Weigh In Number 4!

If you read my blog consistently than you will know that I found out last week that I had hit my first plateau. I had realized that I had only lost 0.2 lbs in 2 weeks. So this week I stepped it up. I started Insanity and I met with a nutritionist and made some changes to my diet. I was not expecting great numbers, because I essentially only had a week to make the scale move. At my last weigh in I weighed 190.4 and today I weighed in at 187.6. Now considering that I made that change in only a week I am very satisfied with the 2.8 lb decrease that I had. Even though I hit a plateau on the scale, my body was still reaping the benefits of my workouts because I did still lose inches. Here are my measurements.


                                     Starting                             Last Weigh In                                Current

Thighs:                            28                                           23.75                                          23.75


Arms:                             14.5                                           14                                        L-13  R-13.5


Neck:                              13.5                                           13                                                13


Belly:                               40                                            36.5                                              36


Waist:                            35.5                                           31.5                                            31.5


Chest:                             43                                              41                                               39


Hips:                               44                                              41                                              40.5


Butt:                               47                                             43.5                                            42.5


                        Inches This Week: 5.5                    Total Inches: 32.5

So overall I am very happy with these results. Of course I would have liked to have seen a lower number on the scale, but as long as my body is changing I am pleased. In other news I hit another milestone this week. I have not worn a pair of shorts in almost 4 years because I hated my legs. I live in Tennessee so it gets really hot and very humid in the summer, so I was always MISERABLE wearing pants when it was 100+ degrees. Well ladies and gentlemen that has all changed because I purchased my first pair of shorts in a very long time. I am currently wearing a 12 in jeans, but I don't like shorts to fit close to my thighs so I grabbed 14's to try on. The only problem was, I could pull them off without unbuttoning them. So I got 12's and they still fit loosely in the thighs just like I like. I am still not 100% happy with my legs, but I am confident enough to wear shorts this year. I wore them on Saturday, and funny enough I noticed when we were out that even skinny girls struggle with cellulite. I am sure that no one stared at my legs like I was afraid that they would, and if they did...oh well! I have attached a picture of my new shorts, so enjoy!

Thanks for reading,
Sarah

Diet Changes

I am making some changes to my weight loss routine since the weight coming off has started to slow down. I added Insanity to my workouts on Monday, and holy cow I am sore! I am also making some changes to my diet, but I felt like I needed some instruction in that area. Today I went to see a nutritionist. Overall it was a very good experience. I learned that I have been doing pretty well with my diet, but there are a few changes that I need to make.
1. I am not eating enough for breakfast, especially since I work out in the mornings. I have just been eating a piece of fruit in the mornings, but I need to be eating protein and some healthy carbs for breakfast.
2. I am not consuming enough fat. This sounds weird to me, but I need to be eating good fats, such as nuts, avocado and also by cooking with oil. I try to stay away from nuts because of the calories, but my body needs good fats.
3. I am not consuming enough carbs for as much as I am working out. Now this does not mean that I need to go out and gorge on bread. I need to be getting my carbs from the right places. Whole grains, such as oats, brown rice, quinoa and so on.

Other than those three main things, I seem to be pretty on track with my diet. She was a little concerned that I was losing weight too quickly. She said ideally it should take me 2 years to lose 70 lbs. I want to be at my goal weight by Thanksgiving, and I only have 37 more pounds to go, and I am certainly not going to take 2 years to lose 37 lbs so we will agree to disagree there. Like I said overall, I was very pleased with the experience. I will be putting into practice most of what we went over and I will be going back to see her in August to talk about how I have progressed. My next post will be a weigh in, which I am a little nervous about since as of last Saturday I had only lost an additional .2 lbs. I am trying to have reasonable expectations, but I am hoping that at least my measurements are showing some changes! See you then!

