Day 2: Stepping Up

Today was surreal. Running on about 5.5 hours of sleep, I dragged myself to barbell class this morning. Then I ended up with Finn hanging out in my office for part of the day, so he went with me on my lunchtime walk, which wasn't quite at the same pace I've gotten used to. But hey--we were still moving, so it counts. The dog had surgery and needed to be picked up. The boys had swimming lessons. There was nothing but running around all over the place.

And also today, my good friend's husband, who is 42 years old, slim and fit, and an all around healthy-seeming guy, had a heart attack and had a stent put in. Sobering and frightening. Yet another reminder that the time to do things is right-exactly-fucking-now.
Whew.

Log:

Exercise:

• Barbell Strength Class with Tracy at the Apex gym
• Lunchtime walk: 1.71 very, very slow miles with Finn
• Evening walk to knitting:1.98 miles
• Day 2 of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 20 sit-ups, 8 leg raises, 8 crunches, 12 second plank

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: 2 fresh farm (thanks, Sharon, my farmer friend!) eggs over easy, 2 links of chicken sage sausage from Applegate Farms, chopped fresh tomato, 1 slice of whole wheat toast with a bit of butter, 4 oz fresh OJ, and hot tea with milk and sugar
• Lunch: wasabi tuna wrap from Chelsea Cafe with LOTS of veggies inside--so good,very nutrient-rich, and not too many empty calories: win!
• Dinner: knitting at Panera: 1/2 soba noodle and chicken salad and a small Fuji apple
• Snacks: This was cleaning up after Kieran because 1) I can't resist whatever crack the Chick-Fil-A people put in their chicken, 2) I hate wasting food, and 3) I was STARVING before I took them to swimming class: 1/3 of a chicken sandwich and 3 or 4 fries

Stats:

• Steps:15,009 (BOOM!)
• Calories: 1401 consumed (stupid Chick-Fil-A),961 burned
• Weight: 195 lbs--bleh, but I'll fix it

Official Weigh-Out and Pictures

Starting weight on August 9, 2015: 211.5 on the home scale, 214.3 on the gym scale
Weight on November 7, 2105: 190 on the home scale, 192.9 on the gym scale
Current Loss: 21.5 pounds

Before Pictures:

Progress Pictures:

There are definitely some differences, but I certainly don't want to call the second set, "after pictures," because I still have a long way to go. I think the biggest difference is in my waistline. I didn't take full body measurements when I started, but I wish I had. There's a big difference in my waistline, which is most apparent from the side and back.

Jason and I are heading out on an actual date, and I am wearing these amazing bright green linen pants that I bought as a goal over a year ago, and I have to say--that's pretty awesome. I tried them on as a test, with very low expectations, and they aren't even the slightest bit tight. So exciting! I know it's November, and WAY past linen season, but people, I cannot help it--these things have to be worn!

Day Eighty-Seven: Determination

Today it rained all day again, so no walks. This drives me insane. I got up this morning and went to my barbell class, which was good, but then it seemed clear there was no way I was going to make all of my steps today. Frustrating. Further, Jason has to do some training tomorrow, which means no Zumba tomorrow either. Also frustrating. My solution: skip knitting and go to Zumba tonight. I have mixed feelings about skipping knitting--it's and it's purely relaxing girl time, and I don't get much of that. But I REALLY don't want to miss any classes this week if I can help it, so I went. And it was great! The woman who was teaching turns out to be a Zumba education specialist, and she was amazing--so much energy!

My food was ok, though the Indian food I had for lunch was a bit of an indulgence. However, going to the gym twice in one day burns enough extra calories that I think I could probably eat a cupcake and still be alright. Here's to more exercise!

The rest of the week promises more rain--I am so hoping there are some good breaks for walking. I am utterly determined to make the rest of my planned classes this week.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Barbell Strength class with Joy at the Apex gym
• Zumba class with Loretta at the Cary gym

Nutrition:

• Breakfast:2 boiled eggs with microgreens, 1 slice of honey whole sheat toast with butter, 2 cups of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: some Indian food from the hot bar at Whole Foods with a little mixed fruit and an unsweetened iced tea
• Dinner: London broil and grilled asparagus/red pepper/mushrooms
• Snacks: N/A

Stats:

• Steps:12,257
• Calories: 1368 consumed, 1049 burned
• Weight: 193 on the home scale, 198 on the gym scale (which, by the way, the trainer weighing me told me is known to weigh high--um, get that fixed, y'all!)

