Another Week, Another Weigh-In

Hello friends!

Well, this week was okay I suppose. Just a little blah. This week I lost 1.5 pounds bringing the total to 62. I am not complaining but I must say I worked really hard for that. Here is what this week held for me:

1. A week of sticking to my 1600 calories/day diet and I used the calories wisely
2. 5 personal training sessions with my "we're gonna really change it up this week" trainer
3. 1 Zumba class - so fun and really worked my abs
4. Running/walking with the dogs 1.2 miles every morning

Now I ask......is 1.5 pounds really a fair trade off? I am going to shut my pie hole now and just appreciate the loss and hope next week's number will reflect more.

My training sessions this week were hard. My trainer was explaining how he was really gonna pump up the cardio in it and we would do blah, blah, blah (in my head I hear the teacher on Charlie Brown sometimes "whah, whah, whah, whah...whah"). I always try to interpret and then ask for clarification. Here is how the conversation went:

Trainer: Blah, blah, blah, cardio, harder, blah, blah, blah.
Me: So you are going to induce a heart attack?
Trainer: No, just short of a heart attack.
Me: Super.

And that is what we did. Today I pushed myself running on the treadmill before we started. But of course that was not near enough. By the time we were finished I had completely soaked two sports bras and my t-shirt with hard work (otherwise known as yucky sweat).

And yes I wear two sports bras. Not because I have a big chest, quite the opposite. However, one sports bra is super duper strong so I do not move when I run (imagine using duct tape to hold you in place only far more pleasant) and the other is a full body tank thing I wear over the super duper bra. I love these, especially if my shirt goes up (which it has on occasion) no one needs to see my big, pale belly. I have yet to find a combo bra I like so I just double up.

Now you know far more about me than you ever wanted to.

So my trainer wants me to use some of my precious 1600 calories each day to eat a protein bar. I am not a fan. If I only get 1600 calories, I want to use them on real food that I enjoy. He does insist that it will trick my body and speed up my metabolism. I guess I should try it. Afterall, look at all the work I did this week and my body wasn't buying it.

Hope you all had great losses this week!

Do You Watch Hell's Kitchen?

As every weekend, I spent some time cleaning out my Tivo/DVR. So now I am caught up on my shows. One of my favorites is Hell's Kitchen. Do you watch? It is very fun to watch as far as reality TV goes. There is a contestant on there this year named Robert. He is in his late 20's. He is very cute and his personality is rockin. He could have his own show in my opinion. He is a very hard worker and seems to be a talented chef. He also weighs 400 pounds.

Now anyone who watches the show knows that Chef Ramsey is not the nicest guy when he is in the heat of a moment. He never really belittled him for his weight other that calling him 'big boy.' There were rewards from challenges that Robert could not enjoy. For example, the boys were supposed to take a helicopter to Catalina Island and stay a few hours. Robert however exceeded the weight limit for the helicopter and he had to take a ferry and meet the boys there. By the time he made it, it was time to come back. So no reward for him (at least the boys rode back with him). Another reward was for the boys to ride Segways at the park but he was too large so he had to ride a bike and could not keep up with the group.

This week the remaining contestants went to Atlantic city to see the resort in which the winner's restaurant will be. They had just sat down to a dinner with an executive chef - the most important dinner of their careers - when Robert excused himself from the table, never to return. He was having chest pains. His blood pressure was 160/100. He was rushed to the hospital. He had to stay all night. He missed the dinner, the rubbing elbows, the spa treatments. Basically he has missed out on all the rewards for his hard work.

He returned to Hell's Kitchen to tell everyone that he has some fluid sack around his heart which is part of heart disease and he would be leaving the competition. Which his health is important, I understand. But his dream ended just like that. Not because he was lazy. Not because he didn't care. Ultimately because he was obese.

I do not want that to be me. I cannot think of anything that I have not been able to do because of my weight but I know some things were not as enjoyable because of it. I also have high blood pressure and am scared of having a stroke. I am now about the weight I was when they put me on the blood pressure medicine so I am hoping that maybe I am close to coming off.

I guess my point is, that if you have a dream that you have worked so hard for, it would be devastating for it never to come to fruition strictly because you are over-weight. I plan on taking this problem down (hopefully down under two hundred pounds someday) and managing it from there.

I hope everyone's dreams get to come true - we all deserve it.

Oh yeah - I also Tivoed the movie Grey Gardens on HBO. Watched it this morning and it is excellent! So you may want to see that one if you can.

Have a great week!

Weigh-In

Today's results........228. That puts me at a total of 60.5 pounds lost. Finally. I was in the 50s forever. I have also come to some realizations. Here they are in random order (because I am so very random).

1. I finally weigh less than my husband (by two pounds)
2. I used to be fat where I never realized I was fat (mainly my chest, collar bones, shoulder area - my neck has lost a lot of weight but this I was aware of, especially since my parents love to point out my tree trunk sized neck)
3. My weight loss is starting to bring out the insecurities in some of the people I work with
4. I have a long way to go but I can do way more than I thought I could

I am sure I will post again later this weekend as I have a peculiar wedding to attend tomorrow sure to bring good stories.

