2nd week......

So i have completed week 2 and had a workout and re-evaluation with Frances last night.....

Down 2 lbs in 3 weeks....that's 82 lbs for those of you who are counting down to the 100 lb mark where 'linda-goes-to-Tiffanys-to buy-herself-a-ring'!! hahaha Now mind you, in the morning when i weigh myself, I am down 4 lbs..... but we will stick with the end of the day weight that reads on Frances much fancier machine!! Bodyfat readings dropped to 20 and 31.... one is a 'regular' person reading and one is 'athletic' person...i don't remember which is which BUT they are both down about 6 points from 3 weeks ago...... i don't understand it, but i know down is good!!! lol

Measurements are down bits and pieces, with the biggest difference of almost 2 inches in my hips....... and those caliper thingys showed some significant difference....mostly that some solid fat is dispersing into that globby chicken fat stuff, which it does before it disappears, although it makes your readings go up because now it's globby, it gets squeezed easier..... did you follow that????????? ......whatever......... trust me, i won't lose sleep over the whole thing!!
hahahah

Confession of the week: I did miss out on Friday night's workout and Sunday's Diva walk because my cousin...who i have only seen twice..yes, twice in my whole loooooong life, came from BC for the weekend and I just couldn't get enough of her....so family won out over grunting!!

This week's challenge is i am having a dinner party on Sunday and will be planning my menu so we ALL eat as clean as possible...but hopefully it will be soooo good they don't even realize it!! and no.. i don't know what i'm making yet!

I am actually getting accustomed to getting up at 5:30 and doing my running & walking...it honestly gives you so much more energy for the rest of the day...a bit, dare i say it...addictive???!

OHHHHH and get this...okay, no one who has said this to me is on this group so i will bitch....... last week i don't know how many people said to me "oh you look so good, you're not going to lose any more are you?" "you don't want to get too skinny".. (hellooooooooooo...have you looked at my thighs??) "make sure you don't get sick" ( i haven't even had so much as a sniffle in over a year! ie: fresh air, exercise, eating right...) "are you eating properly?" (as they stand over me with a big fat banana in one hand and a honey laden commercial granola bar in the other) and the big one which burns a whole in my tongue so i don't get real snotty - as they look at the bodybuilding picture i have of Frances on my desk "oh god, you don't want to look like that do you? that's ugly"......

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When i look at that picture, (insert any picture in your mind of a bodybuilder) what I SEE is: incredible determination, strength of character, amazing hard work, sheer guts and will power. And you know, i don't care if you have a body like that or are slugging around 300 lbs on a 10k walk.......THAT to me....is BEAUTY!

so there!!!! lol

Have an awesome week!

First week.......

went pretty damn good!!! lol I did my run/walks twice and ended up running at a pace on my treadmill that i never would have dreamt of a year ago..... went for 1/2 hour walks on 2 other mornings....all of which involves getting out of bed at quarter to 6 so i can still do my 'stuff' and be at work for 7:30.... plus the ab work on Thursday, which was fine except i'm doing it with a 15lb fur ball that insists on sitting on me while i'm doing leg lifts, twists on the ball and crunches...plus i got a bruise on my back apparently from lying on the concrete floor in the basement to do this. Mental note to self...remember to come upstairs and do it on carpet!!!! Got in 3 full body workouts on top of it all and the only difference i noticed was that i was actually getting a growly tummy after dinner on the nights where i did someting in the morning....so that extra bit of activity is burning more calories, even at the end of the day!

I did have a few glasses of wine on Saturday evening at dinner, but other than that i was CLEAN!!!

Last night i was trying on different outfits for 'old people singing'...which starts tonight and contemplating how quickly i am going to need a boob job since this weight loss is making my chest disappear faster than the California coastline ...so you know, i'm poking and pushing and pulling ... imagining...hahahahaaaaa... and then i did this thing with my chest muscles, as if i was doing a chest press, and honestly i have never done anything like this in the mirror before....and let me tell you......... i have got some SERIOUS pectorals going on there (actually i call them my 'CHESTICLES) !!! I was so impressed i went downstairs to show Matthew, who is lying on the couch with a giant bee sting on his thigh so he can't get away from me too fast... LOL. So i said, okay, look at my chest...like just flat like this. He eyeballs me with this look, you know...the 'you are such a moron but i will humour you' look. Then i flexed....and i could actually see his eyes narrowing in to see this TRANSFORMATION! HAHAHAA... It really made me feel like all that sweating and grunting and effort i have been putting into the presses and pullups are starting to pay off!

