Year end is around the corner

Good morning and TGIF. As I was recording my weight into the weight chart I realized that the last weigh in of the year is 4 weeks away!! Crazy! This year has gone by so quickly. I came into this year wanting to lose weight (again), just like I had every year for the last bazillion or so. On January 12, I saw the highest weight I've ever seen in my entire life: 222.0 pounds. I cried. How did I go from being a fit soldier, a fit mom and triathlete, to someone so overweight that walking the dog 2 blocks was painful?

I wish I could tell you what changed - what finally clicked. I can't. I just know that I decided that I couldn't live like this any more, and when I looked around I realized that the reasons behind my weight gain had vanished - the only thing left to do was to get rid of the weight as well.

I began stumbling out of the gate: January saw my weight waffle up and down, ending the month actually a pound higher than I started it. February was better - I lost 4.6 pounds. March was 2.4 - I was creeping down the scale. In early April I saw another gain and something just snapped. I was tired of playing the up and down game. At that point I'd begun attending the weekly "Move It" classes at the VA designed to help with weight loss, but I was still struggling. I decided it was time to put my money where my mouth was. I signed up with a nutritionist and asked my husband if he wanted to go as well. It's costing me $150 a month for both of us to go. But I knew that if I had some financial "skin in the game" I was more likely to follow through.

That seemed to work. With the combination of the VA class, the nutritionist, and my mindset I finally seemed to find my groove. Since that first week of April I've only had 2 weeks where I posted a gain: the August vacation and the first week of November. This morning I weighed 171.4 pounds.

I've tried to be transparent here about what I'm doing and answer questions you may have. I don't consider myself to be on a "diet" - I'm trying to eat healthier and in a way that feels sustainable. I'm engaging in physical activities that I enjoy and can incorporate into my schedule. My solutions won't look like anyone elses, but they work for me. For me, the best part is the realization that my life has been transformed to a point that I no longer feel the need to use food or "mommy juice" to cope with things that made me unhappy - they are gone from my life.

Not that everything is perfect - far from it. But I'm happier and less stressed than I have felt in ages. That right there feels every bit as good as the physical transformation I've undergone. I told my husband last night - I'm beginning to feel like myself again. This lifestyle feels like the "real me."

I hope you have a great weekend!

Getting started with kettlebells

My love affair with kettlebells is well documented on this blog, but since I got a question from Beth I am going to compile a handful of resources to kick off the post.

This is the website of a kettlebell centric gym in Palo Alto: http://giryastrength.com/index.html  The site has articles and resources and is a good place to do some research.

If you want to find out more, here are some more resources:  http://tracyrif.blogspot.com/ and http://tracysfoodandthought.blogspot.com/ These are both blogs by the same gal (Tracy Reifkind) where she talks about her evolution - using the kettlebell to help her lose 120 pounds and become a personal trainer. The blogs contain routines and videos.

If you want more, look for Tracy's products on amazon. She has produced a lot of kettlebell videos as well as published a book: The Swing Tracy has studied, trained, and is certified in the most prestigious kettlebell certification programs around. The kettlebell is great, but I've seen videos where famous trainers are showing you exercises that are at best a waste of time and at worst downright dangerous the way they are being done. They're jumping on the bandwagon without being familiar with the tool.

I've learned what I've learned through a combination of online research, watching videos, trial and error, and going to certified trainers. They've been happy to meet with me for an hour to review my form.

If you are interested in looking for a trainer to help you in person, start here   https://www.strongfirst.com/  StrongFirst is where I found the gyms in Durham where I found trainers willing to meet with me for a one off session since I lived so far away. It's also where I found the trainer I'm working with now that's actually close enough to see regularly! They are a lot more common now than a decade ago when I got started. You don't have to go the trainer route, but it's been helpful for me.

Yesterday I went swimming, and let me tell you it was hard to head out in 24 degree weather to the pool! Today I did the elliptical at lunch and I'm meeting with Brad at the kettlebell gym after work. Then we are going out to eat here:  https://www.cleaneatz.com/ :-) Healthy AND no dishes! Lol

I did get my table cleaned off but my guest room still looks like the hurricane hit our house instead of the coast. Since Jan (ex MIL) is dog sitting this weekend I have to get that sucker cleaned up!!

