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Showing posts from 2013

Picking up Steam

Things have been moving along quite nicely on the work out front. I'm not making any huge leaps and bounds nor am I seeing results (grrrrrrr) but I am being consistent. I got pretty down on myself the other day bc I was comparing a before/after shot of my back and arms that I thought was 3 months time. It literally had NO change. I was pretty peeved. For all the lat and back and shoulder work I've been doing, I was expecting something, ANYthing to slow my back rolls down. Nada. I flew into a self-deprecating rage and pouted for a while. A day went by and I realized upon closer examination, that it only been two months. Whew. I know better not to expect dramatic change in only 8 weeks of lifting especially if I'm not working out 6x a week. On good weeks I do, but most of the time it's 4-5, bc a body needs rest. I've definitely noticed gains in strength (90 lb lat pull down, assisted pull up and tricep dip) and I can do real push ups, not on my knees. My rows are up

I just can't keep track...of myself

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Well, it appears as if I'm as terrible at blogging about this journey as I am with tracking. That's not to say I have not been on track, but I just find it so tiresome to track my food, my activity, my thoughts, my anything sometimes. Life gets in the way, I sit at a computer all day and fear the wrath of corporate America watching over me. I probably shouldn't be blogging now, but I'm on my lunch break. I've been staying ahead of the day by planning out my meals like this: Steamed broccoli, chicken breast and white sweet potatoes. Mini breakfast quiches. I've been trying to cook more healthy "comfort foods" like this: Homemade vegetarian matzo ball soup! I've had days like this: If only every day could be this way.... And, I've had days like THIS: I've been making a better attempt at keeping things in line, grocery shopping, prepping my food and meals for the week, laying out work out clothes, getting up at

The Month of Me

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Stop me if I become your friend that only talks about weight loss and the battle of her bulge. I feel like this blog is a good outlet for that type of thing, but lately in my social time, I feel the subject always reverts back to fitness at some point. I'm not sure if other people are on their own journey, if it's something always in the forefront of my friend's minds, or if folks just feel like they have to talk about it too to make me feel better. I have been reaching out to friends I haven't seen in a long time - we're talking almost a year or more - and a lot has happened in the past year with me, mentally and physically. Sure, a lot of it has to do with my weight loss/weight gain/surgeries etc but it's not like I'm the only person on Earth who has dealt with hardship and physical setbacks. After we meet and chat for a while, catch up etc, the conversation somehow spins to weight loss, motivation or the popular topic of just getting old. I don't kn

When Will I Not be the Chubby One?

If someone asked me today, I would consider myself  "chubby" right now. I've had past lovers call me "meaty", "voluptuous" etc., whatever suits their preference is fine with me. I get it, I've got some girth, and it's not all bad. I've learned to work with it and I've fought against it. When did I first realize that I had a little more to me than most of the girls I was friends with? Let's take a trip back to the early 80s shall we? A time of mom jeans, school lunches provided by McDonald's and The California Raisins . I can remember the day clearly - it was the President's "Physical Fitness Day" we used to have in elementary school. I was in the third grade,  making me about 8 years old. I believe now the day or "tests" are called the President's Challenge or something similar. Just another day to make your slightly larger/slower/shorter/etc than average kids feel hundreds of levels below averag

Slow Carb?

Well, it seems as if I've been slow to update the past few days. Fear not, I have been working out and watching what I eat still! I had a great workout this past Saturday at the gym with weights and cardio, then spent the night at one of my friend's houses making them a wonderful home cooked meal with my famous meatballs and some angel hair pasta. Yes, there was wine, and yes I indulged in some pasta, but after a hard work out and only 2 protein bars that day, I ate my fair share. Sunday I spent cleaning and prepping food, sauteed ground turkey, chicken legs, green beans, boiled eggs, salads galore for my week ahead. I am trying to ease my way off dairy and carbs for a bit. White carbs I should mention, no wheat, rice, potatoes or junk. I'll enjoy beans and nuts and plenty of veggies. I noticed that I really like the worst fruits for weight loss, go figure! I know fruit is better than sugar and no one got fat by eating bananas and pineapples, but I figure I may try taki