Happy Friday!

Feeling Light

So evidently, today was the day. The day I actually felt....light. I am still extremely large, don't get me wrong. I am aware. However, I felt light. My trainer had to cancel because he was sick. Last night I had to go to a retirement dinner and my body really wanted to workout today (crazy I know). I could not go two nights in a row without a good sweat. So I quickly changed and headed to my fancy lady gym for a class I have not taken in months - Zumba. It is like a latin dance, semi-aerobic class. The difficulty and amount you sweat depends on the instructor. Tonight's instructor was great!

There is something I love about large group aerobic classes (as long as no one invades my personal space). Looking up at the mirror and seeing everyone move in unison (as long as I am not screwing it up) to good music makes me really happy for some reason. I increased the intensity where I could. I loved it! I miss group classes. I plan to take more when I am out of school for the summer. Anywho, I felt light. Like I am almost 60 pounds less heavy, kind of light.

I am not totally retarded. I noticed a difference at about 30 pounds. But mostly because I started getting cold so easily. I keep socks in my purse and always have a sweater now because I get cold all the time. Less fat, less insulation I guess.

All day today I felt like I was floating. Except when I was running with the dogs this morning. Running makes me feel heavy. It is easier than when I started running (I was about 270 pounds when I started that lovely venture), but it will never be an easy task for me. Otherwise, today I felt awesome! I could have done Zumba for another hour. I know what your thinking.....I hate her......I have days when I hate people like this too but lately I am so happy to workout and see what I can do now.

Want to know what I discovered on Monday? My trainer knows I hate squats, so I have been doing lunges (about 50 different ways) for months. Monday he decided it was time for squats. One-legged squats. ONE-LEGGED! But I could do them. He has lost his marbles. Maybe this is why Zumba was so refreshing for me.

So I am curious.....do you feel lighter? When did you notice?

Easter Feast

It was delicious!

My husband is a FANTASTIC cook, a grill master really. Each week he grills me chicken breasts to eat all week. He will cook me whatever I want but his boneless, skinless, grilled chicken breasts are to die for! I never get sick of it. When I want a break, I make a taco salad. I make killer salads.

So what was our Easter feast? Well, it included some traditional foods, and some just plain good stuff. We had: stuffed jalapenos with bacon (cooked on the smoker), smoked honey ham, filet mignon, green beans, homemade mashed potatoes (I peeled, cut, cooked and whipped myself), garlic ciabatta rolls and super delicious fatty cookies (170 calories each).

I ate some of everything. It was all super good. I was not pukey full, however I was full enough that when I walked the dogs afterward I got a cramp in my side. We have big spreads like that because my best bud is a vegetarian but her husband loves meat. We try to give them the best of both worlds. They own a restaurant/bar so we can get whatever we want there. We like to give them choices here. The babies loved it too. Man they can eat. They really loved the ham.

So I indulged. The good news is I did not eat while I prepared food. I ate limited calories until dinner. Yesterday I was pretty perfect calorie wise. As long as I get back on it tomorrow I think I will be fine and have no remorse.

That is until I have to workout tomorrow night. I might feel some of the pain then. Or perhaps when I try to run in the morning. That is actually only a few hours away. Lucky me!

Hope you had a good weekend and have a great week!

This is Why I LOVE Wal-Mart!

I will get to the Wal-Mart story in a minute.

First I just want to say, I did not weigh-in this week. I am in the midst of my lady troubles, need I say more? For the most part, I stuck to my 1600 calorie healthy diet. I did eat some Mexican food on Thursday night. I am still running/walking with the dogs every morning. Still working out with my trainer, although he did cancel on me once this week so I only had 3 training sessions and in order to make up for it now I will have 5 training sessions next week. Super duper! So I plan on eating a special Easter feast tomorrow. I will weigh-in on Friday. I do not think I will see a huge loss but I think I am doing alright.

My current milestone? I have hit the same weight as my husband. He is not aware of this, but I am. I am excited to weigh less than him again. He is trying to lose some weight as well. We are both so competitive that I do not want to tell him. But it is a secret competition in my head.

So now for Wal-Mart. I HATE going to the real super Wal-Marts. They are too big and crowded and the clientele leaves a lot to be desired in my neighborhood (if you are a customer there, sorry - I am not talking about you). I am soooo a Target girl. I am not retarded, I do realize that you can find just about anything there and they are leaps and bounds cheaper than any other store.

So my best bud (and her twins) and I both had to go there tonight. So we each got a cart (with a baby in it) and walked around the store shopping. Now let me tell you here (if you don't already know) that my best bud is who hooked me up with my trainer. She and I started my journey together with two shared training sessions a week last summer. We are supposed to share 1 to 2 training sessions a week now but she cannot make it a lot of times because there is no one to watch the babies. She told me this week that it is a waste of her money so she was going to stop going. This I totally understand. I love working out with her but I am all about getting my money's worth.