I'm working on doing the things I need to do and doing the rest as I can manage. Priorities. And I am a priority!

Take care!! :-)

The fine line between rest and an excuse

Good morning! So 23 people have seen this before I realized I'd hit publish prior to writing the post. Oops!!! :-)

Last night I ran errands then fed the dogs and me. I hadn't done my kettlebell workout. I seriously thought about skipping it when I looked at my to do list - I have some putting crap away that needs to get done before we decorate this weekend. I wasn't tired, I was busy. Physically I didn't need a break, I was just feeling pressured by my to do list.

Then I called bs and did the workout. Here is the table. It'll get cleared by Sunday.

I don't want to look back January 1st wishing I'd done a better job of sticking to my routine versus letting self imposed deadlines derail me.

Have a great day!!

Grrr

I like to sleep in a cool room. My husband? Not so much. Last night he came to bed chilled rather than taking a hot shower to warm up before he came to bed. (He had been at band practice and gotten home late). So he turned up the heat, which resulted in me waking up I was so hot. I ended up sitting in the living room and reading for a couple of hours until I could wind back down. Two cranky, uncomfortable people at 3 AM is not a great scenario. :-( 

I'm working at home today while I wait for the guy to give us an estimate on taking up the kitchen floor. This works well because I have a couple of errands I need to run at lunchtime. So that'll be good. My son took the day off work yesterday and got a bunch done on his computer class. I am hoping that means we won't have to go back down to Wilmington this weekend - we already had plans that I don't want to have to back out of.

Exercise plans for the day include going to the Y and doing the elliptical and kettlebells. I know I sound like some zealot, but I gotta tell you - I love the kettlebells! I keep one in my office and then I have some here at home. I'm able to get in a fantastic workout quickly, in a small space, with just 1 piece of equipment. My heart rate will easily get up into the 150s, and it's a HIIT workout. I have seen tremendous improvement both in my resting heart rate as well as my recovery time since I started using them regularly. 

Have a good day!

Rewind to last Tuesday

Good morning! I hope you had a nice weekend and your travels (if you did) were uneventful.

We left mom's at 7:30 yesterday morning and were able to beat most of the traffic. We got home in a reasonable amount of time and we were home by lunch. We ate lunch, went grocery shopping, hit the gym, then did food prep and some household chores. We at least have our wreaths hung and we finally have finished taking all of our CDs out of cases and putting them into the book with pocket thingies so they take up a lot less room! That is part of our plan to turn the den into a functional room and not just a storage space.

Our time at mom's was productive - T spent the day working with my son on excel and powerpoint for his computer class and got a lot accomplished. I loaded stuff into the car for mom and we delivered a car full of donations, then loaded a car full of cardboard boxes to the recycling center, then loaded a car full of plastic bags to be recycled!  We got a lot of stuff out of her dining room (where we will be eating Christmas dinner) as well as the garage. She was feeling much better by the end of the day. I can't remember if I mentioned it, she pulled a muscle in her back and hasn't been able to lift much of anything, so the stuff was making her crazy and she couldn't really do anything about it.

I used my usual strategy while traveling - watch portions, limit snacking, and get in plenty of movement. I took my kettlebell and Saturday before dinner went out to mom's garage and got in a great workout. My strategy paid off and I was back down to what I weighed last Tuesday - 1.8 pounds less than Friday! Woo hoo!

Take care.

Heading out

I just wanted to check in before we head down to the beach. I've gone up a bit from yesterday, but still lost a pound since last Friday. Yay me!

Take care & have a safe weekend.

New clothes needed

I have been fortunate in that I've been able to shop my guest room since I have kept a lot of my smaller sized clothes. One area that strategy hasn't worked is undergarments. I need underwear and bras people!!

I bought a 3 pack of smaller bras - most of the time I wear Hanes sports bras. It works for me. And I can generally buy them in a 3 pack for $11 at Wally World. Sadly I've not been able to find the next size down, so I caved and ordered them from amazon - same price, delivered to my door, choice of colors.

