April – The Shrinking Jeans of April

0

November 19, 2009 By april

I was all set to write my weigh-in post last night after work and then my computer power cord decided to completely die.  It’s been on its way to dying for a while now, and I’ve been putting it off because replacing it costs way more money than I’d like to fork over.

So, right now, I’m at my parents’ house, on their desktop, with a funky monitor, typing out my weigh in post.

I did weigh-in yesterday.  (That’s why my title is “A Day Late. Sort of.”)  I’m back down to 147.  Yes.  Notice I said back down.  Here’s what happened.

I went on vacation. Strike #1.  I come back from vacation to nasty weather and my allergies decide to give me hell.  Strike #2  Because I was all snotty, I just could NOT drink water.  I just couldn’t.  And I’m the type of person that if I don’t drink a lot of water, I hold onto weight like nobody’s business.  Strike#3.

SO.  This week, I’ve felt much better.  I’ve been able to drink water, and I did well with eating.  So, I feel good.

I only logged 3 miles and that was on Saturday. Every other day the weather has been crappy, and I haven’t been able to bring myself to head to our gym at work yet.  But I’m going to.  I promise.  I have gotten a few work outs in though.

Another note:  this Saturday is the last tailgate of the season, and I will be going.  I’m going to TRY to be good, but you know how that goes.  And I really don’t have to worry about Thanksgiving, my grandmother cooks healthily no matter what day of the year it is.  Even though I know that’s a good thing, I’m kinda bummed. ;oP

Also, (man I’m just a chatterbox today, huh?) who watched the Biggest Loser this week?  I LOVE the makeover episode.  You really get to see how far they’ve come in changing their lives.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about how much my life has changed in the past two years.  I was overweight, unhappy, unhealthy, unhappy, overweight, and unhappy.  I didn’t know how bad I felt physically until I lost around 40 lbs. 

While I have bought myself some new clothes (out of pure need), I haven’t really done the whole makeover thing yet except for I decided to rock short hair. 

I think the more important makeover that I’ve had in the past few years is I’ve madeover my soul.  I learned that I wasn’t unhappy because I was overweight, but I was overweight because I was unhappy.  (I know I’ve said this before.)  And in fixing my outside, I learned I needed to fix my inside, and while that something that I will have to work on forever, I feel like a different person.  A new person.  What I’ve noticed is that I’m calmer, happier, and even when I do get mad, it doesn’t take me as long to get back to calm.  And I think it shows. 

And with that, I’m done rambling.  Carry on. ;o)

September 21, 2009 By april

Here we go:

1.  It’s been so long since I’ve posted a True Confessions, that it’s probably a confession itself.

2.  There was a tailgate on Saturday and I did drink and eat (although I didn’t do too bad on the eating).

3.  I don’t feel bad about #2 because convinced that I knew where I was going, I lead my friends across campus to get to the tailgate only to realize I only knew half the way to the tailgate.

4.  I learned that guessing on directions doesn’t always work.  I knew the general direction that I needed to go, but I  at some point got turned around. (I wasn’t even drinking at this point.)

5.  I also learned that asking a bunch of drunk college kids, which way is the stadium, isn’t going to do you any good either.  (I cussed a lot.)

6.  So, a mile walk turned into a 3 mile hike, and you can see why I wasn’t too concerned with calories.  Plus, after that, I was thirsty.

The End.

September 9, 2009 By april

I’m going to blog my weigh-in over here today.  I admit, I’m not all that excited.  I know, a loss, is a loss.  And trust me, I’m grateful I didn’t gain, but man, this shrinking thang has gotten tough.

I know what the biggest problem is.  I’m doing okay with food.  I’m trying to remember to log in my points, but I don’t always remember.  I know that defeats the purpose, but I’ve been tracking in my head for over a year now, so old habits die hard.  My problem is that I’m not doing as high intesity work outs as my body is used to.  I’m trying to build up Kelci’s endurance so that she can jog with me, so I’ve been doing more walking than running.  So, the solution is to add more cardio, right?  Sure, but the problem is I just don’t have the time to do that.  I know I just have to be patient.  I know w are getting close to running more than walking.  In fact, I think next week will be good to start running her more.  Patience right?

So, yes, right now I’m frustrated.

Please forgive me for no upbeat, uplifiting posts today.  Please?

Last week’s weight: 144.2

This week’s weight: 143.8

September 8, 2009 By april

1. Walking in the rain with my dog isn’t so bad.

2. Running in the rain with my dog is a ton of fun!  (I’m serious, I loved it, she loved it.  And I hate the rain.)

3.  I have THE BEST running partner in my dog.  She sticks right by my side, slows when I slow, speeds up when I speed up and occasionally looks at me for encouragement.

