writing down what I eat when I eat it (just making a mental note)--that has to change...immediately.

I'll be back next Saturday to check-in again and will have better news to share...until then I will try I will write down everything I eat!

FEELING A LITTLE LESS LIKE A LOSER...

So...3 days and counting until THE BIGGEST LOSER season premier.

Am I feeling like a 'big loser' these days? Not so much.

I have lost a considerable amount of weight. I am healthy, I'm in great physical condition. But I'm not where I was 10 months ago. 10 months ago I was 8 pounds away from losing 100 pounds!

Since then I've gain a little, lost a little. I've stayed within 5-12 lbs. of that low-point (or high point depending on how you look at it). But now, I must be honest. You may have noticed that I haven't posted my measurements in months. Nor an update on my weight. That's because it's been static...up 3 lbs, down 2, up 5 lbs, down 6, etc. My weight can fluctuate 5-7 during certain times of the month, etc. So as long as I was staying in shape I wasn't 'scared'. This is not to say I haven't been frustrated. This entire summer I was working out. Working out hard. I had a personal trainer. But I haven't gotten back into the shape I was in last November when I was up to running 7 miles/day (before my heal injury).

Injuries have plagued me. The heal was healed (ugh...bad pun), then the butt/back/hamstring ordeal began, one side of body was overcompensating, then the other--back and forth injuries. Finally late this spring I was ready to start running again! I was stoked. Then the toe injury. I hate that toe. It gets better, it gets worse. Right now it's not feeling great, but it's not awful either.

Injuries are going to be something I'll be dealing with for the rest of my life, let's be honest. Once you hit 30, your body just doesn't react and heal as easily as it did in your teens and early 20's--and the prognosis doesn't look good for the 40's, 50's etc. So, I've got to work through the injuries and not use them as an excuse or crutch (ew, another bad pun!).

My eating is less than stellar. I do well for awhile and then I stop journaling. Having a 14 month old and a 29 month old doesn't help ('snack mommy!' 'hot dogs mommy!' 'mac 'n cheese mommy')...I am trying to cook good wholesome food, but I am also using organic full fat milk, real organic butter, organic full-fat cheese, etc. and these things are taking a toll. The bottom line is that I truly need to eat less. Plenty of people control their weight without any exercise. Exercise should be just a little bonus--not the main thrust of how I lose weight.

Finally, I'm nearly done nursing my youngest daughter. This may account for some weight gain. A breast-feeding mom burns an extra 500 calories a day (Oh yeah!)! Well, guess what, when you are eating like you are still breast-feeding and you aren't, well, what you have folks is a 500 calorie deficit.

I'm not the only person who has ever gained weight when they stopped nursing. My friend Danielle gained around 15 pounds when she stopped nursing. I have no idea why I thought I would be any different. It's like, I had all the information in front of me, but my blinders were on. What I should have done is plan...

But I didn't. Here's the GOOD NEWS. Instead of resorting to old habits (refusing to get on the scale for weeks, that turn to months, that turn to years...) today I decided to let the shit hit the fan. I got on the scale. Sure, it's the first day of my period (sorry, TMI), and I feel bloated, etc. But I wasn't letting this go on another day. It wasn't pretty. What was I expecting? Afterall my clothes didn't feel great (put on the jeans from last fall and had to wrestle them on....), my underwear didn't sit exactly where it normally does...

So, bottom line, now I'm at -75 lbs. I was a little angry at myself. But all I can do is take the info I have and move on from there.

So here it is: I am promising, come hell or high water, I will be weighing in on Saturdays from now on...and reporting back to you. Jennette Fulda (whose success story is coming in 2 weeks!) told me she weights in everyday. One of the ways she lost weight was feeling accountable through her blog...maybe some accountability is a good thing. So here I am being pretty much emotionally naked before you...YIKES!

Feel free to write a word or two of encouragement or not or say a little prayer that I can achieve the balance/discipline I so desperately seek. I can't think of more important thing I can do right now than these things: take care of myself/my body, take care of my family (my princesses and hubby), and tend to my project/ my blog. Maybe reminding myself every morning of these things will help...