Thanks for reading,
Sarah

Insanity

I apologize for not posting this weekend, it was incredibly busy. I had tons to do but I still made time for my workouts which is the most important thing. I mentioned in my last post that I had hit my first plateau. This really upset me at first, but I decided to use it as fuel to push me on to the next level. I had intended on starting Insanity when I hit the 45 lb mark which is when I assumed I would be hitting my first plateau. However, seeing as my plateau hit earlier than I expected I started Insanity yesterday. I could not think of a better name for this program because it is truly insane! I thought that I was in decent shape since I workout so often, but about 5 minutes in I was seriously rethinking that. I can understand how people see such good results with this program, and I am looking forward to some great results myself. I am still going to continue swimming and running (either on the elliptical or treadmill) like I have been, which means I will now be doing 2 workouts a day. I will still swim Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, so I will be doing Insanity at night on those days. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be doing Insanity in the mornings and running in the evenings. On Saturday I will do both workouts in whatever order I feel like. In Insanity you have one rest day every week, so I am going to use Sundays as my rest day, even though I will still be doing a workout of some sort. I know that there will be days that I won't be able to fit in both workouts, but I will be fitting in Insanity no matter what. It is really nice that my gym does not have to be open, so I can really work this particular workout around my schedule. I can't offer a real opinion about Insanity yet, seeing as I am only two days in. I can tell you that I have never sweat so much in my life, so that has to mean something right?

Turn that negative into a positive!

I have mentioned in the past that I tend to be a scale-aholic, which is why I have only been weighing in every three weeks. Since I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday I had to get on the scale, and it read 191. If you remember my last weigh in was almost 2 weeks ago and my weight was at 190.4 lbs. So of course I went into defensive mode and started making excuses. Its a different scale, I just ate lunch, I have all my clothes and shoes on, and so on and so on. So this morning Brandon and I went to the weight room at our gym and did some strength training. I saw the scale on the far wall so I decided to check my weight again, and prove that the doctor's scale was off. I stepped up and almost cried when I saw 190. In almost 2 weeks I have lost next to nothing. I again immediately started making excuses. As soon as we got home I had Brandon get the scale out (since he hides it from me) so I could see if maybe my scale has been off this whole time. Again, my heart sank when I saw 190. Ladies and gentlemen, I have officially hit my first plateau! I got really upset at first. I have worked out and stayed under my calorie goal every SINGLE day since my last weigh in, and I felt like it was all wasted. I was in a really defeated mood until Brandon knocked some sense into me. I love him for that! He told me that I knew that this was going to happen eventually. I have been doing the same routine for 12 weeks now, and my body has gotten used to it. He told me that it is time to change up my workouts and keep my body guessing. I also need to make a few slight adjustments to my diet, nothing major but there is room for improvement there. It took me a couple of hours to process everything, but I decided that Brandon was right. This is the point where I can get discouraged and quit, or I can use it as fuel and step it up a notch. I have decided to go with the latter. So, today when I was at the gym for the second time I skipped the elliptical and opted for the treadmill instead. I need to push myself to the point of uncomfortably with my workouts, because if they don't challenge me then I won't see results. So instead of just walking at a brisk pace, I walked a quarter mile and ran a quarter mile, walked a quarter mile and ran a quarter mile. I did this up until the last 10 minutes of my workout because my hips were giving me some trouble (nothing a good stretch couldn't take care of.) So, I ended up running 20 minutes and walking 40 minutes. I am quite pleased with that considering how little running off the elliptical I have been doing. I have even decided to register for The Color Run in October. Even if I have to walk some (which I am not planning on doing) I am going to run that race. Hitting this plateau has given me a new determination, and it is just what I needed as I am about to hit the halfway mark of reaching my goal.

Thanks for reading,
Sarah

Music to my ears!

I unexpectedly had to go to the doctor today. It was just a minor issue, but I am so glad that I ended up having to go. As my doctor was going over information with me, she stopped and looked at something on her computer and then looked back up at me. She said, "You've lost a lot of weight!", she is always on me about my weight so I was looking forward to when she noticed the change in my weight since my last visit. Then she said the best thing that I have heard in a very long time. She said, "You are officially no longer considered obese, and I am taking that off your chart." She stood up and gave me a high five and told me congratulations. I could really tell that she was proud of me, and it made me feel good to hear her talk about all the medical benefits that dropping this weight would have on my body. My blood pressure was significantly lower this time, and my menstrual cycles are becoming more and more regular so there are two changes that I am already seeing. I feel changes in my overall health every day, but it is nice to see concrete evidence!