I've been wearing the same underwear for 50 pounds now. True story. And ridiculous. I have a bunch in 2 sizes down but none in the in between size. Maybe I've gotten used to them a bit loose (ya think???), but I want the in between size. I need to make that happen.

Why I have waited so long to do this is kinda silly. I mean, I get it, I'm frugal and all, but lordie girl, get some underthings that fit already!!! Lol

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving if that's something you celebrate!

Take care.

Feeling more myself

This morning I crossed a major milestone - over 50 pounds lost.

Sunday afternoon we took the dogs for a walk. T remarked how different the experience was from a year ago. It forced me to think back - last fall/winter we tried to walk the dogs (somewhat) regularly. I would have to stop and take a break because my back was hurting. Getting close to the end of the road and back was hard. Walking dogs 1 year later, we were able to walk a larger loop easily. I'd forgotten how I used to struggle to walk even 3 laps around the building or get close to 3 mph on the elliptical. I have come so far in the part year - it's monumental.

And the more I've lost, the more I've felt like myself. The outside is beginning to match the inside. It's strange to be a person that spent most of your life a healthy weight and then spend years seriously overweight. I don't need to figure out who I am at a healthy weight - I just need to remember. I feel like I've been living in someone else's body and I'm beginning to get mine back. It's awesome and very weird!

Take care.

Busy weekend

Good morning and happy Monday! (Is that an oxymoron???)

We had a pretty productive weekend doing food prep and stuff around the house. T had a concert Saturday night (he plays in a concert band - bass clarinet), so that was fun. I went back to my "normal" way of eating and sure enough, when I got on the scale this morning not only had the "bloat" from Thursday's dinner gone, but another pound with it. 49.4 pounds gone!!!

Do you have a plan for Thanksgiving? Mine involves exercise and portion control. And hopefully enjoying myself! :-)

Okay, have a good day!

Okay

Last night we had a friend and her kids over for supper. She requested matzo ball soup, so we put together a big pot of soup plus salad and sandwich fixings. It was a good meal, higher in carbs than normal plus the addition of lunch meat. The scale was up 0.6 pounds from yesterday, bringing my weight loss for the week down to 0.8 pounds. That's okay. There was a time where I would have made a different meal (as opposed to honoring the request of a guest going through a very rough time) or fixed something different for myself to minimize the scale fluctuation. I chose (and am choosing) not to play those "scale games". Some days are higher in carbs or salt and will cause fluctuations. If it's the day before I record my weight then oh well  - I've got to look at the long haul and not get caught up in the minor fluctuations.

I'm still losing consistently at a time of year when many folks don't, so I am not going to drive myself nuts chasing a number. Instead I need to focus on doing the right things, consistently.

When I got home my husband helped me get down a suitcase on a shelf in the guest room closet. It was the last place I could think of to look for my jeans. I hit the mother lode!! Not just the jeans (which I found!), but a whole bunch of stuff in the next size down - workout capris, workout tops, long sleeved t shirts for wearing under sweaters, so yay!!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Being picky pays off

I come from a long line of good cooks. Whether it's nurture or nature (or a little of both) - combine it with the fact that I truly enjoy cooking and practice regularly and the end result is that I'm a really good cook. Even my husband, a former professional chef and graduate of one of the premier culinary schools in the U.S, agrees with me on this one! :-)

You would think that someone who loves to eat and loves to cook would have a hard time losing weight, but I think that the opposite can be true. Because I appreciate good food (and have the skills to create it rather than having to pay top dollar in high end restaurants) I'm less willing to settle for something I don't feel isn't "worth it."

Don't get me wrong - while I used to enjoy junk foods more than I do now, there are still some that I enjoy from time to time. And I'm not necessarily talking "haute cuisine" here - I just mean that given the choice I would prefer to eat a good bowl of homemade chicken soup than buy a mediocre one in a restaurant. It's easier to eat at home when you know that either you or your spouse can replicate nearly anything you would eat out - better and cheaper!