Happy Saturday....I'm about to go change into a sports bra and sneakers and turn on the DVD player and workout!

RECENT STUDY: FOOD DIARY USERS LOSE TWICE AS MUCH WEIGHT! TIME TO CHANGE MY EATING HABITS

Okay, so I started working on this post awhile ago...June 13th to be exact. Boy, if I had heeded what I wrote, hmmm....

But we move forward (and by we I mean "I", but sincerely hope this someone inspires others who are facing this same challenge).

I'm utterly frustrated...I've been working really hard at exercise and I have stayed to exact same weight for 7 10 weeks and counting! Ugh! And since I began this article I actually inched up a bit while I was on vacation.

I have stated here before that I wanted to incorporate a "lifestyle change" and not be "on a diet". I even went so far as to say that I'm against "journaling" (writing it down)....well it appears I now need to eat crow (seeing as I've apparently been eating everything else in sight...!).

Yesterday a study was realized that proved that people trying to lose weight were twice as effective when they wrote down what they ate...with no other changes. The idea is that when we see what we are putting in our bodies it acts as a powerful deterrent (I mean, really, do we really want to see 1 pint of dulce de leche, 1/2 a hunk of brie, 2 glasses of wine written down --and all AFTER dinner?!).

To see the full text of the Reuters article about the study continue reading.

And, let's all make a pact to write down what we eat...and one more tip--write it down right away, you'll be more accurate, than say--4 days later!

ATE MY SALAD...AND SOME ICE CREAM

So, I did eat that salad for dinner.  Grabbed a bag of European mix, popped 3/4 of it in the salad spinner.  Threw some chicken on top & enjoyed (YES--you read right, no dressing--I like my salad like I like my (you know) naked!--sorry mom).

One of the TIPS I have for this is preparing your chicken ahead of time.  What I like to do is buy a bunch of boneless, skinless chicken, clean it, pop it in the oven, sprinkle with favorite flavor (like season-all, etc.).  When it's done, cut it up, divide up into baggies, put all baggies in a freezer bag, freeze.  Then all you have to do is pop one of the baggies in the microwave for 2 minutes and you have juicy, warm chicken for the top of your salad.

And yes, Bless me Father for I have sinned, I had ice cream tonight.  But I did put the ice cream away and didn't finish off the carton.  Will not eat ice cream for 1 week, will not eat ice cream for 1 week, will not eat ice cream for 1 week....

IT'S SALAD FOR DINNER TONIGHT

Well, not much to say here, but I want to put it out there right now that it's going to be SALAD for dinner tonight.  I feel yucky today (yucky--oh boy, this stay at home mom stuff has crept it's way into my vocab!).  I need some veggies, and lots of them.  I'm also going OT on the water today.  No coffee either.  I woke up so exhausted, S. started crying, instead of getting up I convinced her that today was great day to have special mommy cuddle time in mommy's bed (gullible!).  Still, the extra 30 minutes didn't cut the mustard.  So, new plan, eat better today, lot's of water, no caffeine and a good, solid nights sleep.  And I'll report back later on how yummy that salad was for dinner (mostly because I'm sure the other food in the fridge will be singing my name come 6 o'clock and well, we can all use a little accountability from time to time).

GOAL: BIKINI

Ok, so we're not talking string bikini (see middle picture), but we're not talking that strange get-up that Kristy Alley wore either (see far left picture). I would love to be able to wear a bikini again.  So instead of having a weight goal in mind, I have a "look" in mind (see British actress, Martine McCutcheon, pictured right).  I told hubby, "I'm not having another baby until I wear a bikini again and I look like I belong in the thing!"  And I even know where I am going to wear said bikini:  Fiji!  I have always wanted to go to Fiji and why not as a trip to celebrate me getting back into Bikini shape.  So...check in often and see where I am in my progress toward wearing that bikini in Fiji!