I tried a little something new with my workout today, and I really liked it. I have been wanting to try reading my Kindle while on the elliptical for a while now, but I didn't want to workout in silence. I decided to search Pandora for instrumental stations, and found an Instrumental Hip Hop station. I normally do not listen to hip hop in my everyday life, but I like it for working out because it helps me keep my pace. So I put my headphones in and picked my new station and started reading as I ran. I have to say, I have never had an hour go by so quickly on the elliptical. I am a huge reader, and that is one of the things that I miss most due to my new schedule. When I read I get totally engrossed in the story, and today was no different. The hour was up before I knew it, so I am definitely going to be doing that again. I love being able to multi-task and get two things (that I love doing) done at the same time. It helps tremendously with seeing gym time as my "me time". Try it and see if it works for you!

Thanks for reading,
Sarah

What are those??

Something happend this week that really made me smile, so I just had to share it. As I have mentioned before, my husband works nights from home. We very rarely get to sleep in the same bed, except for maybe an hour on the weekends when he comes to bed at 7:00 and I haven't gotten up yet. I had taken the day off of work on Friday, so I treated myself and slept until 8:30. When Brandon came to bed he scooted up behind me and put his arm around me. He sat up really quickly and said, "What is that??" I had no idea what he was talking about, and when I questioned what he meant he lifted up the covers and pointed to my hip bone. I looked at him very confused, and said "that is my hip bone" and he said "I know it is a hip bone, where did  it come from?". We had a good laugh and talked about how he hasn't seen or felt hip bones on me in a very long time. It might sound like such a small thing to anyone else, but it was a big deal to me. Besides myself, Brandon knows my body better than anyone, and to shock him with how my body is changing gives me so much joy. I can't wait for the day when he discovers that I have a flat stomach. A flat stomach seems like a long way away, but when I started this 11 weeks ago so did hip bones. I guess the point to this is to let yourself enjoy the compliments that people give you as your body changes, you earned those compliments! I had a great long weekend, but I did make time to run an hour on the elliptical all three days. Working out has become as much a part of my day as breakfast, and it is a part of my day that I plan on keeping long after I have lost all of my weight.

A small update on the swimsuit situation. Like I said, I did lots of research going into this so I knew pretty much what I wanted. Target did not have the suit in store that I wanted, but I was at least able to determine size so that I could order online. Only one problem, when I went to order the suit was out of stock online as well. That was a bummer, but I ended up finding a pretty similar suit on jcpenney.com, so I have ordered that and I should have it sometime soon. So we will see about posting a picture when the time comes. In the meantime, I hope you all have a great Monday!

Tomorrow Will Be a Test

I don't want you to think that this is going to be a negative post based on the title. Tomorrow is actually going to be a very good day, because I have the day off. I am taking a much needed day off work in order to get a few things done, and for my yearly female checkup. One of the things that I have on the agenda for tomorrow will be a major test for me. You see, tomorrow I am shopping for a bathing suit. You might think that as much time as I spend in the pool that I would have learned to be a little more comfortable in a bathing suit, well I haven't. I am still extremely self conscious in a bathing suit. I wear, wash, and dry my current bathing suit 3 times a week at the moment. So I am getting a new bathing suit that I will use only when I am not working out. I am the kind of person that researches everything before I buy, so I have my options narrowed down a lot so that I don't get overwhelmed tomorrow. The reason that I say that tomorrow will be a test is because every time I have ever tried on a bathing suit in the past (even when I was skinny), I immediately went on self-critical rant. I stand in front of the changing room mirror and pick a part my body, noticing every possible flaw. My goal for tomorrow is to try on my bathing suit, and tell myself three things that I like about my body. I have got to start working on building my confidence as I shed this weight, so that it is not an issue for me down the road. I haven't quite decided if I am going to post a picture of me wearing the swimsuit that I pick to the blog, but it would be a big step for me to do that. The only thing that I am hesitant about posting a picture like that is that I still have quite a bit of cellulite on my legs. It is one of my biggest insecurities, but I think it would be good for me to get that out there. I went back and forth about actually posting how much I weighed when I started this blog. I was afraid that I wouldn't see it through, and then all my friends and family would know exactly what I weigh. I am so glad that I did though, it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Now I love to look back at that number and see how far I have come. Maybe I will have a similar experience with my hate/hate relationship with cellulite if I post a swimsuit picture, so we will see!