Making a Beeline for the A-Line

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Motivation. I hate this belly. I never knew an A-line skirt would make me feel like such a stuffed sausage. I ventured out to Target a few weeks ago in search of a corporate presentation-ready outfit for work. I figured, what's better for my curvy figure than a nice Mad Men inspired A-line skirt? First of all, I was shocked to have to size up to a 14 because of my belly girth. Ugh. Usually I'm a 10-12 in skirts. This was a jaw dropper, and not in the good way. It's a comfortable enough skirt, but it does not stretch. Bending down or sitting is pretty constrictive. I'm usually in loose flowy skirts these days, since I'm just so used to that material post surgeries. Now that my hernia is cleared up, I'm digging into the land of waistbands again - and painfully realizing how large my waistline has become again as well. I was pretty good this past week though - slowly making changes to accommodate working out again. I left work half an hour early to meet up

Day 9: So Many Fruits and Vegetables

I haven't been to the gym since Saturday and it's bugging me. I need to be better at planning. Tonight I am going after work and have decided on 30 minutes of run/walking on the treadmill if my hips can handle it and back/shoulder/tricep work for strength training. This morning I had a green juice with my breakfast (an organic feta/spinach/egg white burrito) and some watermelon. My lunch/snacks at work today include cherry tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, half an avocado, chicken, romaine, red pepper hummus and a kiwi.I've been eating so many fruits and vegetables lately, I would think I should start feeling like Wonder Woman. But I don't. My skin is starting to freak out on me and I'm not sure why - little red bumps here and there on my chin and cheeks. I've always had great skin and I worry when things start to go awry. I thought with incorporating so many veggies into my diet things would start to clear up - where's my miraculous juice boost, peopl

Day 8: Dare I Run Again?

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So, I'm thinking about running the Oakland Hella-Ween 5 miler in October this year. The lure of the ability to run in a tutu while wearing a hot dog hat also is appealing. Costumes? Beer? A short run? Why, Yes Please! All that is standing in the way is a $40 registration fee and well, my body. Will my knees be able to handle it? Will my hips/back/left ass cheek be able to sustain minimal damage? A year of body bullshit and two surgeries and a car accident really put a crimp in my weight loss journey. I'm hoping to get back on track and I know myself: If I don't have a goal or something to train for, I don't make the time. You'd think the want, the need, nay, the sheer desire to not hate myself would be enough. It's not. I haven't worked out since Saturday. Granted, I hiked a bunch of steps on Sunday and did a ton of walking and manual labor Monday, but no gym time. I had a full day of work Tuesday and a baseball game to attend that night. Today, working

Day 7: A Long Weekend

Today's Weight 183.4 lb Well, considering I didn't restrict that much this weekend, I'm doing ok weight wise. I had a dinner with friends out in the city on Friday and I had some drinks. Thai food earlier that day for lunch made me eat a lighter dinner (as did my budget). Saturday I hiked early with the boy and hit the gym. Sunday though, we hit the Cleveland Cascade in Oakland and did stair work. Let me tell you, my knees did not like me. I worry when things like this happened but it could be more internal issues thanks to the car accident. I've never had knee issues that stemmed from going up or down stairs. I'm hoping it's just me being 30 pounds overweight and out of shape. Today it doesn't hurt as bad but it kept me from doing anything wild on Monday, which was Labor Day. I spent most of Monday doing manual labor, ironically enough. Walking to and from the grocery store instead of driving and hitting up home depot. My task was to remove a ceramic s

Day 4: A Morning Hike

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AThe BF got me up early this morning and even though last night I had several mixed drinks and wine AND thai food for lunch, the key is balance.  I pushed through a steep 1.38 mi hike, got my heart rate up and burned 201 cal according to my HRM.  What's a nicer reward than this good view? This is from Claremont Canyon, near the Oakland and Berkeley border. A wonderful clear morning.  After my hike, I went to the Y. I did some weights and 20 minutes on the elliptical to get some extra cardio. It was a shoulder and back day: Overhead raises Front raises 5lb Lateral Raises 5lb Push downs  Pull downs 65 lb 12x3 Chest Press 40 lbs 12x2 And for fun: Glute press 60lbs at 12 reps x2 Seated Leg Press 110 pounds 12x2

