A Whole New Me- Keep Trying!

The goal I set for myself last month (technically the end of August) was to lose 4 lbs of fat. Unfortunately, I didn't even come close. The begining of the month was bad all over the place. We had 4 birthday parties and a wedding in the course of 3 weeks (that was a whole lot of cake...). I still struggled with getting my workouts in on a regular basis. About mid-September, a friend of mine invited me to go to a Zumba class with her (well, more like begged me to go so she wouldn't look like a fool since it was her first time too). I have to say, I totally loved it. It is some serious cardio and you are bound to break a sweat (or, in my case, drown in it). I have consistently gone at least once a week, and tried to squeeze in a a second time. It has been a very fun way to do cardio without the feeling of "working out." I highly recommend it. And for those of you that think that you are too old/fat/out of shape, watch this video:

This awesome lady is 65! She's "old" and probably not in the same shape that she was in her mid 20s. She also isn't on the same level as all the young ladies in class with her. But that hasn't stopped her. She keeps going and keeps trying. THAT is what exercise and being healthy is all about. It isn't about being "perfect" or having the perfect body. It is about constantly getting up in the morning and TRYING. One step at a time.

Take my measurements for example:

I started with this in July 2011:
Waist: 31 in
Hips: 40 in
Weight: 142 lbs
Body Fat: 34%

Goal:
Waist: 28 in
Hips: 38 in
Weight: 125 lbs
Body Fat: 30%

I set my goal so low because I didn't think I could actually get to where I wanted to be. I secretly wanted to have a 24" waist and 36" hips, but didn't think that after 4 babies I could ever get there again, without making some drastically unhealthy choices.

A year later, I hadn't made a lot of progress, except in the body fat area (although I am entirely convinced that the 18% drop came straight from my poor boobies that went from 36 DD to 30 B). I fully believe that this was because I had set my bar SO low that I didn't have any drive to actually reach it.

July 2012:

Weight: 140.8 

Body fat: 16.3% 

Waist: 31

Hips: 38.25

Chest: 29.5

Arms: 10/10.5

Thigh: 21

 

Now, only 2 MONTHS LATER, I am smaller than I ever thought I could get again, and I still have inches to lose if I want. I learned more about my body composition and that the magic number I was constantly reaching for (125lbs) was not going to make me LOOK the way I wanted. Seriously, what was I thinking? 125 lbs with 30% body fat would have meant that I was carrying around nearly 40 LBS OF FAT! Uh, no thank you (think boxes of butter, ew)!

So now, I am here:

Weight: 137 lbs

Body Fat: 15.6% (HALF of what my goal was last year!)

Waist: 27 in (smaller than my original goal)

Hips 36 in (my secret goal)

Chest: 29.25 in

Arm: 9.75/10.75 in (ha ha, I'm lopsided :/)

Thigh: 20 in

I am only carrying around 21lbs of fat and I have already hit my goal in several areas. The sheer difference in muscle/fat percentages is pretty awesome. I went from 94 lbs of muscle and 48 lbs of fat to 116 lbs of muscle and 21 lbs of fat. I can actually SEE the definition in my biceps that I never have before, even in High School when I was curling twice the weight I am now. The best part is that I am nearly the size I secretly always wanted to be and I'm still healthy. I always thought that in order to be as "skinny" as I really wanted that I would have to starve myself, or something. Nope. I just had to work my butt off. At this point, I can still safely lose 5 lbs of fat, putting me at 12% body fat and 132 lbs. With how many inches I lost just losing TWO pounds of fat, I'm kind of excited. In theory, I could lose an additional 11 inches. I don't know WHERE, but I would be totally happy with just another 4 or 5.

So, here's my new, improved goal:

Weight: 132 lbs

Body Fat: 12%

Waist: 24 in

Hips: 35 in (that would be so amazing)

Chest: 29 in

Arm: 9.75/9.75 (it would be nice to be even lol)

Thigh: 18 in

Total to lose: 5 lbs of fat and 6 inches

Think I can do it? We shall see...

July 2011

October 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dang... That is the fist time that I have seen those two pictures together... I feel a whole lot better

New Goals

This week I was looking back at when I first started posting my weigh ins and looking to see how much progress I have made. It is nowhere near where I wanted to be more than a year later, but it IS progress right? So here you have it:

             July 13, 2011                 August 22, 2012               Difference
waist:       31 inches                             27.75                          -3.25
hips:         40 inches                               37                                -3
thigh:        23 inches                             20.25                           -2.75
weight:      142 lbs                               138.4                           -3.6 lbs

Total lost: 9 inches and nearly 4 lbs of pure fat. (That is the equivalent of 4 boxes of butter slapped on my thighs. Crazy mental image...) I am hoping to lose another 4 lbs of fat this month, and overall, another 3 inches on my waist, 3 inches on my hips, and 2 inches on my thighs. That is just about what I have lost so far, so I think it is totally do-able. I just hope that it doesn't take another year to get it!

