Weigh in!

Measurements (non flexed, widest part,  as measured in inches with a cloth measuring tape pulled snug but not digging in)
Neck 14 5/8
Bicep 15 7/8
Ribs 40 3/8
Belly 44 1/4
Hips 49 1/4
Thigh 29 1/4
Calf 17 3/8
Weight: 239.2 lbs

Today’s fitness included reading more of the mindset module and taking some notes about the things that resonate with me. I checked in with two accountability buddies,  but I forgot to message Dana to go for a walk.  (Sorry, Dana!! Thursday for sure!)

Last night,  we had our healthiest D&D yet.  We’re all on a health kick right now (whether we want to be or not) so there was none of the usual fare to be found–which was great for my focus!

It was funny.. we’re playing 5E Curse of Strahd and we’re just getting to the main quest line.  The DM introduced an NPC and the dwarf in our party wanted to know if he was a trader. Dwarven sounds like a thick pirate accent and one of the dragon born is fluent…and wanted to know of he said trader or traitor and so they were saying traitor/trader back and forth while the rest of us tried to figure out if they’d gone mad because to us,  it all sounded completely foreign. (Aside from the or of character additions like ‘whappity whappity’ and ‘you are doing me a concern’ ‘bork!’)

Other than that,  I started taking a look at my bat cave and realized it needs some serious leveling up.

I got all of the chips and candy gathered up and I’ll be taking it to the office tomorrow.  I’m not usually that villain, but it’s left over from my brother’s wedding and if I don’t get it out of the house then we’re just going to keep eating it all.  No one needs Hershey kisses on their night stand unless it’s a steamy anniversary,  mmkay?

I also took my next set of progress pics,  but I’m not ready to show them here quite yet. I guess that’s a work in progress too.

Team Doge Wow Such Weight loss! Please Vote

I have joined a team challenge at work, and it’s off to such a fun start.  I’m on a team with a group of four women at work and we have dubbed ourselves “Team Doge Wow Such Weight Loss!”  The twelve week challenge kicks off with a mini-challenge to come up with the best team name (check!) and best team “before” photo (check!)

I would love it if you could check out our submission (below) and vote for us on the HealthyWage website (http://www.healthywage.com/leaderboards/team_standings/?team_challenge=80&secondary_filter=1).  This site is just like Diet Bet and Biggest Loser, except you cannot lose more than 1.5% of your weight/week and no more than 16.75% of your weight over the course of the challenge.  I’m really excited to have a team of co-workers to tackle this with.  They’ve been instrumental in my motivation this week 🙂

[EDIT: added directions –  access the link, and then select “GE HealthAhead’s Lose Weight, Win Big 2014” and “Mini Challenge #1: Best Team Name and Before Photo”]

Day 1. Again. How many Day 1’s does one person get?

Day 1. Again. How many Day 1’s does one person get?

As many as a person needs. (I have 10 results that come up when I search for the key phrase “day 1” in my blog…)

I had another Day 1 today.  This time, I was sized up (literally–I gained 10 lbs since my back injury, and had gained 15 lbs due to a situational depression prior to that.. eep!) and figured out.  I met with Jody from the fitness center and asked her to be my trainer.  I talked to her about my back injury and what I’ve been through…

• Wipe out at Warrior Dash
• Spontaneous back injury – I linked that entry because I remember writing my weight in the snow.
• Physical Therapy
• Chiropractic Care

I let her know that we (Jeff and I) are at a point where we’re willing to try anything really.  The cool thing is that in addition to being a personal trainer, she actually has experience with physical therapy and rehabilitation.  She was really nice about figuring out whether I care more about form or function at this point.  I had let her know about a friend’s wedding coming up in October and how the dresses she admires are more like sausage casings at this point.  More important, though, is my functional ability to move and be myself.  I can wear an A-line dress if it comes down to it.

With functionality in mind, my day 1 is going to start on Friday with some resistance band exercises to figure out where my muscle imbalances are.  We’re going to go through a rehabilitation program for my back/core, I’m going to keep up with chiropractic care, and we’ll see how it goes.  Jody said that we’ll be able to transition from the therapy to actual fitness workouts once my strength is rebuilt.

After about 3 weeks, she wants to see a food journal.  Guess the photo tracker is making a resurgence 😉

Day 1 Weigh In:

InBody230 – Weight: 240, Lean Body Mass 118, (body fat 122), BMI 50. (ugh!)
(Previously)  Weight: 220, Lean Body Mass 117, (body fat 103), BMI 43.