Day Fifty-Nine: SUN! and an Official Weigh-In

I'd love to tell you that I hopped out of bed at 5am this morning feeling energized and ready to go, but the truth is that I dragged my sorry self out of the bed with a lot of mental ranting about the early hour, the warm bed, the cuddly cat on my feet, and the gigantic temptation to stay put till about Thursday. But I made it to my barbell strength class for the first time in weeks, and I am so glad I did! If I had given into the temptation to snuggle in, I would have regretted it and spent the day feeling like I had let myself down. Since I didn't wimp out, I walked outside at 5:25am and was rewarded with a gorgeous navy blue sky filled with stars, a crescent moon, and two super-bright planets floating overhead--so lovely and so VERY welcome after all the nasty weather over the last couple of weeks!

Going to the gym this morning means I actually officially weighed in for the first time in a month. Their scale doesn't agree with mine of course (mine is better), but it's still showing a net loss, which is what counts!

I was so excited to go for a walk at lunch, and my friend Lisa even came with me. I could have walked for hours, it was so beautiful outside! But it was Lisa's first day walking with me, and she's kind of easing in. Tomorrow is supposed to be even better weather than today,  so hopefully I can go farther.

At knitting tonight, I was trying to resist a serious chocolate craving, which actually doesn't happen to me all that often. I had talked myself out of the cookie that I wanted, and I just ordered a cup of tea. And then, damn if they didn't give me the cookie for free! I used 100% of my willpower to cut it in half and give half of it away, but it was STILL more calories than that cookie deserved. At 440 a pop, I will not be getting another one of those for a while.

After knitting, it was too late, and I was too tired to do an evening walk, so I didn't quite finish my steps. However, I am still calling this a decent exercise day, however: my legs are so sore from all the split squats I did in class this morning that I almost can't walk up a flight of stairs.

Tomorrow: Zumba! Yay!

Log:

Exercise:

• Barbell Strength class at the Apex gym with Tracy (who may or may not be trying to kill me)
• Lunchtime walk:1.66 miles (with Lisa!)

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: steel cut oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, chopped pecans, and half a banana
• Lunch: baked chicken breast, a big salad with Briana's honey dijon dressing, and half a honeycrisp apple
• Dinner: stir fried skirt steak with ginger, tatsoi, and shitake mushrooms, jasmine rice
• Snacks: half a Panera chocolate duet cookie (220 calories! for half!) and a big cup of tea at knitting

Stats:

• Steps: 8851
• Calories: 1607 consumed, 479 burned
• Weight: 196 on the home scale, 201.9 on the gym scale (I sure like mine better!)

Day Twenty-Four: Weigh-In Day and Still Off Track

When my alarm went off at 5am this morning telling me to get up and go to my barbell strength class, I still felt pretty ill. I skipped it. I hate that--I know rationally that skipping it was the right thing to do, but man, I dislike feeling like I have wimped out! Further, I had a hair appointment this morning, which means to time for a lunchtime walk. I optimistically brought my shoes with me, just in case, but I knew it was a long shot. And no, it didn't happen. I am not beating myself up about this or anything, but I do want to find a way to make it up.

I did stop by the gym to weigh in at least, and was delighted to be officially down a bit more. I am down 8.4 pounds by the official scale, which is about 4 pounds heavier than the scale at home is measuring. Good progress so far, and motivating to see. Yay!

Upon analysis of what I ate yesterday, I think my nausea may have been coming from the fact that I just didn't consume enough calories yesterday. It seems clear that to feel good and have energy, I can't go much below 1100 calories, or things start to feel off. This morning, I didn't eat breakfast at all, which is out of the ordinary for me, and I feel a bit like I paid for that throughout the day. I was sluggish and lower-energy all day long. And yet, here I am at the end of today in nearly the same caloric boat. Tomorrow, I will get up and eat a good breakfast, and just hit a giant reset button for everything.

I went to knitting tonight, and at dinner at Panera. I chose the soba noodle broth bowl since the grains were whole in the noodles, and I wanted something more filling than a salad after skipping breakfast today. I definitely got it--I am still stuffed hours later! I think my body is in carb shock.

Today's Log:

Exercise:

• Not crap--today was a day with no time in it, and I am now officially off a day on the 30 day abs challenge. Dammit. I will do day 23 tomorrow, skip 24 (the rest day), and if I can stand it, the next rest day, too, to make up time. Ugh.