First Check In

Last month, I decided that I was having a difficult time staying motivated and accountable for my workouts. (I finished the entire first month of Insanity, and didn't even post on my blog!) Plus, I had been having some shoulder issues since Thanksgiving and was getting frustrated with not being able to do normal daily tasks, let alone my exercises. So, I talked it over with Riker and hired myself a personal trainer. I was wary at first since I signed up for remote training at home (taking the kiddos to the gym during the summer sounded like a BRILLIANT idea...) and I worried that I would still fall short of my goals. I did. But, the nice thing about getting a personal trainer is that I was able to tell her what my specific goals were and she could tailor a workout to MY body and MY goals. It was a lot different from what I had been doing before, and it included workouts specifically for my rotator cuff that was having problems.

I haven't posted about this before because I wanted to see how it went this first month before I really said anything. Today was my first check in/ weigh in since i started, so I figured now was as good a time as any.

My starting measurements:

Date: 7/17/12

Weight: 140.8 (ugh)

Bodyfat: 16.3% (WAY better than I expected)

Waist: 31

Hips: 38.25

Chest: 29.5

Arms: 10/10.5

Thigh:21

If you notice my last weigh in amounts, some of these numbers were a bit higher. I was pretty bummed. My new schedule had me doing a series of weight lifting sessions and 30-45 min of cardio 5 days a week. The first week, I thought I was going to die. Nearly every workout EVERY day had squats involved. By day 3, I was pulling myself up the stairs by the railing and dragging my legs behind me like I was paralyzed. (seriously, no joke. Riker was worried. I thought I was dying lol) By the end of the week, my shoulder didn't hurt for the first time in EIGHT months. It was sore from exercise, but it didn't HURT like it had before.

Week 2, I missed 2 days, but muscled through the other 3 as best I could. Week 3, I did every day, but no cardio and kind of wussed out on the weight lifting sets, only doing 2 sets instead of 3. I didn't know what was up, but I was super weak that whole week and had a hard time finishing a workout. A couple of times during these 3 weeks, I literally fell asleep laying on the floor between sets, I was SO exhausted. Week 4, I was busy getting the kids ready to start school and my schedule was a mess. I didn't work out AT ALL. Lame. Finally, last week, I had a rough time dealing with the new schedule, trying to stay on top of making lunches everyday (this is a new thing for our family this year), Tasha's birthday party, preparing a talk for church, and my ex sending me hostile emails every day. I missed my workouts again. Plus, I ate way off my normal menu plan several days, including cake, burgers and a pizza. 

Monday morning rolled around and it was time to face the music. I was super worried since the last 2 weeks had been so terrible. I was honestly afraid that I had gained weight. But, my fears were misplaced. Despite my shortcomings this month, I actually made some progress. More actually than I have in a while.

This month's measurements:

Date: 8/20/12

Weight: 138.4 (not much, but it was entirely fat!)

Bodyfat: 15.3%

Waist: 27.75 (yeah buddy! that is 3.25 inches lost!)

Hips: 37

Chest: 29.125

Arms: 10.25/11 (apparently I want this number to go up. Good to know)

Thigh: 20.25

Total lost: 2.5 lbs fat and 5.5 inches

I will take it!! My goal for next month is to lose 4 lbs of fat. That seems simple enough. I'm hoping that since the kids are in school now, I will be more able to exercise during Geordi's nap in the afternoon. Cross our fingers and see how it goes!

Insanity-Day1

So, I have decided that I am going to give the Insanity workout a try. A friend of mine just finished the Insanity: Asylum workout, which is the next step up, so I figured I could at least give the original a try.
I decided to try it over trying P90X again for 3 reasons: 1) it is only 60 days instead if 90 (summer break starts in less than 50), 2) there isn't any equipment needed and 3)they say you can get awesome abs without getting on the floor. Ab Ripper X is a killer workout, but is just a bit much for me. (FYI, I made it through 2 weeks of P90X before I stopped. Yes, it was hard. Yes, I noticed a definite improvement in that time. And No, I did not do it all 14 days.)

Today's "workout" was just a fitness test. You take all your measurements and then you do the test circuit where you try to do as many of the specific exercise as you can in just one minute. Now, I always thought that while I'm not in peak shape, or even my best shape, that I was at least in moderately decent shape. So that is the mindset I had when starting my fit test; I may not get as many as the people on the video, but it won't be too bad.

... Boy was I wrong. I finished the 25 min "test" laying on my floor, drowning in a puddle of my own sweat, and screaming "dear mother-- what was that?!?" Yeah...

And then I promptly polished off every last peanut M&M in my kid's Easter baskets (I have to get it out of the house somehow... right?)