Day 3: The Pizza Diaries

I swear, every time I start a diet, it seems as if the heavens open up and social invites for drinks and dinner and pizza fall into my lap. I am a hermit, I like my alone time and I find that sometimes social outings also test my very low will power. Sigh. I had pizza at work this week. The BF and I have veggie frozen pizzas in the fridge for quick meals during the week when we have had a lower carb day. We ration these out, and I jazz them up with extra vegetables like frozen spinach, mushrooms, kale or a protein like tofu. I still had pizza left over from the work luncheon in our fridge and when I got home from the gym last night I was starving. I haven't been very good at planning post work-out recovery meals. I know it's only the beginning of my "new routine" again, but I gotta plan better. I got hungry at work and ate my Luna Bar that I had planned to eat after work . I didn't bring my shaker to blend a Vega One shake (chai, anyone try it yet?) AND I did

Day 2 Workout

I managed to not kill myself today after work at the gym. It was my first attempt at a pseudo "leg day"! Today's workout included: Leg Press 12 reps, 3 sets, 120 pounds Leg Extensions 12 reps, 3 sets 40 pounds Leg Curls 12 reps, 3 sets 40 pounds Standing Calf Raises, 12 reps, 3 sets, 45 pounds Seated Calf Raises, 12 reps, 3 sets, body weight Squats with cables (30 pounds) 2 sets of 10 Abdominal Cable Twists, 2 sets of 12, 20 pounds 30 minutes on the treadmill, run/walk 5.0 mph. ran for 3 minutes walked for 1 Whew. I foam rolled to my heart's content after and sat in the hot tub at the gym for about 5 minutes. My body doesn't hate me...yet.

Day 2: Starting Slowly

Well, I won't say I failed yesterday, since I knew I was going to have pizza for lunch, but the guilt set in. I have a co-worker doing the Whole 30 diet who cannot really eat anything offered in the normal/fast/cheap realm of food. Office catered lunches are usually a bevvy of starch, sugar and carbs galore. I admired her discipline to bring her own food and sit out the staff birthday lunch. My office has gotten better about healthy lunches since I started, but this month's luncheon was focused on red velvet cake and pizza. I had a side salad and limited my selection to two small pieces. I sat with another coworker who was on a diet who only had a plate filled with salad and hot wings. I felt bad for letting myself enjoy pizza. I felt that I "failed" at 3 pm though when I had a third piece. I knew I wasn't working out that night because I had a chiropractor appointment after work, but I also don't want to trap myself in a mentality of "you can't ea

Before Photos

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It burns! If I'm going to be accountable and really put it out there, here are the photos/experiences that really upset me and pretty much were the straw that broke the camel's back in this body of mine. I work in a corporate environment, so I have to dress up. I'm used to being able to wear comfortable clothes, yoga pants and turn workout attire into reasonably disguised 9-5 wear. Not here. I've managed to buy some dresses here and there and I've found some scores in sales racks. I'm a fan of easy on, easy off, especially gym days. I have this one dress though, that I didn't try on before I bought it. It fits everywhere except for my arms...my big matronly arms. The last time I wore it, I had painful chafing and basically felt like my circulation was being cut off because it was so tight around the circumference. Food Baby Ah, bloating. Ever since my surgeries, my digestion has been less than stellar. Every day I find something else that causes me

The First Day, All Over Again

Well, here I am. All over again. This post will be long because, well, I'm starting from scratch. If anyone ever finds this blog, I'd like to give some background on where I've come from and what my intentions are.  I'm going to count this as day 1, the first day in a very familiar journey of mine that I seem to revisit time and time again. The journey of losing weight and gaining strength and feeling confident. Why is it always so damn hard? The feeling has slipped away from me time and time again, yet this last time it's staying away far longer than planned. I've documented my ups and downs, my woes and wows all over the place, social media, my other blog etc, but nothing ever really sticks . Life threw me for a loop since April 2012 when I had to have a full hysterectomy . I had been working out hard, since September 2011 to lose weight. By April, I had managed to lose almost 20 pounds through running, diet and  weights classes. I even ran a half maratho