Weekly Weigh-In 2/26/12

Weigh-in: 233.4
Down 1lb - I'm quite impressed with this because I usually don't do well the week after a big loss!

High of the Week: We had some really great weather this week (which has now turned back to blustery and blah) and I took the opportunity to get out of the house a couple times for outdoor exercise.  I got off early on Tuesday and took the dogs over to the track to try my hand at running on a flatter surface than the streets in my neighborhood.  We also went out on Thursday.  I can't wait until the weather is like this more consistently!  I love exercising outside when the weather is nice.

Low of the Week:  Being on-call for work, my schedule this week was all out of whack.  I didn't go off course too much, it just kind of messed up my rhythm and I didn't feel great about things this week.

Best Work-Out:  My workouts were pretty typical this week - nothing stellar.  I did go for a walk with the dogs on Thursday afternoon since I took the day off.  One of my cats followed and got chased by one of my neighbor's massive dogs into a tree - about 15 feet up the tree.  He wouldn't come down, so the neighbor offered a ladder to help me out.  Unfortunately it was a little short and I had to partially climb the tree to get to the cat.  I never realized what an upper body workout it was until I felt the soreness for the next two days!  It was also awesome for me because it's something there is no way I would have been able to do in my old body - my poor kitty would have been stranded in that tree a lot longer than he was.

Photo of the Week: 
Apparently I have a thing for bird shirts :)

 

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Inspiration:

Moving Target

Does anyone else seem to have the problem of constantly moving their target weight?

Since I embarked on my weight loss journey a little over a year ago, my goal has shifted several times. At first, I just wanted to be able to get under 300lbs and didn't really think I'd make it much further than that. At that time, I thought I'd be content in a size 18, but would really like to get back into a size 12 like I was senior year of HS.

Once I got under 300 and realized losing the weight wasn't nearly as hard as I had made myself believe for all the years that I put it off, I figured I could get down to at least 200.

Then the weight kept coming off and I moved my target again - this time I KNEW I'd be able to get back into a size 12 (around 170/180 for me) and made my goal 175.

At some point, I got this crazy idea that maybe I could even do better than a size 12. That's the smallest I've ever been since I was a child. At age 12, I was wearing a size 12 and only got bigger from there. I kept gaining and got taller as I got older and throughout most of high school I was between a size 13 and 15 depending on the brand. Then I lost weight my senior year and got back to a 12...very briefly. After that it was all upward movement.

Some time back in the Fall, I decided that one of my life goals is the see a single digit size because I have never seen that for myself. I moved my target weight to around 160 and that's where it has been since the Fall.

Of course now I've hit the 100lb mark and it's all down hill from here. If I can lose 100lbs, I can do anything, right? At least that's my logic. I think at this point 145/150lbs is a reasonable goal for someone my height. I've been looking at lots of Health and Fitness stuff online and I think I can do it. My ultimate goal is to be really fit and healthy, so I'm not going to be terribly upset if the scale never shows one of those numbers as long as I know that I'm in the best shape I can be in. I realize that muscle weighs more than fat, so it's possible that if I'm in really good shape, I may not see that number.

If I got to 160lbs, I would still be at the top of the "normal" range for my height. Being so close to "overweight" I feel would be a slippery slope for me. Around 145/150, I would be in the middle of the "normal" range for BMI and I'd be much more comfortable with slight fluctuations.

Part of me would like to get down to 135lbs just to say that I lost 200lbs, but that is on the lower end of the "normal" range. I've never been in the normal range in my life, so setting that kind of extreme goal seems destined for failure. My whole family are built pretty big (not just because of weightwise - we're just built big), so don't really know that 135 is attainable. You never know though...the closer I get, the more overzealous I get about what I can achieve, so we will see!

Weekly Weigh-In 2/20/12 - Finally crossed the 100lb mark!

Sorry I'm a day late!  I was called out to work in the middle of the night yesterday, so I didn't get to do my normal weigh-in Sunday morning.  