Amazingly, I wasn't too sore. Just very very tired. If this is how the rest of the videos are, I am going to die!! But, I am determined to not be fat and lazy anymore. So, here are my results: (I would post a picture, but it was blurry and didn't really look any different from day 1 of P90X)

Measurements
Weight	137.5
BMI	25.1
Body Fat %	32
Neck	13.25
Chest	34
Waist	31
Hips	39
Right Thigh	23
Left Thigh	22.5
Right Calf	13.5
Left Calf	13.5
Right Bicep	11.25
Left Bicep	11.5
Right Forearm	9.5
Left Forearm	9.5

Weighty Wednesday- What Just Happened?

I have had so many people I know come up and ask me what I am doing to get so thin and commenting on how great I look. As you may have noticed from the sporadic posts, the answer to that question is basically "Nothing."

I walk to and from the school several times a day, totalling near 3 miles, but that is the extent of my exercise. I eat pretty much whatever I feel like eating and NEVER skip dessert whenever it is offered (seriously, it's a disease). So, why on earth do people keep commenting that I look great?

After noticing that my favorite pair of jeans was constantly loose and the zipper was always falling down, I started to believe them and pulled out my box of clothes that has been hiding and gathering dust in the back of my closet (seriously, I forgot some of those clothes still existed it has been back there for so long) and guess what?? They FIT! I have a little muffin top in the front on a few pairs of jeans and my boobs are still bigger than ever before, but I am a size-freaking-SIX! What?!? (should I really be complaining?)

I have come to the conclusion that this is my blessing from Heavenly Father that my body bounces back after childbirth. It happened with Worf and Data as well, but since I was 30 pounds heavier with Geordi, I assumed that I would just go back to that. Not all the way back to "tiny."

Since my clothes magically fit (including my old high school Prom dresses. Nice huh?) I figured I should probably weigh in and find out where I am on my goals. So, here we are:

Waist: 27.5
Hips: 38.5
Weight: 132
Body Fat: 29%

Looks like I have lost 2.5 inches on my waist (only 1.5 left to go!), maintained my hips (2.5 inches left there), lost 8 lbs (12 lbs to goal weight!!) and dropped 3% fat. Since ideal is somewhere between 21 and 24%, I think I will shoot for losing another 5% (I like my curves) but will hold off at 29% because I am still nursing.

So yea! It's progress. I can't even imagine what I'd look like if I had kept up with the P90X routine for the last 5 months. I think I will still pick it up, but AFTER I done nursing Geordi. :)

Weighty Wednesday-Facing the music

As you may have noticed, the postings are few and far between and there hasn't been much of anything regarding exercise. That's because there isn't any exercising going on. :/

I have been wearing my new shoes that I posted about last month, and while they definitely give my calves a workout, I'm not sure they are doing much else (they are still cute though!) and neither am I. I have been an absolute mess this month. Between 3 birthday parties, school starting, cub scouts, and court craziness, I'm lucky to still have hair.

On the walk home from school today, Yar turns to me and, out of the blue, says "Mom, when are you going to start exercising again?" I honestly didn't have an answer to that question... I keep thinking that I will start after the court stuff is sorted out, but that keeps getting pushed farther and farther away. In reality, if I say I'm not going to start until after court is settled, then I might as well say that I am not going to exercise until Worf turns 18. That is a REALLY long time...

I need to do SOMETHING. This is getting ridiculous. I just don't know where to start. I keep thinking that if I have a schedule, then it would be easier to fit exercise in regularly (along with housework, kids, and other commitments), but my schedule never seems to last for more than a few days. My willpower to get out of bed early is minimal at best. *sigh* I HAVE to change.

SO, I am starting over. New measurements, new goals.

Waist: 30 in
Hips: 38.5 in (holy crap! when did I lose that??)
Weight: 140 lbs
Body Fat: 32%

Goal: exercise at least twice this week.

Weighty Wednesday - I'm a slacker

So I am sorry to say that I did not exercise a single minute this week. I have been so overwhelmed with the crap I have been dealing with lately and the frantic scramble to get my house back in order before all of the kids come home from summer vacation. I have made some progress so far, but I am still falling behind in other areas, namely exercise. The worst thing? I didn't even eat healthy this week. I put on weight instead :(

My small silver lining: I had to buy new shoes this week and I found some shoes by Danskin that are supposed to help tone while you walk. I figured, what the heck. They were the same price as the regular tennis shoes, so why not? Since I walk the kids to and from school every day (total of 2 miles a day), maybe it will help. We'll see.

Weighty Wednesday-Healthy Me

Since I had a new baby nearly 5 months ago (has it really been 5 months already??) I have been like most other new moms and concerned with getting back in shape. Although I only put on 19 lbs when I was pregnant and then delivered a baby that was nearly 10 pounds (lucky me!), I was actually overweight when this all started. Now, while I am actually considerably lighter that when I got pregnant, (I actually weigh nearly 15 lbs less!!) I am still considered overweight for my size.