Anyhow, that is it for last week's update. Thanks for listening!

Day 1...

and don't think i will bore you with DAILY updates!! lol... Nooooo, i actually like all of you - wouldn't put you thru that!

Today was the official first day...not that it was really all that different from a regular day - but i did head straight for the treadmill when i got up and did my interval walk/run for 20 minutes and i haven't been on that thing in well over a year! Mostly because i prefer to be outside to walk and i haven't ran at all since late last spring...as in spring of 2007 when my knees decided that was not a good thing to do at all, considering the force of weight that i was putting them thru! What i found surprising is that i started out my 'walk' at 3 mph, which previously was a jog for me...and i ran at 5 mph - which was something only the tanzanian daredevil would have done when i was carrying around over 80 lbs more! So i was very pleasantly surprised by the ease of it....not that there wasn't sweat dripping down my neck when i was done, but that's what i figure SHOULD happen if you're working at something.

Then i went to the gym mid-afternoon for my full body workout. I forgot a few things because, you know, i didn't want to walk around with a list looking like a nerd...which i feel is what i look like anyhow.... but i added in a few things too and got 3 sets in of everything plus time on the bike...and i was sweating...lol. At least it wasn't too busy due to the holiday....it's such a 'guy' place it totallllllllllly intimidates me!!! Hopefully that will pass in time as i get more comfortable with the machines...and that i won't drop anything and cause a 'fluster'!!!

Tomorrow it's an early morning walk...another new thing....so the dog and i will hit the sod field just before 6...yeah... A.M. ..... uugghhhhh....

Will check back in at the end of the week...Thursday is AB day.... think of me!!

The Beginning!

Ok, so to put things in perspective....once upon a time.... a long time ago...actually it wasn't all too long ago - my highest weight was... gulp.... 306. Yep, there it is for all the world to see! Please don't read this outloud to cute, single men!! Then over a few years i got walking, slowly tried to get a bit healthier and ended up...hmmm...less than that... lol. Last August i decided to stop eating anything with yeast in it and holy cow...the weight came flying off and the energy level went soaring! Since then there have been plateaus and frustrations, but overall i ALWAYS remind myself that this is about being healthy and fit, no matter the scale, no matter the size...who doesn't like it ..or me...doesn't have to!!! Now i have 20 lbs to go until i reach the 100 lb. loss mark from one year ago and i have already picked out the Tiffany ring i am going to buy myself as the reward!! I don't expect to lose the 20lbs in this next 12 weeks at all, but that's okay..it's more important to me to keep the weight off for life than speed loss!

So - as promised - here are the measurements:Neck: 13" Chest: 39.5" Waist 32 5/8" Hip: 45 5/8" Thigh 25.5" Calf: 12 7/8" Forearm: 9 3/4" Shoulders: 45 3/8"

Note that my shoulders and hips are pretty much the same size now, so at least i don't appear to be quite as pear shaped as i used to be!! I thought that was kinda neat looking at that this morning. I know, i know, it's supposed to be chest and hips...well good luck with that right now!!! LOL

Then there is this whole skin-fold measurement thing, but that gets complicated....let's suffice to say it's squeezing all the gushy fat parts with these sharp tongs to see how much less they read in millimeters....apparently this shows how much my skin is tightening or loosening (which will be the surgical part of the whole thing) - but i'n not going to get into that...too scientific for this group!! lolOkay, that's it for now! I officially start my 12 weeks on Labour Day..hahaha..how fitting!!!

Welcome!

Well this is my first blogpost towards 12 weeks of what will no doubt prove to be both painful and amazing!!! I am looking forward to filling you all in on my daily tribulations of increasing workouts - early morning no doubt!, bizarre exercises that already make my muscles ache just looking at pictures of them!!

I will be back later to post my last set of measurements, taken by my wonderful coach, Frances Manias and we can all follow them together!

Thanks for stopping by, remember to add this site to your Favourites , and we'll talk soon!!

Cheers!
Linda
xo