Tonight, as we turned down an aisle (her walking behind me), she says "Wow! You have a waist! Who knew?" I find this really funny. I have a waist - a huge one, but it was still a cute comment. Then she says "If I become the fat friend, I am going to be mad." This is also funny because: a. she would actually be mad but b. she has never been fat and is not the type to ever become fat. She also said "Do you have a hand mirror at home because you need to see how skinny you look from behind, I am not kidding." She says the nicest things. She is so supportive that I literally could not have done this without her.

Now about two aisles later, is where the Wal-Mart clientele come into play. These two ladies see me and one of the twins come around the corner and they are all excited and talking to the baby and then when the other comes around the corner they are like "Oh my god! They are twins! How cute! What are their names?" I proceed to tell them their names and then tell the ladies that they belong to my best bud. One of them responds "Really? I totally would have thought they were yours. You all have the same fat face."

Now I take absolutely no offense to this comment because: a. these girls are soooo cute I would be lucky to have kids that cute and sweet. b. I am a realist and am very aware that I have a fat face. c. I do not fault people for honesty.

I just have to say that nothing like this ever happens to me at Target.

So after all those complements from my best bud, I get the end the trip like that. However, I wonder now if my best bud will continue our shared personal training sessions. Time will tell.

I have rambled on (procrastinated) enough. I need to get going on stuff for tomorrow's Easter dinner (which my best bud, hubby and god daughters will be coming over for). I hope the Easter Bunny is good to you all, just don't eat too much candy!

I am a SLACKER!!

I was catching up on blogs today. I see that back on April 1st I was tagged by Best of What's Around (http://aims41.blogspot.com/) to post my 7 favorite things. Here it goes:

1. My unbelievably cute and fun twin god daughters and their mother (my super duper best friend ever)
2. Naps. Taking them in the pool on a float or on my super comfortable bed. The longer the better - 2 hours is like perfect.
3. Chapstick. And it must be that brand. I have a serious addiction that has been in affect since 1996. I have not gone one single day without it. In fact, I wake in the night to use it sometimes.
4. Reading books for fun. This has only really happened in the past 5 years but I am obsessed trying to read as much as I can. I want to learn about everything. Unless it disrupts a nap.
5. Being a teacher. Even when you have a not-so-great class like I do this year, they are precious and say the best things. There is no greater feeling than knowing you just opened the door for a child to learn how to read and help them see how they can love it too.
6. Cuddling with my dogs (and husband occasionally - we are the cuddly type). My dogs are the best! Especially since they stopped shitting in the house (my husband and I have a rule of finders, keepers - so believe me, I make sure he makes it home first, just in case)
7. Changing my view of myself. I never thought I could do athletic things before - now I can see I can. I never thought I would be below a size 20 again - I already am. I had resided myself to being the "fat friend" - I no longer am, won't be long til we all shop together. I felt smart but weak - now I feel like I have a lot to learn but I can because I am strong. As a teacher I have changed lives, it is nice to finally realize I can change my own.

Wow! What a great mental exercise. Thank you Aimee from Best of What's Around. Congrats on the upcoming wedding! That was one of the happiest times in my life and I am sure it will be for you too.

Finally!

So I broke a rule. Do not weigh myself for a month? I don't think so. My trainer told me to weigh on Sunday but my best friend's twins had their 1st birthday yesterday so there was a party yesterday and one today. Lots of food and cake! So I decided to weigh on Friday. And then I did it again today. It's like I have OCD sometimes.

The results? Between two birthday parties I had one small piece of cake and nothing else. I ate a Subway sandwich before each party. But everything sure did smell and look good. Had it been another week, I would have eaten a lot more but I really wanted to give this a go since I had only been doing it a few days. The scale read 231, which means I lost 7 pounds since Monday (and that includes the cake). Finally!

When I worked out with my trainer this morning I told him that I hate him a little less now that the 2.5 pound gain is gone (and the additional loss is super nice!). Did I get a reward? Yes I did. This week we have been doing some of my training outside (he knows I like that better) and I now get to do tire-flipping. Oh yes my friends, gigantic tires meant for things bigger than any vehicle I have ever driven. It seems so masculine but I think it is really meant for my glutes and abs.

Now I feel like I have broken through a wall. Running was easier, my knee and hamstring are feeling better. It may all be in my head but I am happier. It is propelling me forward, to continue with this diet plan.

One random side note (even though everything I write is random) - I went shopping. If you have an Avenue store near you and they carry your size, you should at least go look. They have decided that with the recession, it would be better if they dropped the prices of the items in their store. I got tons of stuff - at their new regular prices. Including sunglasses for $2.96. I went to Lane Bryant and the capris I like were $45. I do not want to spend that much if I am not going to be able to wear them that long (my plan is to keep going down in sizes). At Avenue, I got a nice pair for $25. Also, they had the best jeans. They made me look more lean. I wore them to school yesterday and my first graders kept talking about how nice they looked. And we all know how honest children are, so I felt very good about my purchase. Oh yeah, instead of sending out coupons to save on your next trip, they are giving money off now. If you spend $125, you get $25 off.

Hopefully you are feeling good this week and are enjoying spring. Now it is time for me to catch up on your blog!