Guess who is almost 240 again? :(

I have a scale in my bathroom and, occasionally, I will weigh myself to make sure that things aren’t getting totally out of hand. Well, I’ve been hovering around 233 for the longest time.  I was STUNNED to step on the scale this morning and see 237.6.  I’m so distraught.  I don’t know of any solid reason for what feels like such a sudden gain.  Sure–I could cover it with a blanket statement about holidays, but I really didn’t feel that off the rails this season.   What’s more is that I’ve actually worked out 3x so far this week with a 4th planned for later today.

There’s nothing to it but to do it, though.. here’s to starting over.  Again. 😦

I’ve already got Iaido to keep me busy on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  I’m adding more workouts throughout the week, and I need to track again for a while.  Tracking is going to include measuring until I can actually fit into my jeans again.  This is a bit ridiculous.

Out with the old and in with the new!

A good pair of work out shoes, at least a good pair of mine, get the life beaten out of them before they get replaced.  This was my last pair of running shoes before the ones that I used in the dash.  I got them from Nordstrom Rack a while back (over a year ago?) and they were $45.  I thought I scored a great deal on them! At that point, I had never shopped at Nordstrom Rack, but I *had* paid a prettier penny for similar shoes at other stores.

It’s hard not to get swept up in the glitz and the glamour of big-box-retailers–especially when you live within walking distance of Dick’s Sporting Goods:

Source

You walk in and suddenly you’re engulfed in the Willy Wonka-style world of sports – indoor and out, with everything you can possibly think of needing for your sporting pleasure.  Of course, they have prices to go with it.  Of course, they have a coupon and a rewards program that makes it very reasonable, too, so–there’s that. But, I digress.  We moved out of that neighborhood and now live a comfortable 5-10 minute drive from anywhere we might want or need to spend a bunch of money.  Our latest sporting purchase came from a new sporting goods store that you also might have in your area: Sports Authority.  Now, the name of this store doesn’t make me giggle as much, but their store principals must be very very similar.  We walked into the doors and–you know how some stores, you walk in and you’re greeted with the smell of stale air conditioning?–we were greeted with the smell of SPORTS! – Iron, cotton, latex, and whatever gumption smells like, this store had it.. just long enough to give the impression that they would be fully competent in supplying our sporting good needs.

Source

The cool thing about this store is that I can actually come across gift cards for it rather easily through a rewards program at work.  I do things that are above and beyond, my co-workers recognize that and nominate me to receive a gift card of my choosing–I select Sports Authority, and bada-bing! New equipment for “free.”  Now, of course, I work my tail off to get things done around there, and I certainly can’t expect such awards on a recurring basis, but I was able to save up points and get enough for a new pair of shoes for both Jeff and I this time around. 🙂

We found ourselves separated and enveloped in a shoe wonderland of our own for about 20  minutes or so.  The selection of women’s shoes as pretty impressive, but their selection (in my size) of training shoes left something to be desired.  For the first time since high school, I was looking specifically for a cross-trainer that could be used for cardio but still provide ample support for my strength training sessions.  I only had enough on my gift card for two pair of shoes and one of those was for Jeff so mine had to do double duty.

I found another great pair of Asics that I think will meet my needs.  They’ve got ‘gel-cushioning’ and mid-sole support for mild pronation.  I did a few lunges and squats in the store, but you can hardly tell if they’ll stand up to the type of beating that I give my shoes.  They were marked as trainers, but there’s also a part of me that’s a little worried that these are still considered running shoes.. Mostly because of the ratio of mesh to leather:

 

Jeff started his search in Men’s running shoes and was looking for trainers but only found ones marked as “Athletic.”  We asked a clerk if men’s “athletic” shoes were considered cross-trainers.  She rambled on ad nauseum about how things changed and wandered her way to telling us about the rewards program that they have and “Just let them know that I helped you, up at the front.”  Somehow I think this rewards thing goes both ways.. But that’s neither here nor there–it saved us 5% on our purchase and we’re already on our way to saving more this quarter.  Anyway, after her presentation got snuck in, we were pointed to a different aisle that had a scant selection of shoes marked as trainers for Men.

