WHIRLWIND!

Monday started black as night and it only got a little lighter as the day went on. I planned on working out with Sule who was coming over to shoot some video content for his website but the shoot was canceled by the weather. So I was left to my own devices on a rainy day. Turns out it wasn't a bad thing! I actually gave myself a good strength workout, and even found a spot between rainshowers to walk the giant dog. I was very proud that despite the change in plans and the malaise I was able to give myself a darn good workout.

The next thing that happened was an email about a photo shoot! It sent me into a frantic shopping tizzy as they wanted winter clothes and I have NONE. Plus I didn't even know what size I was and I really had no idea what my style was or if I even had a style!!! Tuesday came and I did my cardio day of walk 2 miles, run 2 miles and do an hour on the bike. I burned about 1100 calories and felt great. And the shopping began. I ran around asking salespeople for help. By the end I'd found a sweater, a tunic and a sweater dress.

Wednesday I worked out at Exhale Spa with Sule - he was taking the class as he's logging in hours to become a trainer there. The spa is in the Loew's Hotel in Midtown and it is beautiful! The class was killer, the teacher Brianna kicked my ass and kept up a high intensity for the hour long workout. After that MORE SHOPPING! I hit Macy's and TJ Maxx and had several weight loss epiphany type moments!

Epiphany #1: I found boots that would zip all the way up my calves!!!! I haven't had tall boots in forever because my calves were just too thick. So there I was with tall boots that zipped (with a bit of coaxing) all the way up! Plus they were super cool so I snapped those right up.

Epiphany #2: I tried on a bazillion pairs of jeans because I didn't know what size I was anymore. I thought 6 petite but, nope, too big AND too short. Who the hell can wear them if they are too short for me???? But I didn't give up, I just kept on grabbing more jeans until I found a pair that wasn't all gappy in the back and was long enough not to turn into capris after one washing. Guess what size they were. GUESS! F-ING SIZE 4!!!!! I was soooooo freaked out! I was a size 4 for about 18 minutes back in 1992. And not again since then. Zoweee.

Epiphany #3 and this is a big one: I have entered the 120's - it has happened. I have reached the promised land! I am, as of this morning, 129 lbs. I have worked so so so hard to get here. I was stuck for so long I don't think I really believed I would break free and lose these last pounds. I have been on 1200 calorie per day Good Measure Meals since October 5th. I have totally ramped up my exercise routine and have been pulling out the stops to make this happen.

That being said, I'm not done. I have 6 lbs. to go to reach my 100 pound goal and earn my purple hair. I'm going to do it. And it's going to happen before Black Friday when I plan to do more shopping and find a biker chick jacket to go with my cool ass new boots. I will see you at Perimeter at 5am. with Starbuck's. I'll be the bitch in the boots.

Nnnrrrrrggggggg!

So I am at 132 lbs. this morning. That means I lost a whopping ONE POUND this past week! Unbelievable as I am literally exercising my ass off! I've been running, walking the dog every day of course, getting on the bike, doing my strength training. I have been hitting it really hard and ONE POUND does not seem to be adequate reward for all the freaking work.

That being said, I know what I am doing will, eventually, register on the scale. So today I walked 2 miles with the giant dog, I ran 1.5 miles (didn't do 2 'cause I ran yesterday and I am uber-conservative about how much stress I put on my heel), then I got on the bike for a full hour. I really don't care what I have to do or what it takes I WILL get this weight off, I WILL reach my goal weight and I WILL have purple hair. It's not happening as fast as I would like but I'm in for the journey and this is part of it.

In anticipation I am cleaning out my closets of clothes that I will never wear again so I can make room for a new wardrobe.

Gimme A TWO! 2! T-W-O!

So I'm at 132.6 lbs. Last week was up a pound, down a pound, just mucking around basically. A bit frustrating but it's part of any weight loss journey. It's not a straight path. I know this. This is not to say I'm not impatient about it. I am so close to my goal and soooo close to seeing that two on the scale. You know the one I'm talking about. The two in the middle. It means I'm back in the 120's and that is going to be stupendous. I haven't been there in DECADES! Seriously, it has been that long. It's going to be an amazing achievement to get back there.

I have been dorking around in the 130's for months. It's really been exhausting and frustrating to get so close and not be able to push past and get to that number on the scale. My body has been so resistant. I am determined because I know what a healthy weight is for me and where I am now is not quite it. Close. But no cigar. It is bizarre to watch my ass get flatter. I never lose weight in my ass and now I have. I'm pretty weirded out to see what I will look like once these last few pounds come off. It's like unwrapping a gift. V e r y s l o w l y. But it's cool and I know I will get there and I am starting to think about buying clothes altho I have no idea what my style is or what to buy.

So, I'm sticking with what I know works. Stick to the Good Measure Meals. Count the calories I'm burning. Keep on with the cardio. Keep moving and keep hydrated. Because I want that two.

Cool.

It's not Friday yet, which is when I weigh, but I haven't lost a lot of weight this week, not as much as I wanted anyway. Plus it was a frustrating afternoon so I was kinda cranky. I was trying to make dinner and work on this craft project for William's class and it all sort of went wrong and I also got really tired of hollering at the kids and micromanaging them to clean up after themselves. But, I just read something that cheered me right up! It's from Livestrong.com. It's a very cool website with all sorts of helpful weight loss and fitness tips. I was wondering what my resting heart rate should be and I went to Livestrong to find out. Here's what they said:

a normal resting range for a healthy adult is between 60 and 100 beats per minute, or bpm. Well-trained athletes at rest may range down to 40 to 60 bpm.


