off the wagon

I had to travel for work last week and it threw me off.  Way off.  I worked out once.  Shame on me.  But to be somewhat consistent, I did take my measurements and weight on Saturday. 
A week off, and I set myself back 1 pound and half an inch.

My fitness journey	7/2/2016	7/9/2016	7/16/2016	7/23/2016
Chest (in)	38	37	35.75	37
Waist (in)	33.5	33.25	33.25	33.25
Hips (in)	44.75	44	44.75	44
Total Inches lost	n/a	2	2.5	2
Weight (lbs)	181	179.5	176.5	177.5
Total Weight loss	n/a	1.5	4.5	3.5

 

Patience and self-discipline

I ate pretty well, worked out 6 days this week, and drank water.  I feel smaller, and fitter, but the pics and scale don't reflect how great I feel.  A pair of my jeans didn't leave red marks at the end of the day! Alan told me the other day, "your boobs are shrinking.  don't lose weight there."  Thank you so much dear husband for the feedback, I selected the wrong body part from where the weight should be lost, I shall correct it now. Based on my measurements, he made an accurate assessment.  I always lose chest first.  How sad :(  Next will be legs and thighs, waist will be last. 

Where do you lose weight first?  Where do you gain first?

I feel like my will power to not eat crap is getting stronger.  Week 1, I felt like food was calling my name.  As I walked though the market, every thing in the bakery said "hey Pam, take me home!"  I picked up a loaf of soft bread, whispered (use your Gollum voice), "My Precious! not today Precious," shed a tear as I gingerly put it down and walked away.  This week, I wasn't as tempted.  It's getting easier to make the right food decisions.  One of the things that has helped me is to really take my time before eating a snack to figure out if I'm really hungry.  First, have some water, wait 10 minutes, then if I'm still hungry, choose a healthy snack like raw almonds, or if it's within an hour of meal time, wait it out.  Weight-loss is a test of my patience and self-discipline. 

I'm purposefully wearing the same gear for the pictures, and it appears that my shirt is a bit looser!
Starting pic is on the left, 2 weeks later (today) on the right.

7/2/2016 7/9/2016 7/16/2016 Chest (in) 38 37 35.75 Waist (in) 33.5 33.25 33.25 Hips (in) 44.75 44 44.75 Total Inches lost n/a 2 2.5 Weight (lbs) 181 179.5 176.5 Total Weight loss  n/a 1.5 4.5

You are what you eat!

So eating properly is more important for losing weight than exercising. NYT: Eating Less is Far More Important than Exercising THIS is my problem.  I think back to the times in my adult life where I was a smaller person, and don't recall eating much.  I was visiting my cousin a few years ago, and there was this movie from the 70s on tv.  EVERYBODY WAS SKINNY, like JJ from Good Times and young Diana Ross.  We asked my uncle, why was everyone so tiny?!  He said that food wasn't very popular back then the way it is now.  He said food is more accessible and on every corner these days...most people go out to eat a few times a week, back then, you went a few times a year...if you wanted food, you cooked at home, and food wasn't as cheap.

Here's a progress report.  I lost One POINT Five pounds.  Disappointing.  It's my fault.  I like to eat the wrong foods.  I like food.  Food is popular to me.  Bread tastes so delicious!  My favorite food is bread.  So if you are what you eat, I'm a soft, squishy, loaf of bread.  While it sounds appetizing or even appealing for the Pillsbury dough-boy, its not a good look for me. So this week, along with exercise, I'm focusing on increased water intake, portion control, and eating salad for lunch.  Salad is not fun.  I'm also motivated a little more because I plan to take a progress pic this week.  Because I know other's are watching, it's keeping me going.  Check back Sunday for my progress update!