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar - didn't eat anything because I was still feeling nauseated---bleh!
• Lunch: chicken breast with grilled asparagus, mushrooms, and peppers, little tomatoes, arugula salad with radishes, walnuts, and goat cheese with champagne caper vinaigrette, a small honeycrisp apple
• Dinner:Panera's soba noodle broth bowl--SO SALTY! iced tea
• Snacks:24 almonds, 1 Babybel, a little muhammara and 3 pretzel thins

Stats:

• Steps: 4713
• Calories: 1215 consumed, 0 burned
• Weight: 201.5 (home), 205.9 (Official Weigh-in, -8.4 lbs)

Day 17: Official Weigh-In Miracle

OK, so I had some LOW expectations at the official weigh-in this morning, given the weekend's cheater-y extravagance. Imagine my surprise to see my weight down this morning! Not insanely so, but still down. I am so relieved and pleased. What I am less than pleased about is the fact that i STILL have to drive my results over to the Cary gym to get them properly recorded. I attempted emailing the picture to a trainer at Cary, but received no response, so off I went. This time, I could find no trainer to enter my info, but I finally went and pitched a fit till i found out who was in charge. I emailed that guy, and all is now well. He's going to take care of entering my info every Tuesday from now on. Again--it's not like I think I am going to win this thing, but the whole point of joining was for more accountability, right? I want my credit, dammit!

Today's lunchtime walk involved a snake sighting, as you will have seen from the pictures below. Poor guy wasn't doing too well, but I did my best for him by moving him off a busy path into a little secluded grassy area. We'll see if he's still there tomorrow.

Today's Log:

Exercise:

• Barbell Strength class with Tracy at the Apex gym
• Lunchtime Walk:  2.28 miles
• Day 17 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge (75 sit ups, 100 crunches, 42 leg raises, 65 minute plank)
• Evening Walk: 0.76 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar, steel cut oatmeal (.2 cups before cooking) with 1/2 a banana, 1/2 cup of milk, a handful of chopped pecans, and a teaspoon of brown sugar (which I didn't really need and wished I could undo)
• Lunch: salmon and squash baked in parchment with lemon and basil, tomatoes from the garden
• Dinner: Panera for knitting--a half chicken Caesar with no croutons and a cup of black bean soup--tasty and not too bad
• Snacks:1 medium honeycrisp apple

Stats:

• Steps: 11287
• Calories: 1213 consumed, 678 burned
• Weight: 203.5 (home), 207.7 (official, -6.6 lbs)

Day Ten: Crazy Busy Weigh-In Day

Today I had an eye doctor's appointment, which means I had no time to go for a lunchtime walk. In the end, however, I think I might have been more productive if I had just gone anyway. I really think it  makes a tremendous difference to my afternoon when I get outside for a bit at lunchtimes. I was sluggish all afternoon. Plus, I missed finding something pretty to photograph on the go with my phone.

The whole day was super busy, and I am pretty amazed that I was able to fit everything in in spite of it. My knitting group meets on Tuesday evenings at Panera, and I ended up needing to eat dinner there--so hard to find something that works with my current restrictions! I managed, however, and I was surprised at how good their chicken Caesar salad was. I'd definitely get it again.

This morning, I weighed in again at the Apex gym, and once again, I had to take my results over to Cary to have them recorded. I just don't get it. But the trainer at the Cary gym who entered everything was awesome. He looked at my loss so far, and high fived me, then asked how it was going. He wanted to know specifically how I was eating and to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid. I told him I was logging it all into MyFitnessPal, and he checked it out and showed me how to look at my weekly stats to notice any trends. He asked a bunch of questions about my workouts and how they were going, etc. After looking at it all, he told me I was doing everything right. That little bit of validation really felt good. So--I'm, as my mother would say, keepin' on keepin' on.

Today's Log:

Exercise:

• Barbell Strength Training class with Joy in Apex
• Day 10 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge (50 sit ups, 50 leg raises, 30 crunches, 38 second plank)
• Evening Walk: 1.75 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar, baked eggs with spinach, herbs, and parmesan, fresh tomatoes, cup of milk
• Lunch: : Chicken breast, black beans, roasted red pepper, and cilantro tossed with a tiny bit of BBQ sauce, small salad with Briana's Champagne Caper Vinaigrette
• Dinner: Panera's half chicken Caesar salad with no croutons and a cup of black bean soup.
• Snacks: large hot tea with 2% milk and 1 tsp raw sugar

Stats:

• Steps: 11607
• Calories: 1142 consumed,617 burned
• Weight: 204 (home scale), 209.9 (official weigh-in weight, -4.4lbs)

Day Three: Is this a Test?

