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!

I have a plan

Clay and I went out to dinner last Sat. to celebrate our anniversary. We went to one of those Brazilian 'land of meat' places. Clay ate so much meat he almost fell asleep at the table. I had a coupla pieces but one of them was chicken. I stayed mostly engaged by the amazing salad bar and reveled in tabbouleh that I didn't make from a box. They brought the dessert cart around and I thought 'Yeah, I am getting dessert! When is the last time I had dessert in a restaurant?' So I ordered two desserts for us to share. Clay was appalled that I was ordering two desserts and thought I had gone mad. So I had a few bites of each and then I was done. Who finished them off? I'll let you fill in the blank.

The dining experience was fine but I got really cranky this week about the scale not moving despite the fact that I have been running again and eating tons of veggies. Cranky led me to eat crap. Not a lot of crap but I had a bunch of chips with my Subway sandwich. Clay brought home cookies and I had two. 2! I just felt, like, to hell with it, it apparently doesn't matter what I eat I'm not getting what I want.... Guess what that thinking got me? How did that attitude pay off? I gained 3 pounds!!!! AAAAAAAaaaaaccckckccck! Yup. I went right up to 141 lbs. Unbelievable.

Yesterday I took hold of myself after that shocking number on the scale and I upped my water and really restricted my calories. Today I am at 138.8. And I have a plan. I signed up for a month of Good Measure Meals. It's costing me $416. I would have spent the $400 on my contract with Sule so it didn't hurt so much in my crazy, justifying mind. Plus everything is included, all I have to provide is water. So I won't be buying any groceries to feed me during the month. It doesn't start until October 4th and I decided before that date I would lose 5 lbs. and get down to 136 (I didn't anticipate losing the 2.2 lbs. overnight). Then when my month of GMM starts I will have 13 lbs. to lose. That should be doable in a month. Once those meals start it is on and I am ramping up my calorie burn and you will find me on the spin bike at 8pm just to get an extra 300 calories burned away. I should be able to fit the fitness in as I won't have the 1 hour drive time plus the 1 hour class with Sule.

This is my plan. I'm sticking to it and I really feel with the restricted calories and truly balanced meals that GMM provides I have a really good chance for success. I'm writing down my weight every day and I'll let you know which way the scale is going. By November I hope to have conquered this hurdle and have lost a whopping total of 100 lbs. Let's do this.

Seismic Shift

I know this. The only constant is change. I'm familiar with that mostly from raising kids. So now I am going to experience some change in my life because my beloved trainer is moving on to a different opportunity. The daytime class that has been my 2 times a week mainstay for the past year is ending at the end of this month. No more Sule! I won't be completely cut off but no more class.

I'm a little nervous. I would be way nervous if he hadn't done such a good job training me so far. His workouts are completely portable and since I've been doing his Martial Fitness workouts for a year and a half I can pretty much give myself a good workout on my own. But he's been doing this for over two decades and really knows what he's doing. The flow of his workouts and the way he works pretty much everything in those 2 classes per week is what I will miss A LOT! And the fact that every workout is different is totally what kept it fresh and fun and not at all a chore to fit into my schedule.

The thing is I've been on a plateau for about 4 months. I've started running again and have been cutting out a lot of the processed foods I eat. And the scale is not showing these things at all. So I'm considering getting a month of Good Measure Meals. It's a financial commitment but I won't be paying on my contract with Sule so I feel it's kind of a trade off. Yup, I'm justifying and I know it. Justifying is a skill, people. And I've got it down! I could charge money to justify other people stuff!

I haven't pulled the trigger but I feel like the meals with their 1200 calories per day and all the fiber you can stand would really jump start me off this plateau. It worked before and I think it can work again. Or somebody needs to just suck the fat outta my thighs and be done with it. I am eager to hit my goal and what I'm doing is not really getting me there. Or at least not at a pace that I can deal with or even recognize.

No weigh.