7/2/2016 7/9/2016 Chest (in) 38 37 Waist (in) 33.5 33.25 Hips (in) 44.75 44 Inches loss (in) n/a 2 Weight (lbs) 181 179.5 Weight loss (lbs) n/a 1.5

There's no respek on my name

I had this teacher in college who is brilliant.  The man is at the top of his field, headed the department, wrote all kinds of papers, chaired international organizations and made solving differential equations seem easy as algebra but he had a flaw.  Every now and then, he wore these jeans that had a hole between the legs from where they rubbed together.  You could see it when his back was turned as he was writing on the board. I know he put those jeans on in the morning thinking, no one can see this hole.  We all saw the hole.  It was like, "oh great, he's got the jeans on...again."  We were embarrassed for him. It couldn't have been a money issue.  He was Dr. Such-and-Such, insert numerous accolades here!  He was being frugal.  Long story short, Alan and I now refer to holes of that nature as a "Such-and-such hole"  and giggle madly about it (I'm not writing the man's name, my blog doesn't need to clown him in a google search, he's Brilliant.)

One of the downsides of weight gain is your clothes get tight.  My clothes are tight.  I've bought just a few items to get me through this phase of life.  I hope to be done with these clothes quickly.  One thing I haven't bought is jeans.  I refuse.  So my jeans have been holding on for dear life.  Some have said, "hell-no-dammit-JUST-NO-GOT-DAMMIT-I-SAID-NO" and won't even come past my hips.  The two pair that are managing to hold on...have begun to develop the "Such-and-such hole."  I want to wear them but I can't.  With my luck, my intern would see it and deem it the "Whatley hole," tell all her friends about it, sneak a pic of me and the "Whatley hole", snapchat it and make a meme of me when my back is turned - she don't care about me, I'm not brilliant like Dr. "Such-and-Such", so there's no respek on my name!!!

So what do I do?  Well today I wore jeans that downright felt like they were going to split if I bent over.  I'll make it through the rest of the work week with dockers and if push comes to shove, I'm going to buy some old navy jeans to carry me for a minute. 

In the beginning...

Keeping with fitness rule #751, thou shalt look awful in your "before" pictures.  I purposefully took some after my first workout to look even more haggard.  I imagine that when xyz company calls you up to says, "Hey Miss Fit, you're going to be in our next infomercial!...send us your worse pictures before you lost weight....perhaps a photo of you eating Thanksgiving dinner!"

I kept my promise.  I started and I did workout when "tomorrow" came.  I dragged out of bed at 6am, to make good on my word.  I couldn't start a blog and not keep up with it.  I did a T25 workout.  I'm pretty sure the countdown in the program is just to tell you how much longer you have until you no longer feel like dying.  I managed to push through.

For accountability purposes here are my measurements, my starting weight, and my height.
Chest 38"
Waist 33.5"
Hips 44.75"
Weight 181 lbs (OMG!)
And height in case you didn't know, I'm 5'9"

"

I'll be updating my progress once a week, and blogging twice per week.  So far, I've worked out 5 days in a row.  I feel good. 

Truth Talk and Inspiration

My sister randomly stopped by this evening and in the middle of our conversation she looks at me and says the following:
"I gotta tell you, you're getting big.  Now Alan ain't gonna say anything cause its slow gain and he sees you everyday.  He can't see it yet.  So I'm telling you before it get really out of hand.  I know you married but you gotta keep it together.  He gonna look at you one day and say, 'What The Fuck! You Big As Shit!'"

I knew it!  She didn't exactly tell me anything new.  I've been slowly gaining weight since my kid was born, clothes getting tighter, and failed attempts that only last a week or so.  So maybe blogging will give me some accountability.  I've been this big before and lost weight, but I never had this hard of a time.  I was heavier in high school, decided I wanted to look good in my prom dress, and with the help of Richard Simmons' Sweatin' to the Oldies 3, and reduced calories, I loss about 20lbs.  I maintained that weight through healthy living, sporadic exercise for years...  Then after I got married, I gained happy weight, and could only wear sweatpants.  I worked with a trainer, learned the proper way to workout and lost it.  Again, through sporadic (1-2x a week) exercise again, I could maintain it.  A few years ago, I even hit my goal weight but I was working HARD.  Now my problem is residual baby weight along with lack of time, low willpower, and serious inertia.

So today, July 1st, 2016.  I am declaring the beginning of my fitness journey. 
tomorrow, I'll start tomorrow.

Let me know if you're reading.  Hold me accountable.  What would you like me to post about?
What has or has not worked for you?