Sometimes, it feels like the universe is throwing out everything that it can think of to derail you. It's important to pass these little tests.

Last night, I got to bed a little later than I should have, but such is life. Then Finn woke up twice during the night, which was a pretty severe sleep interrupter. However, I managed to lever myself out of bed at 5am anyway to make it to the 5:45am Barbell Strength class at the smaller gym location near me in Apex. Whew, I am out of shape! I made it through the class, though it was a near thing there at the end. It's been a LOOOOOOONG time since a workout actually made me feel nauseated, but that one really did. I know that's a lactic acid issue, and that I will adjust, but it still stinks! That said, by about 10 minutes after class was over, I was good to go. I really liked the instructor, so that's a huge plus.

I did my first official Tuesday weigh-in with one of the trainers at the Apex location, and for some reason, he insisted that I didn't need to log into the machine to do it; he instead took a picture, with my phone, of my results. So this meant that, to get those results officially recorded, I had to drive them over to the Cary location. What a waste of time! Next time, I know to insist on logging in, and then no one has to manually enter anything anywhere. Who knows--maybe that trainer was as new to this program as I am.

Today at lunchtime, it was supposed to be pouring rain, so I had to sneak in a walk between storms. I had a failed start, but I got the walk in by walking around my office floor (feeling a bit like an idiot), and then heading outside when the rain paused (with a Ziploc bag for my phone and an umbrella). Every victory counts, right?

I am WIPED OUT, but pretty proud of myself for the last few days' work.

Today's Log:

Exercise: 

• Barbell Strength Training class, Apex gym
• Lunchtime walk: 2.06 miles
• Day 3 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge (25 sit-ups, 10 crunches, 10 leg raises, 15 second plank)

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: spinach and mushroom frittata, fresh garden and CSA tomatoes, hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar, cup of 2% milk
• Lunch: pan seared tilapia with tomatoes and basil , french green beans with olive oil and wild porcini salt, roasted cauliflower with garlic and rosemary
• Dinner: salmon baked in parchment with squash, lemon, and basil
• Snacks: hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar, hot tea (black), hummus and raw veggies (celery, zucchini, and yellow peppers)

Stats:

• Steps: 11810
• Calories: 1372 consumed, 558 burned
• Weight: 211.6 (official Tuesday Weigh-In from Lifetime) (Net -2.7)

Day One: Initial Weigh-In and Pictures

This morning, I met with a super nice trainer named Jacob for my initial weigh-in and to officially start my 90 days. For the most part, he approved of my plans, but felt that I should focus more tightly on strength training and on calorie tracking and portion control. He had some good points. There was also the trainer sales pitch, but it's definitely tempting to add that level of accountability to this entire exercise. But my goodness, it's expensive--prohibitively so for me, even with the 20% discount offered to participants in this challenge. I am listening to Jacob's advice, but I think I am trying this on my own, at least for now. I have many years of reading behind me, and well--I have Jason, who is nearly a trainer himself at this point. If I need extra strength training, he can help me.

As for the numbers themselves, they were predictably dismal. My weight is 214.3 pounds, and my body fat percentage is 44.4% (which is down, by the way, by about 3% from the last time it was measured.) That means I need to lose 49.3 pounds to hit my goal of 165, which I think is possible, though by no means easy. We'll see what happens to the body fat percentage along the way. I am, with great trepidation, sharing my before pictures. Front, back, and side views in a bathing suit or similar, both before and after the challenge, are a requirement, but not really where I want to place my focus. In the interest of keeping an accurate record, however, here they are:

I definitely feel better with more clothes ON. Whew!

Meanwhile, on to the rest of the day's activities:

Exercise: 

• Day 1 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge (15 sit-ups, 5 crunches, 5 leg raises, 10 second plank)
• Hike with the family at Hemlock Bluffs, 1.86 miles
• Stretching
• Short walk after the kids are asleep, 1.24 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs with cheese and nutmeg, fresh garden and CSA tomatoes, hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar 
• Lunch: roasted chicken breast, sauteed spinach, baby kale, and baby bok choy, fresh garden and CSA tomatoes
• Dinner: grilled boneless chicken thigh, roasted cauliflower with garlic and rosemary, grilled asparagus, baby bellas, and orange and red peppers
• Snacks: raw almonds, hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar

Stats:

• Steps: 11694
• Calories:  1152 consumed, 429 burned
• Weight: 214.3 (Official Weigh-in at Lifetime)