4.  I love the sports work outs on EA Sports Active so much that I reward myself with doing just the sports sections of the Sports Day work out. (minus inline skating)

5.  If you shoot the basketball hard enough in the shooting exercise of EA Sports Active, you can shoot the ball completely over the backboard.

6.  I never was good at volleyball in high school.  I still suck at it on EA Sports Active.  I’m fine with it.

7.  I’m a pro at tennis.  The EA trainer said so.

8.  Burnt Quaker Mini Delights do not taste good burnt; however, you can’t tell they’re burnt until after you put them in your mouth and chew.  Fair warning.  You’re welcome.

August 31, 2009 By april

After work, I took Kelci on our 3 mile walk/jog that is quickly becoming habit.  Wearing her ass out with the walk makes my house a more peaceful one, it’s something that we both are enjoying.

When I got home, I put her back in the yard and headed to the living room to do Day 1 of the 30 Day Challenge on EA Sports Active.  I know you all are DYING to know what I thought…right?  Well have no fear, I’ma tell you.

I’ve learned that I must enjoy punishing myself.  Did I choose the low intensity work out?  Nope.  Did I choose the medium intensity work out?  Nuh-uh.

Yeah, you guessed it, I went right for the high intensity work out.  And obviously, I was not thinking clearly when I didn’t change into a t-shirt and stuck with my sweatshirt that I wore on the walk.

Now, let’s talk about the sports activity for this work out…

I’ve never been good at things such as inline skating…but this is on a video game right?  No problem right? Sure.  It took me a few jumps to figure out that you only manage the “tricks” if you jump when you hit the green arrow on the ramp.  Sweet, so I got that figured out, and then the course just kept going and going and going and going and going.  By the time I was finished, my thighs were on fire.  I’m not kidding.

And if that wasn’t enough, you get to do it TWICE.

Actually, if I’m being honest, it’s a great exercise for your legs!  Seriously.  I mean that, BUT I think, for me, it would have been helpful to see how much of the course was left. (or WAS it there, and I just missed it, which is completely possible.)

All in all, it was a great work out, I was soaked with sweat, and now I feel great!  Bring on Day 2!

August 30, 2009 By april

I’ve thought a lot about my weight and weight loss here in the past few weeks.  My body feels healthy right now.  After losing 62 pounds, it is screaming at me that “it’s good.”  And honestly, I’ve needed  a break.

I knew this was coming.  It happens every year around this time.  So, I’ve been thinking…maybe my body is right this time.  Maybe it really is good.

Then I think, HELL NO.  It’s getting healthy, but I WANT to lose the last 14lbs.  And I refuse to accept anything less.

So.  I am joining the Shrink For Good challenge!  And not only am I going to shrink, I’m going to give back to my community…and I may even challenge my friends and family to do the same!

Starting weight: 144.6

August 24, 2009 By april

My friend Janet asked me if I wanted to go walking with her again tonight.  (Remember, Janet is TALL.  I am SHORT.  This equals a helluva work out for me.)  Since she’s moving to Boston soon, I told her that I did, and that I would meet her and Titan (her German Shepherd) at 7.

She asked if I was going to bring Kelci (my German Shepherd).  My first thought was NO.  Kelci isn’t always the best of riders, so I usually try avoiding having to clean up dog puke.  But it has been a while since she and I have gone on a walk, and she does love it.  So, I said sure, why not?

So, Janet and Titan and Kelci and I walked around the entire park.  A little over three miles.  What I found as I was trying to keep up walking with Janet, is how much I enjoyed being out and about with Kelci.  She’s a great dog on a leash.  I trained her to stay right by my side, and all I have to do is murmur “no” to her if another dog comes our way.

Then, I decided to try something…I started jogging.  Kelci kept up pace and seemed to enjoy jogging herself.  What a great jogging partner she would be…

I’ve already decided she and I are going to continue walking even after Janet moves.  It’s just as good for her health as it is for mine, and I just love walking with her.  Also, she’s so worn out from the long walk that she’s been too tired to annoy me or the poor bird tonight. (Usually she’s sitting here staring at me with that big goofy grin of hers.  Right now?  She’s passed out a few feet away from me.) It’s been a very peaceful here tonight.

But, what I may start to do is to slowly build up her endurance and make her my jogging buddy.  I usually hate to run, but I think it may almost be fun with her by my side.

I’ll keep you posted…

August 20, 2009 By april

Okay, so I re-posted “Scars” so maybe you could see that there’s no way our bodies are every going to be perfect.  I’ll bet each and every one of the skinniest, beautiful celebrities have at least one dimple on their ass or cellulite SOMEWHERE on their bodies.