Because Thanksgiving is a big deal in T's family but not so much in mine, we generally eat the meal the day of with his family. And while the food is good, it isn't spectacular and more importantly - they aren't the recipes of my people. Because the foods they prepare don't elicit any special memories for me, it's much easier to have a plate of food and focus on visiting with folks rather than making the food the center of my attention. Christmas is a bit trickier because we do spend that with my family and all the special family traditional foods are there, but my strategy there is to enjoy them and move on. And as I've gotten older it's become more about preparing and sharing than the actual consumption.

I'm also fortunate because I don't have a major sweet tooth so a lot of the foods that get brought in at the office and hang around this time of year don't really appeal to me. I'm not impervious - there are a couple that are real temptations! But overall I'd say that in this case, being a self described "foodie" makes it easier to avoid temptation this time of year rather than harder!

Yesterday was a 30 minute swim and 30 minute kettlebell session (600 swings). Today was 30 minutes on the elliptical. Tomorrow I'm back at the elliptical and then we are meeting with the trainer after work. I hope to get 2 swims in this weekend.

Last night on the way home T asked me if I wanted anything from the convenience store (we were out running errands). I thought about a beer but ultimately said no. Things are going well this week and I want to keep them that way!

It's funny - I remember when I hit the 45 pounds mark - it felt great and I was very excited to reach the 50 pound gone milestone. That one feels so huge and significant! I was thinking about it this morning because it feels like going from 45 to 50 is taking *forever*!! But I went back and looked at my chart and it's 4 weeks tomorrow that I hit 45 pounds gone - so really it wasn't that long ago! Things are going well, they are just moving more slowly than I'd like. And I don't feel deprived or hungry or miserable, so why am I complaining? I guess I'm just beginning to get greedy to wear more of the clothes hanging out in the guest room! Lol

Take care and have a good evening!

Yucky weather

The weather here has turned miserable. Cold & rainy - yuck. Even though it's a lot of driving, I am so thankful that we are able to go and visit with and check on my great aunt regularly.

My son fell behind in school this term - all his classes are online, the school was closed for 3 weeks due to the hurricane, and work at the boatyard was nutso. We are tag teaming helping him get caught up. He is doing the work of course - it's mainly sitting with him, helping look up stuff in the textbook, and making sure he's on track to catch up. It's a time suck for us, but it's important. Yeah, it's kind of his fault, but some of it was also beyond his control. I'm glad T is willing to help out as well.  Add to that the gifts I want to make, projects I want to complete around the house, and the usual extra things that come with the holidays, and I'm busy!

I got up this morning and went to the Y to swim first thing. I am completely unwilling to compromise on taking care of myself - eating well, exercise, and quality sleep are not negotiable.

The kids are coming up this weekend! I can't wait. :-)

Have a good day!

Tired

The half day off was a nice treat yesterday. Our company was open, but my boss gave all the veterans on our team a half day off. :-) That was an unexpected and much appreciated surprise.

I have so much to do in the next 30 days that if I cloned myself I'd still be super busy. It's ridiculous. Some of it is on me - adding more things onto a busy schedule, and some of it is beyond my control. All I can do is take one day at a time, do the best I can, and practice self care.

The weekend was good but long (way too much time in the car), and I arrived home just wrung out. I allowed that to turn into some poor decisions Sunday evening. :-( The good news is that I watched what I ate all weekend and found myself down a half pound Monday morning! So I am doing what I can to pick myself up from that small stumble and set myself up for a successful week on all fronts.

It's a busy time of year - don't forget to 1) take care of yourself and 2) slow down and enjoy the moments.

Have a good day!

Half day

Weekend was good, but it's a lot of time in the car. Boss gave me a half day off. :-)

Not bad for a rainy Monday!

Rainy Friday

It's been a nutso week. I did get my laptop back. I am (finally) working at home today - mom and I are leaving after work to go visit my great aunt in Georgia, so not having an evening commute is a big time saver. The session with the personal trainer went well.

I'm down 2 pounds this week, so back headed in the right direction. I wish I knew what happened last week - mystery of the ages. Oh well, onward and downward!

Hope you have a nice weekend!

What a week

This has not been a great week so far.  Monday afternoon, half an hour or so before I was leaving the office my laptop died. I have a fair number of (not backed up) files on the thing. Sorta my fault, but very frustrating. Then Monday evening the time change really got to me.

