My Weight Loss Journey since 1/1/09

Friday, August 13, 2010

The Pursuit of a Healthy and Fit Life

I haven't posted in FOREVER... and to be honest, the scale shows it.  I haven't counted WW points in close to a year and my weekend eating has been atrocious.  Just sayin.  So, since January of this year, I have gone from 125 to as high as 138 and today I weighed in at 134.

That's upsetting to me, of course, and fitness and health is a life-long commitment, but that being said, I have come a LONG way from where I was back in 2004 when I first started really trying to pursue health.

At the risk of disgusting y'all, here is a “before” photo of my back from November of 2004.

And here is my back (at work) yesterday in the gym.  (My workout partner told me I needed to see what I look like working out. Ha!) 

So, while I'm not following a set eating program right now... I still strive to work out at least 5 days a week and I can say that my eating from Monday through Friday afternoon is usually great... it's the chips and salsa and pizza that are killing me on the weekends.

Life is about balance... and we all struggle to find the right balance.  We’re really not in this alone.

I’ll try to post a little more often.  In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions.

Keep on keepin' on!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

C1 2010 – Week 3, Day 21 of 84

Weight 125

I was back up 2.5 pounds this week… not surprised. At all. I got all my workouts in and I ate good all week (with one exception).  Hormonally, it’s time to be up on the scale as well.

My focus this week will be to get in all my workouts and eat healthy.

On to week 4…

Sunday, January 17, 2010

C1 2010 – Week 2, Day 14 of 84

Weight – 122.5

Down 4.5 pounds this week! (Hey kids, don’t try this at home.)  I was down 1.5 pounds as of Thursday morning from getting back to my “normal” way of eating.  But, then Thursday I got a stomach bug and couldn’t eat anything until Saturday morning. So, I look for part of that weight to come back this week, even if I’m eating healthy.

My workouts were great until Thursday, too.

I might add here, that since I’ve been eating healthy and working out at least 5x a week… I don’t get sick.  In over 5 years, I’ve barely even had a head cold. So, when I am sick… I’m a huge baby! Ha! But, I’m feeling better now…

On to week 3…

Sunday, January 10, 2010

C1 2010 – Week 1, Day 7 of 84

Weight – 127.0

Even though I lost a pound, this week was a complete bust.  I was snowed in for much of the week and didn’t go to the gym at all.  Partly because I’m still in my funk from being off for the holidays, but I’m recharged this week and I’m hitting the gym hard again.  I expect to be SUPER sore from my time off.  My eating was less than something to display on here as a shining example of how to eat healthy, BUT I’ve already made out my food plan for tomorrow (Monday) and I’m ready to go.

I always get energized by watching Biggest Loser… and I was so excited it started again this week.  I love the show, but don’t like some of the things they do.  Here are some of the things I’d like to see the producers change:

  • Allow contestants to be at the ranch for at least 3-4 weeks before eliminations begin
  • Eliminate contestants based on overall loss percentages (accumulated from week 1).  Each week after about week 4 someone (or two people) goes home based on lowest percentages overall since week 1… and each week’s new loss factors in to the overall percentage.
  • Also, factor in body fat percentage (Season 1 did include BF%!!! Did y’all see that season?) The show has had contestants do crazy amounts of cardio at home and goofy diets to try and lose tons of water weight before the shows finale.  When weight loss is achieved through cardio AND resistance training… it has much healthier results and more amazing to see!! Tell me that Ali didn’t lift any weights to look this fit!

Ali_Vincent

  • They also need to stress the amount of time the contestants are working out, the high chance of injury doing so, and the actual foods they are eating during the process. Twenty-nine pound weight loss in a week or 10 days is just not realistic.  It makes for amazing TV though, doesn’t it?
  • Quit having contestants run a mile on Day 1!! Or ride a bike for 26.2 miles (between two people) to have the chance to stay at the ranch.  I realize there are doctors off camera, but it’s just not appropriate in my book to start off with that immunity carrot hanging in front of their unhealthy faces within the first five minutes of arriving at the BL campus. Just sayin'.

Chime in here if y’all have something to add or comment on…

Anyway, now that I’ve got BL9 on TV, it helps me to stay motivated.  I love the challenges that let them apply their new-found fitness levels.  The athlete comes out in them and that is so motivating to me!! Remember Tara pulling that car… and whipping the guys!!! Favorite moment for me!

On another note: I’ve had a couple of questions from this blog and I was trying to figure out if I should answer them by email or by blog posts.  One of the questions was about the reasoning behind a planned fast day (from the Eat Stop Eat program).  The basis of it is to lower overall weekly caloric intake for weight loss, while also shocking your body (tricking it only long enough to not go into starvation mode). It also allows you more room for “normal” social eating during the days you eat.  The plan is to pick one or two days a week to fast.  The fast would be for 24 hours only, so you might stop eating on Sunday night at 6 PM and start back eating on Monday night at 6 PM.  While I did this for a short while… because I will try just about anything in the fitness/nutrition realm … I didn’t have any trouble going without the calories for a day.  I didn’t feel sick or headache-y or anything.  My workouts were around mid-day so they didn’t seem too affected by the lack of calories.  All in all, for me, I didn’t think it helped much, I didn’t lose any weight really.  I’ve heard of some people that swear by it.  For me, the best thing about it was that I didn’t have to even think about food for a whole day (or two) a week.  That was rather liberating.  It’s easier to not think about it at all than to have to try to eat healthy all the time.  I would NOT recommend this for someone who could lean toward an eating disorder at all.  There are scientific pros and cons to a planned fast… so I can’t say it’s completely unhealthy, but it just doesn’t seem as healthy as just plain eating right to me.  And, in truth, I found it to be just an experience I’ve tried and moved on from.  Do you have any thoughts on it??

On to week 2… (which will really be more like week 1 for me, but oh well. :)

Sunday, January 3, 2010

C1 2010

Weight – 128!

Time to get back to business.  I’ve gained a few pounds staying out of the gym and IN the kitchen eating. Ha!

Are y’all getting back to healthy choices??

On to week 1…