You are supposed to take it after reclining for 30 minutes but I checked it after, oh, 7 minutes because I don't have time to sit around for 30 minutes right now - cranky - remember! My resting heart rate was 50! I'm a freakin' ATHLETE!!! That makes me feel so good. It really validates why and how hard I've been working for the past year and a half. I have worked so hard that I went from slug to athlete. I have never in my life considered myself athletic. That blows my mind. So, back to basics, it's not about the number on the scale. It's the fact that my heart is so strong now that it pumps more blood with a single beat and therefor can pump less often. Being healthy is so important to me and I have made such huge strides from where I was last year. I am so proud of myself and I know I will never turn this clock back. No way.

On Track!

Phew! I knew this would work and I am right on track and so happy about it. In the past two weeks I've lost 8lbs. which is amazing. I am back down to 133lbs. which puts me at 90 lbs lost and just 10 away from my goal. I am right where I want to be and I know that the GMM will keep me on track. All I have to do is keep eating them and keep it together on the weekends when I don't have the meals and then keep up the cardio. I had a great workout the other day hopping on the stationary bike for sprints and then hopping off to do abs, then back on the bike, then off for some heavy bag work. I've heard the high intensity alternating with strength training yields results so I'm mixing it in. And mixing it up. Got to keep that muscle confusion going!

It's challenging to plan these workouts without Sule but I know so many different exercises it's easy to keep mixing them in. I know I'm not doing as good a job as he does at making sure everything gets worked on evenly and keeping a good balance between joint mobility and strength but I'm making an attempt anyway!

I even went out to lunch with Mom and Dad yesterday and it barely affected me. We were at a Mexican restaurant and I didn't have a single chip. It took some willpower but, honey, I know what I want and I know what I need to do to get it. Will chips and salsa and queso get me there? NO NO NO!!! I had a delicious salad with chicken and citrus with the dressing on the side and ate about half of it. Had the rest for dinner. I had a plan of how to cope with going out to lunch and I stuck to it and my reward is to be right where I want to be weight loss wise. One of Sule's sayings that I love is this: Not having a plan is a plan to fail. It's genius and sooooo applicable to this journey.

So go on out to eat or socialize, just have a plan. And if anyone thinks it's sad or wrong that you won't eat any chips, backhand 'em! Oops, I meant, smile, and stick to your guns! You are in control, nothing can make you eat the chips. If it's not helping you get to your goal then don't put it in your mouth!

Yay! It's on and it's coming off!

My goal was to lose 5 lbs. by this morning. Well, I lost 6.2 lbs. instead! YAY! And I am on my way to pick up my Good Measure Meals. I am confident with the meals on my side and a commitment to keep my exercise elevated that I can hit my goal.

And I can REALLY feel those 6 lbs. I lost. I can see it in my THIGHS!!! Wow. I have pretty much had thick thighs since about age 10. There were maybe 15 minutes in the early 90's when they were small but then they burst back to thick. Not that I have stick legs now but I can see they are getting smaller. It's like unwrapping a present. What will I look like after losing the next 5 lbs.? I don't know!

Yesterday I was supposed to do some strength training but it was so gorgeous outside that I went for a 2 mile run instead. I had just 30 minutes before we needed to leave for William's football game and busting out of the house for a run was a great way to use that time. It really gives me a sense of pride when I make those good choices. There are so many opportunities to make those good choices every day and I don't take advantage of every one but it makes me feel good when I do.

This is my first week without training from Sule but I know that I will keep hitting the heavy bag and doing my TWE 12 (check it out on YouTube!) and wicked ab exercises and killer pushups. I will not lose the fabulous muscle tone I've worked so hard for! It's a balance between cardio and strength that will get me to my goal. I will be upping the cardio to max out my weight loss this month which means more running and more hopping on the stationary bike and more sprints up the driveway. Have you seen my driveway - it's steep!

Wow. What a week, what a way to lose.

My goal from last week was to lose 5 lbs. by Monday the 4th. It's only Friday and I have lost just shy of 6 lbs! It started Sunday night with a turkey burger/high fiber wrap combo that did a real number on my innards. But maybe it wasn't just the burger as Clay and William felt a bit funky too. In my case this funk lasted until Thursday. I was just drained and exhausted to the point where I even missed my workout with Sule. Oi! Despite the funk I have managed to get in some good workouts and was on the bike for almost an hour on Tuesday (while watching 'Biggest Loser') and then ran on the Greenway on Wed. Yesterday I just walked the dog but got a good rise in my heart rate when a German Shepard charged us. This led to my neighbor tearing out of his house no doubt to discover why there was a woman screaming at the top of her lungs at the end of his driveway. That's got the be good for burning a few calories!

Today I'm hoping to be more up to speed and get in some additional cardio besides my dogwalk. I do strength training Tu. Th. and Sat. and then up the cardio MWF and try to just walk the dog on Sundays as you are supposed to have at least one light day.

I am really excited about the (almost) 6 lbs. as August and most of September were really disappointing weight loss wise. Now that I've had this rather rapid success I can really see me hitting my goal. I know the tummy funk definitely suppressed my appetite but I'm proud that I was able to keep moving despite it. It makes no sense but whenever I feel sluggish if I get up and walk the dog or hop on the stationary bike it totally makes me feel refreshed. This is totally different from my previous mindset of 'If you feel sluggish just go lay down. Relax, take a load off...' This just perpetuates the sluggishness! The sluggishness WANTS you to lay down. Don't do it. Fight back and get your blood moving. Drive the sluggishness away and burn some calories while you do it!