Jeff was a good sport and tried on a few, but, truth be told, he had already fallen in love with an “athletic” shoe.  Since he’s still in the beginning stage of working out, he’s not yet doing much in the way of lateral movements or high impact moves, so I think his shoes (also Asics) will work out just fine.  Come to think of it.. they look like a black-and-orange manlier version of mine:

 

We also got a new Camelbak Groove and  technical shirt for him, so we’re all geared up for round two of personal training with Emily.  I have lost 2″ on my waist and Jeff has lost close to 10lbs, I’d wager.  We’re excited to keep going 🙂

In other super happy fun time news – yesterday was day 1 that I went entirely without any confections, desserts, or chocolate.  It’s another of my attempts to quit cold-turkey.  The next sweet I eat will be wedding cake 😀

Orange Chicken! Oh wait.. that’s pizza (a reset button entry)

Have you ever had those math questions that talk about how one train leaves the station going 60mph and the other leaves a different station going the opposite direction going at 40mph and where do they meet?

It’s a question that always seemed to make me panic–they don’t meet they freaking CRASH! zomg! Someone press the big red button!

Yeah, I always got that question wrong on the test.. hm. I guess my math teacher didn’t appreciate good old fashioned hysterics (define hysteria: unmanageable emotional excesses).

Those trains are like my life at the moment.  Stress is the 60 mph train and Health is the 40 mph train and it seems like whenever health gets off to a good start, stress comes right along and knocks it off track.  For me, and probably a lot of people, stress is toxic.  I am currently stressing out about:

So, the way that I see it… That stress train is coming on fast and threatening to derail my healthy train.  Instead of making orange chicken last night, we ordered pizza.  Again.  And I was all for it, not a care in the world.  I haven’t actually worked out since I moved.  I am supposed to be on my way to the fitness center right now but I couldn’t drag myself out the door yet–this baggage was too heavy:

Weight: 225

BMI: unknown. unhealthy.

Bicep: 15.75″

Ribs: 39″

Belly: 42.5″

Hip (at the joint): 48″

Hip (widest point): 50″

Thigh: 29″

 

The plan is simple–I’m leaving the baggage at the station to get lost 🙂  Today my goal is to get back to the gym.  At least an hour working out. I will drink 64 or more  ounces of water.  I will eat spinach with dinner and have fruits and veggies as snacks.  This little 40mph healthy train may be going slower than the chaotic stress train, but you know what?  It’s more sturdy, and health will conquer stress and push it out of the way.

WW Meeting Update: Believe

Today’s meeting was surrounding the Weight Watcher’s marketing campaign of “Believe.”  So, I guess it is unfair to say that it was surrounding the marketing, really it was just using the marketing in the meeting to start things off for the new year.

This morning I woke up at 7am with every good intention of going to the regular 8am meeting, but somehow, I convinced myself that the meeting didn’t start until 9am.  Well… around 8:30am as I was poking around the internet, I thought “Crap. What if the meeting started at 8?” And, sure enough, I was late for my meeting.  I had committed to giving Lisa a chance and I had left a few people with an engagement cliffhanger last week and so I really needed to be there!  Pedal to the metal, going over 20MPH over the speedlimit… er, I mean.. driving in a nice, safe and legal manner…I made it there to catch the Power Start Session and catch up with Lisa and couple other regulars, but I missed Runa.  Damnit! 😡 Huff.

I heard that she went, though, and that’s promising because that means I might catch her next week.

I sat through Lisa’s Power Start Session and paged through the weekly while I waited for the 9:30am meeting with Krista.  I don’t like her meetings as much, but she’s a nice gal.  I was able to contribute a little to the meeting and to get others to contribute too, so that was cool.  One thing that I want to do as part of my “homework” is to make some “I will” statements/goals:

– This year, I will complete 5 5k races.
– This year, I will complete the Warrior Dash in July.
– This year, I will keep on keepin’ on and continue my weight loss journey.
– This year, I will not get crazy about weight loss just because I am engaged.  My weight loss journey is for myself and my future, not to look good in a wedding dress.  My engagement will not derail my end-goal.

Weigh In:
Weight: 216.6
Waist: 36
Hips: 46.5
Dress Size: 16

Phase 2 Recap

I think I have mentioned before that when I started my new job, I stopped working out.  When I finally asked for help, I rededicated myself to fitness and talked to Ramon about re-doing my Phase 2 routine.  Here is what he came up with:

On BOSU – DB Squat Thrust 15 lb
DB Chest Fly Ball 15 lb – Straight Fly w/ crunch, ball at mid-back
Cable Hamstring 12.5 – “The Skateboard”
DB Deadlift / Row 25 – 1:3 stiff-leg deadlift, row 3x, repeat
Med Ball Lunges Over – Orange ball, high-knee walking lunges
Wheel Walk – pull indd
KB Deep Squat 40 lb – Steps at a “v” + Kettlebell
Rope Tricep Ext – Split at top, return 1/2 way, repeat.