Weigh-in: 234.4
Down 3.4lbs

High of the Week: One day this week I was walking and happened to look down (I know, not typically the best plan) and realized that I saw my legs and feet...NOT my huge belly!  Little moments like that mean the most to me and remind me that it's not just about the numbers on the scale.

Low of the Week:  This little holiday called Valentine's day came into town this week with all the chocolate of the world.  My partner also went to visit family for the week, so I was on my own for dinners and making my own lunch (yes, I'm spoiled and don't typically do either).  Between the two factors, my eating was not great this week.  I went over my points every day, but I tried my hardest to make up for it with exercise and I guess it worked out for the best because I had a big loss this week!

Best Work-Out:  I feel like this was a really good workout week for me.  Due to my bad eating, I really pushed myself on the exercise front.  I went outside and did interval runs twice since the weather was so great Friday and Saturday here.  I wasn't able to repeat the solid mile that I ran before (which I'm attributing to my crappy diet with a serious lack of protein), but it was still nice to get outside.  I also did the Wii Fit Strength training and went through EVERY exercise (some of which I've never tried before) and at least attempted all of them - some were very challenging.

Photo of the Week: 

 

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Inspiration:

This week's pinterest fav:

Nothing has ever motivated me more than proving people wrong!

Maybe it's the Endorphins Talking...

I studied psychology, then got a Master's in Social Work.  For a brief period of time, I was even a therapist.  I always heard how exercising could help things like depression and anxiety - I even advised some of my clients to take up exercise to help with their symptoms.  Yet, somehow, fatass me was not convinced of their powers.  Since starting on my healthiness journey, I have finally learned the amazing power of endorphins and now I wish I had drank the kool-aid sooner!  There is nothing greater than the feeling you get after you really push yourself in a good workout.  I love that rush where I feel like I can conquer the world.  Unfortunately, my sanity is typically restored before I set out to run that marathon I think I'm capable of in that moment.

Seeing the incredible things my body is capable of has only motivated me to see how much further I can push myself.  I don't think I've ever set so many goals - such lofty goals!  I plan to start small, but I enjoy browsing for things to do in the future.

My first goal is to complete a 5k.  I've got my sights on the Color Run DC in September.  It looks like a super fun, low pressure race.  (http://thecolorrun.com)

I may do another 5k before or after that.

Then I want to work my way up to a half marathon.  Some that I'd like to do are the Shamrock Half in VA Beach, one of the Rock n Roll series (probably DC since it's the closest), and the Disney Princess Half.

I REALLY want to do Tough Mudder (http://toughmudder.com).  It looks like an interesting experience and will really test my physically.  I won't be able to do it this year and I don't even know if I'll be ready for it next year, but it is definitely on my bucket list!  I may do a Warrior Dash (http://warriordash.com) to "ease into" tough mudder - similar concepts, but Warrior Dash is shorter.

Then, one day, I WILL run a marathon.  Even if it's only one.  I will do it and I will run it.

If I can lose over a 100lbs (which I will have by the time any of these events roll around), I can do anything!  

Anyone else get an inflated sense of self-confidence when they see themselves improving physically (and mentally, for that matter)??

Weekly Weigh-In 2/12/12

Weigh-in: 237.8
Down 1.4lbs

High of the Week:  I am joining a weight loss program through my health insurance (nutritionist, trainer and gym membership for $20/mo - can't beat that!!), so I paid a visit to my PCP this week to have him sign off on my paperwork and get my baseline info.  It's been a while since I've been in and he was very impressed with my weight loss and improvements in my BP. He showed me the graph of my weight and BP since I started going to this doctor in 2010 - it was nice to see the steep drop in my weight and to get commended by my doc!

Low of the Week:  I thought for a while, but can't seem to come up with a low for this week.  It was a pretty mediocre week, overall - nothing terrible health and fitness-wise.