Don't get me wrong, I am not at all depressed by my weight and/or overall health. I actually have reached the point where I honestly don't care what my weight is. I care about being and feeling healthy and I am not there.

As soon as my dr cleared me to exercise again, I started doing P90X, which I got from my sister for Christmas. I LOVE it. The only problem that I have encountered is that it is an hour of my day EVERY day, which is sometimes hard to do with a newborn (you want me to do an hour of cardio at 5 am after going to bed at 11:30 and waking up 3 times to nurse?!? Forget it!)

P90X is an extreme workout when looked at as a whole, but when broken down into daily workouts, they are actually manageable. Riker used to be in the Marine Corps (he got out 2 years ago) and started the Classic routine. It whipped him pretty bad. So, I started on the Lean routine instead (besides I want to lose inches, not look like the govenator).

I will be honest, the first two weeks were awful. I didn't do every video, I was incredibly sore in places I didn't know existed, and I was worn out. I got discouraged and quit. After a few days, I noticed that I felt worse and I still wanted to get back in shape, so I started over. This time I managed 3 weeks. By the end of the 3rd week, I felt amazing. I was making it through every video and was actually able to do things I hadn't before (barely, but I could do it). However, life got in the way again and I wound up missing a few days. That turned into a week (it's amazing how much your body turns on you when you stop exercising), which turned into two...

Now, I feel icky again and not just because I am disappointed when I look at my body in the mirror. I feel lethargic and dull and I hate that feeling. So, I am going to start over. It will be interesting to see how this works with school starting next month (could be good, could be bad), but I will deal with that when I get to it. For now, I am just taking it one day at a time.

As a disclaimer, I am NOT one of those die-hard fitness gurus who hits the gym all the time. I am an average mom who has NEVER been considered "skinny" (or tall for that matter. Dang 5' 2"...) and has always been several steps behind the gurus. Just to prove it, I will be posting my measurements each week. Maybe I will even post a picture or two. (Ack! That's scary to see those... Hopefully it will get better!)

Today's measurements:
Waist: 31 in
Hips: 40 in
Weight: 142 lbs
Body Fat: 34%

Goal:
Waist: 28 in
Hips: 38 in
Weight: 125 lbs
Body Fat: 30%

Topic Headlines

Okay, here we go...

I am planning on trying to post on a daily basis, although with 4 kids, our busy schedules, and all of the court nonsense we are juggling, that may not always prove to be possible. We shall see how it goes. Thanks to Blogger putting out an app for my phone, it may be a little more reasonable, but who knows.

Since I have just a wide variety of things rolling around in my brain right now, and since this blog is an attempt to maintain my sanity, I figured that I would attempt to organize a few of those things into weekly topics. That way, I can spend some time on each thing that interests me without getting stuck in any one thing for too long. Good idea right? I sure hope so :)

So, my idea for topic headlines is as follows:

Monday- Miscellaneous Monday
As the name suggest, I can post about whatever I want without having to categorize it. That way, if I feel that I should spend more time on a topic this week, I have an extra day. Or if I feel like writing about something totally off topic, I can do that too.

Tuesday- Tasty Tuesday
I LOVE cooking, but don't always have a chance to do something fun every day (yes, my kids eat mac and cheese out of a box on occasion). This will be my chance post about all the fun and tasty things I have tried in the last week (or will try).

Wednesday-Weighty Wednesday
I am trying to get my health on track and need a weekly accountability day (weigh in, update, confession :O, etc). Also an opportunity to share things I have learned and struggle with.

Thursday-The Project (I tried to find a title that started with a T, but this was the best I could come up with)
A week-by-week project of loving an individual on purpose and with a plan (I will explain more on my first Project post)

Friday- Family Friday
I believe that my family is THE most important thing in my life, even if it is not the easiest. I want to be able to share what I have learned about building relationships within my family as I have an interesting family dynamic. Look forward to posts about spouses, ex-spouses, biological children, step children, siblings, parents, in-laws, all kinds of fun things!

Saturday-Scrappy Saturday
I love crafts (almost as much as cooking). I love working with my hands and having the satisfaction of creating something myself (part of the reason I love having babies). This is my day to post about any project I am working on from sewing, knitting and crochet, to scrapbooking and home improvement.

Sunday-Spiritual Sunday
I put Sunday as the last day because I want this day to be a relaxation from the rest of the week of craziness. This is the day I am most looking forward to. Watch for posts regarding my study and learning of the gospel and my testimony of my Savior and how it all fits into my everyday life.

Well, if any of you are reading (and I ever wind up keeping up with this schedule), I hope that you find a topic that interests you. I know that I am looking forward to next year when I can go back and read through my own posts and reminisce about what I've done this year.

So, on to posting!!