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:



I've made a little progress since then :)

Front..



Side..

(sorry about the hight difference)



Back..



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



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

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



The Hulk! :)



And right and left Bis





Little back action going on



My "I scare boys at the gym" pose



And, because I like to show off :)

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 :)

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!

Happy Halloween!

  

Monday Monday

Weight in today 175.5

I think my weight is being a little stubborn right now - not because of what I'm doing as much as a time of the month thing - I've got myself dialed in and focused this week and actually I came off a pretty good weekend so I'm raring to go.

Goals today is 1242 to 1342 Calories and 150 minutes of excercise.

Got up and made it to the gym this morning and did chest and abs.

Chest:

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press: 35lbs x 12 x 4
Dumbbell Bench Press: 40 x 12 x 4
Barbell Decline Bench Press: 85 x 12 x 4

Abs:

Hanging Leg Lifts: 4 x 12 x 4
Cable Crunches: 100lbs x 12 x 4

total time 70 minutes

This is an 'easy' week and it was nice to take a little break from the heavy weights. I'm doing periodization training again so these numbers should change a lot over the next few weeks.

I've got to do a 30 minute bike ride after work and I'm going to do a 60 minute yoga session and that should get me the minutes I need. Lunches are made and in my bag - I've had over 1 liter of water already today and have a goal to have three more.

Meals Planned (in case anyone is curious):

Meal 1:

1 Egg/2 Egg Whites
Light English Muffin

Meal 2:

Zone Bar

Meal 3:

Salad (4 cups spinach and 1 cup broccoli/Carrots/Cabbage Shreds)
and 1 cup Stallone High Protein Pudding (vanilla)

Meal 4:

Turkey Sandwich (2 Slices Light Wheat Bread and Turkey Breast)
1 Cup Strawberry halves

Meal 5:

1 Banana
Soy Protein mixed with spenda and cocoa powder (unsweetened)

Meal 6:

Grilled Chicken Breast
Steamed Broccoli

Here's to making today a masterpiece!

Attitude

Boats along Lake Windermere, originally uploaded by Part Time Mom.

"Attitude and expectation have to be renewed daily. The first
step is to believe that we deserve what we desire. That sets
the tone for the rest of our day and thought processes."


*Gail Pursell Elliott, "The Dignity and Respect Lady

Hump Day Update

Well - I'm chugging through the week. The weekend din't go as well as I had hoped. Eating in the car and at someone elses house is always a challenge. went back above 176 but I'm working on getting below that and STAYING there. Seems 175 is turning out to be much like 200lbs for me - a bit of a struggle, but I know once I get past this that things will pick up for me again.

I've hit the gym the past three days (took a sleep in day today) and have really just rocked the joint. I've increased something every day and I just love it. Next week though I'm staring another 12 week periodization program - just cause it's a nice change of pace.

I've been looking for something I can do to add some extra excercise minutes to my program and have struggled with that for a while. I can always walk and do interval inclines but there are some days when the treadmill just isn't my thing. Last night I think I found one alternative...

check out
yogodownload.com

They offer a free class (two free classes if you go to the itunes 'podcast' section. I tried them both last night and just loved them. The instructor was very precise in her explinations - her flow was great and I was sweating and panting by the end and (as I usually do) ended the classes feeling better then when I started. The two 'power yoga' classes that I tried were light on the 'ooooommmm' hippy dippy metaphysical stuff for the most part which I like. They offer a few other 'types' of yoga some which are specifically for relaxation which may have more of that kind of stuff (for those of you who like that). At less then $5.00 a class I can certainly say they are worth the cost. I've spent tons more then that on vidios that I watched once and then threw away. These are great because they are MP3's so you can load them on your ipod (or whatever) and take them with you. Although they do require the certainl level of yoga 'knowledge' to hit the poses cause there's no visual to go by.

ok - so enough of the infomercial ;)

One other quick bit of interesting info. My husband is starting to 'suggest' to me that I have a book in me. I actually have an idea for something I would like to put together and may start sharing bits of it here. When I do I would love some feedback from any of you. :)

We'll see - it's not like I don't have 1000 other things I need to do - and I've already told him I can't publish anything until I've lost the rest of the weight. Hmmm more motivation for me eh!?

take care everyone!