Best Work-Out:  I did the Biggest Loser Challenge game for Wii - I put it on the "challenging" level (instead of the one they pre-assign to me) and it was definitely challenging!  It was a good all around work out.  As far as best calorie-burning work-out - it would be 60 minutes on the elliptical - 1150cal burned!  When I started on the elliptical back in July/August, I could only do it for 10 min at a time on the easiest resistance.  Now I can do it for a whole hour (longer if I really wanted to, but I rarely do that) at some pretty tough resistance levels!  I love seeing my fitness improve.

Photo of the Week:

Finally, some pictures in normal attire - not just dresses.  I very rarely actually wear dresses, so this is a more accurate representation of what you'll get on a day to day basis

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Inspiration

Weekly Weigh-In

Weigh-in: 239.2
I maintained since my weigh-in on Wednesday for my 1-year update.

High of the Week:  Celebrating my 1 year anniversary of my new lifestyle and the outpouring of support.  I know that it's a huge accomplishment and sometimes I think I am too hard on myself.

Low of the Week:  Letting myself slide after my celebration Wednesday morning!  I didn't go over my points for the week, but I also didn't eat as well as I could have.  I am also breaking out like crazy on my face and I'm pretty sure the two are related!

Best Work-Out:  Saturday evening, I spent 45 minutes on my elliptical and according to the calorie counter on there, I burned 1025 calories!  That's a new record for that length of work-out - my last record was 1010 calories.

Photo of the Week:
The dress from my one-year post was saved just for that before/after.  It was a size 28.  After that picture, it promptly went to the Sell-On-Ebay pile (where most of my old clothes have ended up).  Since it was the last of my dresses, I decided to treat myself to a new Spring dress! Now I just need to get a tan and some cute shoes to go with it!! It's a size 14/16 from Lane Bryant - I'm hoping this will be one of my last few trips to Lane Bryant!

Inspiration:

I need to be reminded of this often.  Too often, I get stuck in thinking about the 80lbs I still have to lose rather than the 95lbs that are behind me.  I know I can do this, I've gotten this far and I'll get to my goal - just gotta take everything one day at a time!

What a difference a year can make!

My journey started on February 1, 2011.  Today marks 1 year into my journey.  I started a a whopping 334.6lbs.  When I set out, I had no idea what I could accomplish in one year.  I just wanted to lose SOMETHING.  I wasn't setting any big goals for myself in the beginning, but I set small goals a long the way.  As I progressed, my goals got more and more challenging to attain.  I set a rather lofty goal of losing 100lbs by this date.  I didn't quite make it, but I'm okay with that.  I lost 95.4lbs, which is still an accomplishment and I'm doing my best to accept less than perfection.  I came SO close and know that I will hit that mark in another week or so and that is okay with me.  I would have liked to be able to say that I lost 100lbs in one year, but I'm still happy with my results.

So, aside from just poundage, what has losing almost 100lbs meant to me:
- A year ago, I wore a size 28 pants (26 on a good day) and my 26/28 shirts were getting snug. I was worried about getting so big that I would no longer be able to find clothes at Lane Bryant!  Today, I can wear mostly 16s, with some 18s depending upon the brand.  I can fit in an XL or XXL at Old Navy and Gap and wear the smallest shirt size at Lane Bryant.  To go from the largest size at Lane Bryant to the smallest is HUGE for me!
- A year ago, I got winded just walking up the stairs or from the car into a store.  Everything was such a challenge.  This weekend, I RAN a mile (ok, it was more of a jog, but still!), did interval running for another mile and then walked two more miles.
- I no longer have to worry about fitting into bathroom stalls.  This sounds crazy, but at 300+lbs, I dreaded public restrooms because I was often embarrassed to head for the handicap - or worse, if the handicap was occupied and had to do a weird shimmy into a regular stall and try to maneuver my massive self around that tiny space.

Every day there are little successes, but these are the biggest and most enjoyable for me thus far.

And who doesn't enjoy a good before/after.  Here is my one year progress picture!