I've effectively boycotted my scale for the past few days. But I am feeling smaller and have had so many 'Miss Skinny' comments it's amazing. So all the moving I've been doing is way worth it. I feel my stomach getting flatter although it is still sagging like wet cheesecloth tossed on the wall. Did that gross you out? My stomach is grosser and I have to look at it every day. And whilst trying on the tiny blouse at Macy's the other day Mara commented that my boobs are flat. Thanks! I told her it was her fault with all the nursing she did. Even though it's saggy I'm happy for the lessening of my stomach. Next, I am very interested in my thighs becoming less well acquainted. In fact, I'd like them quite separate, thank you. Yes, they should become quite distant. I really think the running will help with that.

I am so grateful to be running again. I have even gone a couple of days with no brace on my foot! I think this is going to be really key to conquering the rest of this weight. It's just such an amazing fat burning exercise and really lengthens your leg muscles. At 5'1" I can use all the lengthening I can get!!!

I don't know what exactly possessed me but I started pulling REALLY OLD clothes out of a closet and trying them on. These are clothes from the early 90s. There's a navy blue power suit with shoulder pads and everything! There was this Chinese looking dress that I had back in college and it's slit up to my ass. Guess what. I tried it on and it freaking fits!!! Whaaaaaa hooooooo!!! Can't believe it. I even squeezed into some size 5/6 Sasson jeans with a super high waist. Oooh la la. It was a comical trip down memory lane. Back to a time when I was skinty. I am glad to be back no matter what the scale says. The tiny clothes tell me I'm doing good!

Size TWO Bitches!

This week wasn't terrific weight loss wise. I worked my ass off all week and tried to eat mostly unprocessed food, ie. fruit and veggies. Lots of fruit and veggies! And I ran on Monday and Friday in addition to my regualr workouts and I was expecting big loss. What did the scale say on Friday morning? What? Guess! 138! I'm not kidding. I now know that it's a combination of the eggplant dish I made on Thursday night which was good but too full of sodium. By today I am majorly bloaty along with a little (men, please avert your eyes or just start rolling them now!) crampy and tired. So yeah, it's that time of the month so not the time to be looking for lower numbers on the scale. Not gonna happen.

Despite all this I went to the mall. I finally got my paycheck last week and needed a tiny bit of retail therapy. I was rewarded with tons of stuff on clearance at Macy's. Despite my bloaty crampy I haven't eaten and might just vomit now self I found an adorable blouse and it looks awesome on and IT'S A FREAKIN' SIZE 2!!!! As if that's not cool enough it also cost me only $4.25 because it was so on sale and I had $14 left on a gift card! That's like having Darth Vader ask me to the Senior Prom!!! What? Yeah, I just said that. And I mean the creepy breathing Vader too, not the conflicted angsty one.

So I am not being ruled by the scale. I know I am on the right track and I am motivated to get these last pounds off altho I've been jackin' around with the same weight for months! I am totally finding motivation in the ridiculously tiny number on the label on my new blouse. I will display said blouse when I go to dinner with my husband for our anniversary. You will see the smallness.

TWO MILES!

Waaaaahooooo! I just ran 2 miles! Yes, I did say RAN! I am Running Girl! I am so happy! Let me tell you how freaking weird it is to run for 15 minutes and not want to die and lay down on some stranger's lawn. An then I ran for another 10 minutes! What? I actually thought 'Hey, um, shouldn't I be really tired now and want to stop? Shouldn't I be trying to talk myself into not stopping right about now? Why am I not trying to stop? Where is the convincing and the battle with the evil little voice that tells me I've already done enough?' How confusing! But I guess I've been exercising so consistently that I've acclimated somehow. All the time on the bike is paying off. Because I can go balls to the wall on the bike and it still doesn't feel as hard as running to me.

Thank you heel! Thank you brace for my heel and my having the discipline to ice it at night. It's all working and I feel so encouraged. I am employing the 'sweat and veggies' tactic to get the rest of this weight off. I do have cereal for breakfast because if I start out with a lot of fiber I am way less hungry later. Then salad, fruit, V-8 and nuts. Maybe some lean meat for protein 'cause I beat the hell out of my heavy bag yesterday! Wheeee - lookout remaining jiggliness - your days are numbered!