Thanks for reading,

Sarah

Quick One

Tonight's post is going to be a quick one because if I am going to get up to swim at 6:00 am, then I need to get myself to bed. I just wanted to talk quickly about excuses. Today I had an easy excuse to get out of my workout. Nobody would have thought any less of me since it was a legitimate reason, but I didn't. We had planned to have a cookout at my grandparent's house on Sunday, but due to a ridiculous amount of rain we had to post-pone. They rescheduled for tonight, which is an elliptical night. At first, I contemplated skipping the cookout but my grandparents are 84 so I do not want to miss a single chance that I have to spend with them so that was out of the question. So since I couldn't go after work, I got up at 5:30 this morning and went before work. It was not easy because I am not a morning person, but I got up early enough to get a quick bite to eat and get to the gym. I normally do not eat before I workout in the mornings when I swim, but I knew that the elliptical would take a lot more out of me. I am glad that I did because I am not sure if I would have made it through otherwise. Anyway, the point is just because something comes up doesn't mean you have to skip your workout. Plan ahead and maybe even sacrifice some sleep, but do whatever you can to make it happen. You will feel so much better because of it.

Thanks for reading,
Sarah

Weigh In Number 3

It is weigh in time again! So at the last weigh in I weighed 198.4 lbs, and this week I weighed in at 190.4 so that is a loss of 8 lbs, and 29 lbs overall. I am really excited about that. I would have loved to have been in the 180's but I am still really happy with that number. I am also extremely happy with the numbers for my measurements this week, so lets get to that.


                                       Starting                       Last Weigh In                         Current


Thighs                              28                                       25                                        23.75


Arms                               14.5                                     14                                           14


Neck                                13.5                                    13                                            13


Belly                                 40                                      39                                           36.5


Waist                              35.5                                   32.5                                         31.5


Chest                               43                                      41                                            41


Hips                                44                                     42.5                                           41


Butt                                47                                     45.5                                          43.5

           
                         Inches This Week: 9.5               Total Inches: 27

When I see that I have lost 27 inches, that absolutely blows my mind! I am so looking forward to my next weigh in which will be in 3 weeks. If I reach 184 lbs than that means I will be at the half way point. I am not even at 3 months yet and I am already about to reach the halfway point. I know that the second half will be more challenging, but I am looking forward to it!

What clicked this time?

I have been asked twice in the past two days, what clicked to make me lose this weight once and for all. The answer is, lots of things. I got so tired of being the fat friend, having to shop in the plus size section, feeling disgusted with myself, and feeling sick and tired all of the time. I had tried to lose weight so many times before, but I always ended up wanting food more. Pretty sad huh? I had to want to lose weight and get healthy more than anything. I had to hit rock bottom, and I can tell you the exact moment that rock bottom happened. Last June I went for my yearly gynecological exam. I mentioned to my doctor that I was going well over 28 days between cycles. Sometimes I would even skip a month all together. I wasn't on birth control so I wasn't too concerned, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Well, after a series of tests they informed me that I did not ovulate the month that they tested me. This hit me like a ton of bricks, because I have always wanted more than anything in the world, to become a mother. I didn't want to have a baby right away, but just knowing that I couldn't made me feel like less of a woman. The doctor told me that she was fairly confident that the problem with ovulation was due to my obesity. That was two blows in one. This was the first time that I had been told that I was obese, and I was finding out that my ovulation problem was my own fault. She told me that she thought because I was still having a somewhat regular cycle that she thought that I might still be ovulating, but at random times. This wouldn't mean that it would be impossible to get pregnant, but that it would be difficult since I couldn't pinpoint an ovulation time. She told me that the absolute best option that I had was to get the weight off. So you would think that I would have ran out the door at that very moment and start getting the weight off right away. Well that is what I should have done, but instead I got really depressed and I turned to food. I kept telling myself that I was going to get this weight off no matter what, but it took me until March 22 to get serious about it. Now I don't know if it is just in my head, but I feel like my cycles are getting more and more regular. I am confident that I will be ovulating regularly, and that when we are ready for children that we will be able to have our own. If we face complications, then we will deal with them at that time, but at least I can be confident that I did everything in my power to make it happen. I have my yearly visit next Friday, and while they will not be testing my ovulation this time I am excited for her to see that I have taken huge strides in the right direction. So, that was a long way of saying that what clicked for me this time is that I am not just doing this for me anymore. I am doing it for me, my husband, and our future children, and it will be so worth it!

