Friday, November 17, 2006

Photos!

I was going to wait until thanksgiving but i think next week is just going to be too busy so I took some progress photos today - and I'll share them :) Sorry that I still can't seem to work up a smile for these... heh

So, some of you remember me from this photo take in May of this year:

Front Bikini

I've made a little progress since then :)

Front..

May to November

Side..

(sorry about the hight difference)

Side May to November

Back..

Back May to November

And just in case you wondered what I look like with CLOTHES on :)

Progress with clothes May to November

And here's a bonus for those who like a 'strong woman'

(viva the tummy and why I'll never be on stage. :( )

Poser November

The Hulk! :)

The Hulk Nov

And right and left Bis

Right Bi November

Left Bi November

Little back action going on

Back November

My "I scare boys at the gym" pose

Poser 2 November

And, because I like to show off :)

Chin Up

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Just a quick one

I promised myself not to neglect my blog :) so I'm going to throw a quick post up!

Still going really really well and it's paying off! 170.7 today - I'm close to breaking through the next decade! just 5 lbs and I'll be the weight I was when I graduated high school. also I promised myself a LONG LONG time ago that when I hit 165 I would take up ballet again - I guess it's time to go look up some schools! I'm not sure I ever REALLY believed I would get to this point and yet - here I am!

Had a killer leg workout today - feeling GRAND!

Thanks everyone for the fantastic support.

Oh - and LaLA - I was 'trial and erroring' things for a while myself and it just wasn't working. that's why I did the elimination thing. four foods ONLY for three days and now I'm adding 1 food every three days back in to see how I react. It's certainly NOT easy. Thanksgiving day though - all bets are off. I'll deal with the three days of pain I KNOW are coming after :)

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Long Overdue Update!

I’ve been a BAD blogger and I’m so sorry!!

So let me start with a summery:

Things have been going GREAT! It’s been tough but I’ve been making the hard choices MOST of the time and I’m seeing results … and those are?? 171 lbs today! I weigh less then I have in 19 years! And even better when shopping on Sunday and tried on, fit into and bought 1 pair of slacks, 1 skirt and two pairs of jeans in size 10. size 10!! Sometimes I can’t believe this is really happening.

Now for the nitty gritty:

We had a great time on Halloween. I minded my P’s and Q’s no alcohol etc. BUT by Thursday 11/2 I was up to 176 – 2 lbs behind goal. Coach and I had a big long talk. I’ve been struggling with a lot of issues since coming back from Holiday – the biggest being the discovery that I have some abdominal adhesions (scar tissue) that are effecting my large intestine. Digestion hasn’t been ‘fun’ of late. And the output hasn’t always been matching the input – not to mention I’ve been in a lot of pain. So, coach suggested that I treat this like I have IBS – and I go on a STRICT elimination diet. Soo.. 11/3 I started my plan with only 4 ‘allowed’ foods. Chicken, Turkey, Rice and White Potatoes. Every three days I add a new food and see if I have a negative reaction to it. The result – well my food plan has been really easy :) My digestion working better and pain is minimized! Whoo hoo! You would think that all of that would make sticking to my plan a snap but No. I still struggle with temptation daily – ok sometimes hourly. And there are times when passing by the bakery and smelling the bread and cookies that I feel really depressed. But – my life does not revolve around food. Happiness is not determined by a cookie! :)

Workouts were another struggle – I found myself constantly struggling to find the time to workout and feeling guilty about missing. So – 1 I committed to making my 4:00AM workouts. Got all five of them in last week yay! Over the weekend I committed to doing my cardio on my lunch hour instead of trying to squeeze it in after work. I did that yesterday and what a WONDERFUL difference! It was so nice to get home and climb into my PJ’s guilt free. The last little bit came into place last night. Working out on my lunch works for me except my swimming workouts – there isn’t a pool near my work. There isn’t a pool near my house either so getting to a pool to swim is a point of major stress in my life. Frankly – I don’t need stress. Soooo even though I’m going to do a triathlon (sprint) in the spring – (for now) I’m not going to specifically train for the swimming part. The truth is I’m a very strong swimmer already and I don’t truly feel like I need to specifically train to swim the length required for the sprint. So the plan is this: Run three days a week, bike three days a week. Swim when I’m at a gym that has a pool (which happens usually on the weekends). No more driving 30 + miles out of our way on the way home so I can hit a pool. No more getting home at 9PM and then trying to pack my gym bag for the next day, have dinner and pack my lunches. Life is much simpler and much less stressful. I feel better already.

And that’s my update!