But that’s not where I’m going with this.  Sorry.  It sort of relates though.  (I think.)

Where I am going with this is surely something I’ve mentioned over there at my other blog.

I hear a lot of people who lose a lot of weight say, “I want to forget THAT person ever existed.”  They’re talking about the person they were.  The overweight person who was sad and miserable.  Jillian was the first that I heard mention that maybe we shouldn’t forget that person.

I thought about it. I would be nice to just forget she ever existed.  But then I realize I can’t forget she existed.   I don’t want to forget her.  I want to remember the person I was.  206 pounds and in denial.  I was miserable.  I was unhappy.  I felt like a failure at life.

See, I want to hold on to her and keep her in the back of my head so that I never forget the way I felt at 206 pounds.  I want a little part of me to remember how ugly I felt so that I’ll never go back to being 206 pounds.  That is becoming my motivation to stay thin.

Now, you’re saying, but you shouldn’t hold onto the past, right?  Right.  I’m not holding onto life as it was.  I’m holding on to her.  She’s in the back of my mind and I tell her every single day how worth it she is and how great she feels that she is now me.  She is now healthy.  She is now living life the way she was meant to live it.  And she loves it.

So, I beg of you.  If there is a part of you that you just want to throw away and forget about, don’t.  Work on getting healthy, lose the weight that you want to lose, but hold onto the person you were just a tiny bit and let that be motivation to keep healthy and keep the weight off.

Trust me, that person that you’re holding onto way back in the back of your head?  He or she will thank you someday.  I promise.

August 17, 2009 By april

1. Okay, fine.  I confess.  I ate a Blizzard for lunch on Saturday.  I know it’s terrible to use food to try to make me feel better, and it’s something I NEVER do.  But I did.  It was good, too.  First blizzard in ages!  (I did get a small, though!)

2.  I told you in my last post that I was in a funk.  I planned to do my normal work out today and also go walking with a friend later in the evening.  When I got home, I couldn’t get onto any of the blogs I follow.

3.  Have I ever mentioned that it drives me completely mental when technology does not work?  I cannot let it go and will not give up until I at least have an idea of what’s going on with it.

4.  So, my regular work out didn’t get done today.  But I did meet my friend and walk.

5.  Tomorrow, it’s totally back to my regular routine.  I’m actually looking forward to it. (Well I’m looking forward to how it’ll make me feel.)

Okay, now I want to talk for a bit.  My friend, Janet is going to be moving to Boston soon.  So, when she emailed me and asked did I want to go to this huge park we have and walk, I said yes.  Folks, when I walk with Janet, I WALK.  She’s like 6ft tall to my 5ft 3in.  And she walks fast.  We walked and chatted and laughed for those 40 minutes that she ran my ass off we walked around that park.

I realized right then that that was exactly what I needed.  Janet was what I needed.  I needed an hour of not having to do anything but walk with her, pet her dog, plan what we’re going to do when I visit her in Boston (ahem, visit Sam Adams brewery), and just be.  And I burned a few calories while doing it.

Sometimes friends are the best medicine.  Work out funk is over.  Tomorrow is back to business.

August 16, 2009 By april

Last week was one of those weeks when life just happened.  I had big plans to have a great week work out wise, and it just didn’t happen.

I got my work out in on Monday.  Felt good about finishing week 2 of Chalean Extreme. Then…

The stomach bug hit.  Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday were spent watching my ceiling fan, emailing people with my laptop on my stomach, and sleeping.

League bowling is going to start soon, so Thursday I had a league meeting (I’m team captain.  Doesn’t that crack you up?!), so Thursday will automatically become an off day.

Then we get to Friday and Saturday.  I just didn’t feel like working out.  I fully admit to being in a funk here.

The good news is that the funk isn’t getting any worse.  After spending the afternoon with my nephew, I do feel a little better.   I even did one of the EA Sports Active work outs this evening.  (Side note: I used the resistance bands for the first time today.  I’m wondering, can I use my own bands?)

I plan on getting back to Chalean Extreme work outs tomorrow.  I will do them.  I promise you that.  I’m going to take the time I spend working out to escape life.

And I may do some painting.  Painting always makes me feel better.

I didn’t plan on taking this week off.  And I probably should have taken this week off, but I did.  There’s no need to dwell on the fact that I did.  Now, I need to focus on trying to get back to it.

So, talk to me.  Did you have an off week?  It’s okay if you did, you know.  But it’s time to get back to it.  So, let’s get back to it together.