I spent half the day working on the overhead projector in the conference room before I finally got a loaner yesterday - with no way to use my keyboard or power cord. :-(  I got those issues remedied this morning and I am hopeful that the Dell tech who is coming today will fix the old & busted and I will get my familiar laptop back!!

My son has gotten really behind in school this term - the college was closed 3 weeks due to the hurricane so now he is cramming all that work into a condensed amount of time, not to mention work being crazy - he works in a boatyard so you can imagine getting ready and then dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane has been hectic and stressful.

We sat down last night and I watched him do a couple of lessons in a match chapter - technology is great! (When it works! LOL). I have committed to helping keep him on task until the end of term. I am happy to do it, but it does cut into my free time.

Anyway, still here! Going for session 2 with the kettlebell trainer tonight!  Fun times.

Take care!

Weekend Recap

Monday's post was a quick one, so here's a bit of a weekend recap.  Saturday we needed to drop T's car off at the Honda dealer for some work, so we ran a few errands while were in the the "big city." Then we cam home and worked on some craft stuff. I was making a curtain panel for my mom and had some fabric I wanted to use but it wasn't quite large enough. So I did a sort of large scale quilt block type thing with it.

I am definitely NOT a quilter, but I thought it came out pretty good!

Sunday we met friends for breakfast and then spent some time working on organizing our CDs. We have a lot and we were tired of them taking up an entire book shelf! So we are putting them in cases like a book and then we put the plastic cases in the recycling bin. We didn't finish, but we got a lot done. So we are finally tackling getting our office/den organized. That felt good. I also went swimming.

Monday I did an early kettlebell workout so I could use my lunch hour to donate blood.Eating remains on track - I had a beer Saturday night and when we went out for breakfast I ordered hash brown casserole. So I am eating things you wouldn't typically consider "on plan", but I restricted carbs for the remainder of the day to fit those things in.

I don't like daylight savings time and I really don't like driving home in the dark. It makes me want to just hibernate by the time I get there!! I am not a winter person.

I hope you have a good week!

Break on through

175.2 - a new low and down 1.8 pounds from Friday. Not sure why my body was hanging on to something (water?), hopefully this means things are going to return to the slow & consistent losses I've been posting!

A first

I started writing this post and then realized that it wasn't a first - it was a second! For the second time since I got serious about losing weight at the beginning of March, I am posting a gain for the week. The other time was when I went on vacation for a week. I was up 2 pounds, and then promptly lost nearly three pounds the very next week.

This week I am up the 1.2 pounds I lost last week. I wish I knew what's going on, but I don't. My eating has been good - I even ate a light dinner last night (a broth based soup) and no after dinner snack. Exercise good, sleep good, stress level fine. So what gives? I honestly have no idea. All I know to do is not give up.

Tonight is our training session at the kettlebell gym - I will let you know how it goes.

Have a good weekend!

Just keep swimming

I've said from early on that daily weighing was helping me and would continue to do so as long as I used the individual days as simply data points and kept my eye on the longer term trends. Easier said than done!

After the weekend, my weight was up about a pound, then Tuesday drifted up another half pound and has remained at that level all week. I am currently 1.2 pounds heavier than last Friday. Sleep is good, exercise is on point, energy level feels good, and food has been tracked even more closely. So what gives?

Last night at dinner I was telling my husband about it and I said "I give up!" He immediately went into "big picture, you've come so far you can't stop now" mode, without realizing what I meant was "I give up trying to understand the vagaries of the scale over the short term" and NOT "I am done with trying to lose weight - order a pizza stat!" Lol.

If I weren't weighing daily, I'd tell you I feel fantastic - I am noticing my clothes feeling looser, I feel light, and my husband pointed out increased muscle definition particularly in my shoulders and back. So what gives?  I have no idea!

Six days is hardly a plateau, so I am not going to get all dramatic. Things are going well and tomorrow we have our first training session at the kettlebell gym. And just for fun, here's a snapshot of the fridge I share with my boss:

As you can see, I am a major fridge hog!! Leftover seafood enchiladas and gobs of produce - the only thing my boss has is the lone Monster on the top shelf! And of course baking soda to keep it all fresh!

Okay, have a good day!!