I  started this routine this week and like it quite a bit so far.  I was supposed to do the routine again today, but I have had an aching chest pain for the majority of the afternoon, and so I just did cardio instead.  Don’t worry, I think the pain in my chest (right-side) is related to the muscles in my back.  If it is not better by tomorrow, then I will call the nurse.

Exercise has been going well this week, but I have been in an “eat everything” mood.  I think it is probably just comin down from all those sweets on vacation! Lol.. I have still had sweets every day, but gradually less and less each day.  I can’t wait until my Weight Watcher’s meeting on Saturday.  Free “Reset Button”.

InBody230: October Readings, Reflections

I have actually had some good improvements over the last two months.  Here are the numbers:

Category: Then – Now = Change
Dry Lean Mass: 31.8lbs – 32.2lbs = +.4lbs of Muscle
Body Fat Mass: 105.3lbs – 102.3lbs = -3.0lbs of fat
BMI: 36.1 – 35.8 = -.3 points
PBF: 47.1% – 46.1% = -1% Body Fat
RMR: 1529 kcal – 1541 kcal = + 12 kcals burned per day

I was really happy with the results.  Compared to my beginning readings, though, I’m pretty much back to where I started.  I had taken a pretty big step backwards in July and actually cried over my results.  Taking a look at the data, though, I can see that compared to May, I have only lost .8lbs over all, but 100% of that loss has been fat.  I have lost .2% body fat since May.  I have gained 1.3lb of muscle in my torso/core, .2lb of muscle in each of my biceps.  Curiously, I have lost .4lb of muscle from my right leg and .2lb of muscle from my left.  I know that prior to starting my personal training, I focused a lot more on my lower-body workouts than I am these days.

I am scheduling my next PT session for some time either this or next week.  I am sincerely hoping to get a new workout routine because the one that I have been doing for the last few weeks has become a bit too routine.  It’s starting to get mentally boring @_@;

Weight Watchers is something that I’m giving a try.  I just signed up recently and they’ve given me a points plus allowance of 35/day.  We’ll see how that goes and I’ll report back here.

Dogs vs. Cats, His Parents vs. Mine.

Whoooooooo…… *deep breath* So, Rah-rah’s parents, his brother, and Sparky (Toby’s nemisis) came down to visit from Winnipeg, MB Canada.  They got here last night.  I was GREAT last night but now I’m starting to worry a little bit.  I had been doing really well with my working out and eating right lately so I thought I’d weigh in this morning.  The scale has not budged one inch!  How are the two related?  Well–we may not have the most restaurants per capita, but it certainly seems like it.  Food is the major attraction during their visit.  Last night, we descended on Famous Dave’s in search of good barbeque. We certainly found it.  Dave’s has got the best BBQ in the area (in my opinion).  Unfortunately, they also have tasty sides that boast outrageous calories/fat.  My favorite ‘treat’ there is the cornbread muffin: 

Famous Dave’s Cornbread Muffin:
Calories 390
Total Fat 20 g
Total Carbs 48 g
Sugars 23 g
Protein 5 g

Now, considering that my total allowance for each MEAL is supposed to be 350 calories or less, last night was kind of a disaster.  I not only had the cornbread muffin, I also had some toffee chocolate chip cookies that Mrs. Roomie made, boneless chicken and a cornbread puff.

At the moment, Toby is rolling around in catnip, Mrs. Roomie is surfing the web, Rah-rah is lamenting the release date of his newest game, I am resisting the urge to eat cookies and Mr. Roomie is making waffles and sausage for brunch.

On the agenda today is touring the cities and seeing some of the landmarks.  I know we are going to see a park, a cathedral, and a computer-parts/accessories store.  Tonight’s dinner is going to be at a Brazilian Steak House, served up buffet style.  I am hoping that I can just get the salad bar and stop myself from going crazy and diving head-first into a protein coma.  It might be harder than it seems, though, because Rah-rah’s parents and my parents are meeting for the first time today.  If that’s not something to be anxious about, then I don’t know what is.

I’m excited though.  And hopeful.  Always 🙂