A New Normal

I do not care to admit the amount of time that I used to sit in front of the television on any given night. It was an embarrassing amount. The truth is now, not only do I not have time to sit in front of the TV, I don't have the desire to anymore. I used to think that if I cooked dinner, cleaned up the kitchen and got a load of laundry done in a night that I was being productive. We used to eat out a lot, but now that I am watching my calories I almost always cook. Yesterday was Monday meaning that I swam in the morning, so I got home by 5:30 last night. We had eaten by 6:30 and I had to edit the pictures that I had taken this weekend, so my wonderful husband took care of cleaning the kitchen. I finished the pictures by 7:30 and thought about what I wanted to do with the rest of my night. I had no desire whatsoever to just lay around or watch TV. So, instead I ran a load of laundry, I re-organized my closet, I cleaned our bathroom really well, and vacuumed the upstairs. I still had some time left over to read a couple of chapters on my Kindle, which I have to admit I do miss having time to do that. I said all of that to say this, productivity is my new normal. I came home from the gym today and cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen, ran a load of laundry and now I am writing my blog. I will probably get to enjoy some more time reading because I have nothing left to clean. I absolutely love all of the energy that I have now that I am losing weight. The reason that I used to lay around and watch TV all the time was because I always felt so tired and drained. I lacked any kind of motivation whatsoever. I am really liking this new normal.

As for my workout, tonight success did not come without pain. My thighs are surprisingly sore from taking pictures this weekend. Since I had two shoots I was in a squatting position for close to two hours, and my thighs reminded me of that tonight. I made it through though! I also have started doing some pushups and other strength based exercises, and I just have to say my upper body strength is severely lacking! I was unable to do even one normal pushup, so I have been sticking with the girl pushups for now. I think that I will be able to transition to normal pushups by next week. I am glad I introduced strength training when I did, because I need it. My goal is to eventually be able to beat my brother in a pushup contest, and I am looking forward to it!

Thanks for reading,
Sarah

Got to get my workout in!

One of the things that you don't know about me yet is that I dabble in photography. I do not advertise because I do not feel that I am on that level yet. I mostly only shoot for friends and family and I only have about 10-15 shoots per year. It just so happened that I had two this weekend, which never happens! The first was yesterday. I was taking pictures of a friend's daughter and niece, who are adorable by the way. We just barely finished the pictures when the rain hit, so I was happy about that. I had intended to go to the gym when I was done, but my friend's daughter asked me if I would ride to Nashville with them to watch her dance lesson. I am having to miss her showcase this month, and I can never say no to her, so I went. I am glad I did too, she is such an amazing dancer and I know that she will go far with it. We weren't leaving Nashville until 5:00 and I knew that my gym closed at 7:00 so I was bound and determined to make it in time. It poured the whole way home so it took us longer than normal. I pulled up to the house at 5:50 and sprinted inside to change. I made it to the gym by 6:05, so I had to cut my normal hour down to 45 minutes to ensure that I was done in time. Yes, I had to cut my workout down some, but it did me a lot more good that not going at all. If it is important to you, you will find a way; if not you will find an excuse. Losing this weight is up there on my priority list, so I made sure I found a way! Don't ever throw a workout aside because you are short on time. Half of a workout is better than no workout at all. Today's post was a short one but hopefully you still took something from it. Let's start the week off right, and have positive attitudes!

Thanks for reading,
Sarah