Wednesday Workout Update - Random Edition

This is a bit of a random post, so bear with me - I'm kind of scattered today.

First off - the Wednesday Workout Update. Linda is selling her goats at the state fair in Dallas (she's a gal with many interests) so it was all Brad this week, which is a bit scary - he's pretty intense! And on my Tuesday workout, it was just me and one other woman (everyone else was out with the flu - it's hit our area hard already) - which meant Brad got to focus on us - yikes! That day, after killing myself on the rower in cardio (I reached 1085 rpm, which is a first for me), Brad had me do the "Cindy" workout which was 5 ring pull ups, 10 push ups and 15 squats - as many sets as you can do in 20 minutes. I told Brad I didn't know who Cindy was but I wasn't too pleased with her! (He said that workouts are often named after trainers...I just hope he never discovers the "Jillian" workout or I'll be toast!). Anyway, I got 15 sets in...and then went back for my workout this morning, so yeah, I am feeling every muscle in my body right about now! And to show you how hard I've been working, take a look at the picture below:

I've got another hand that matches this one - ouchies! I think it's time to get a better pair of weight gloves - I definitely need some more padding.

For the gym's 4th week challenge, I kept a food journal, which is something I haven't done in a few months. I have to say that it was kind of a pain to log in all the ingredients of my salad - I don't bother with lettuce, cucumber, mushrooms, strawberries or tomatoes, because the calorie count is minimal, but having to list pecans, Gorgonzola, dried papaya, garbanzo beans, avocado, chicken and salad dressing was time-consuming. It made me realize that eating intuitively, which I started doing in June, is still the right thing for me at this point in my diet. Case in point: I was so hungry this morning I felt like I could have gnawed my arm off. Made an early lunch of a whole-wheat chicken quesadilla and a bunch of grapes. The grapes have been finished off, but even though I was so hungry at the start, I didn't finish the quesadilla - I just felt done. And I listened to my body and stopped - I'm getting better and better at this!

Here's a side-by-side comparison (I tried to pose the same way) of me in my size 14 jeans and my size 10 jeans. There is a 30 pound weight difference from the shot on the left, taken in March, to the one on the right, taken last week. So six months, 30 pounds and two sizes down - progress is going slow, but it's steady, so I'll take it.

I miss the shirt on the left - loved the blues and purples in it!

If you haven't already entered, click here to enter my awesome book giveaway.

And click here to listen to a podcast by volleyball star Gabby Reece - our own MizFit was part of the roundtable discussion, and in a recent post had asked what questions we had for Gabby - mine was one of the questions that was picked! I have no shame to say that I screamed like a little girl when I heard my name said out loud!

Book Review and Giveaway!

One of my favorite weight-loss books, Thin is the New Happy by Valerie Frankel, is coming out in paperback on October 13th, and to celebrate, I have a brand-new hardcover edition to give to one lucky reader!

Valerie's weight loss odyssey began when she was 11 years old and her fatphobic mother put her on a diet to lose 10 pounds before a family vacation; as an adult, Valerie continued this journey up and down the scale for the next 30 years, when she finally decided to stop dieting. And subsequently lost the remaining weight that had plagued her for years...thanks to eating right and exercising regularly.

There is so much good stuff in this book - Valerie has led a very interesting and, at times, tragic life (her first husband died when she was 35) - she is an accomplished author of many novels as well as several non-fiction books (including co-writing a sex book!), she's the mother of two daughters who, thanks to her awareness, have not grown up with the fat issues that she did, she posed nude for Self magazine to help get over her fat obsession, and she's friends with Stacey London - yes, THE Stacey London of TLC's What Not To Wear, who helped Valerie revamp her wardrobe after she lost the weight (which is totally my dream!).

The paperback edition comes with an extended reading group guide, along with a conversation between Valerie and Stacey London (I read this and it's so fun!) and a post-script by Valerie in which she addresses the response to the hardcover edition.

If you would like to be entered in this giveaway, just leave a comment telling me if you would pose nude (tastefully, of course) when you are at your ideal weight. For the record, I could never! Comments accepted until 11:00 pm Sunday night - I'll do a random draw and post the winner on Monday, October 5th. Good luck!

Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Roly Poly Fish Heads...

...fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!

That song kept going through my mind last Wednesday, when I broke down and swallowed a fish oil capsule. I was very leery of trying one, because the last time I did, I burped fish all day long...and as I loathe, abhor and detest fish, it was a miserable day!!! However, since I have gone all "healthy" and such, and seeing as I don't eat seafood, I know that Omega-3's are sorely lacking in my diet. The small amounts of walnuts, spinach, broccoli and cauliflower that I eat aren't enough to make up for the seafood that I don't eat.

So when Linda told me the other day that she found a fish oil capsule that didn't make you burp, I was curious enough to try one of hers. I am happy and also surprised to report that I wouldn't have known the capsule was fish oil...there were no fishy burps! These were GNC Triple Strength Fish Oil soft gels - and I definitely will be purchasing a bottle of them come October 1st, when my bank account is magically replenished. (OK, it's not magically replenished, but with direct deposit, it's fun to wake up on the first of each month and find money there. What can I say - it takes very little to entertain me!)

I've also run out of my second big (think Sam's Club size) bottle of women's One-A-Day vitamins. I started taking them in May of 2008 when I began my diet, and I can't believe that I've actually kept up with taking them. Every day - even on the weekends! Now that's when you know a habit has formed, lol!

And now, what with this turning out to be such a health-centric post, I thought I'd leave you with a photo of the big bowl of candy that I ate for my afternoon snack:

This was so sweet - my first bite told me I was eating candy, no joke! So I have officially renamed this melon "candyloupe" - eat it up, yum!

Vanity Sizing and Losing Weight Without Really Trying - For Men

I had to laugh last weekend when my husband and I were out clothes shopping for him. Well, first, because apparently all of those salads I've served him over the summer have helped his waistline - he showed me how his shorts would completely fall down, while zipped and buttoned, if they weren't belted. They were really loose and baggy - it would have driven me crazy if they were my clothes, but that kind of stuff doesn't bother him very much. So since we are going on our trip in three weeks (!!!), we went looking for some shorts that actually fit him.

Found some great deals (gotta love the end-of-summer clearance racks), and while he was trying on the outfits I had picked out, I noticed that one of the shirts was too big on him. I checked the size - Large - and left the dressing room area to get him a Medium. Which fit. He was incredulous that at six feet and a little over 200 pounds, he could fit into a size Medium shirt. I hated to burst his bubble, but I explained about vanity sizing, and how certain clothing manufacturers do this to women's clothes to make them feel better about their purchase. And apparently it has extended to men's clothes as well. I think it's interesting for him to get a taste of what women encounter while shopping. Of course, he was mostly focused on the smaller waist size of his new shorts - I guess for men, that's the true size for them.

So while he's lost weight without really trying (yes, there are a lot of thing I could be saying about that), I'm still plugging away. The weight is coming off, slowly - but my body shape has changed, and I attribute that to my workouts. One thing that has me perplexed is the size of pants I'm fitting into. Y'all, I still weigh a lot - and yet the other day, I fit into every pair of size 10 pants that I tried on. If it were only a few pairs, I might attribute it to vanity sizing, but this was a lot of pairs of pants. Does muscle really weigh that much more than fat? I just know that when I was on my UP the scales, at this weight I was definitely not a size 10. It's weird to realize how much working out has done for my body...I never would have believed it. Some days, I still can't.

Wednesday Workout Update

Whew! I made it through another week of workouts and boy howdy am I happy that Thursday is my rest day...I am really feeling everything we did this week! From the 10 pound dumbbell thrusters (squat, then stand up and thrust the dumbbells above your head) to the 75 burpees (my nemesis - I keep telling Brad that at age 46 I have no need for algebra or burpees ever again in my life, but he won't listen) - yes, thrusters and burpees in the same workout! And then we went to the cardio room, where some rowing and boxing occurred (is it called boxing if you're just hitting a bag? - any case, I love it) and then Linda had me sprint on the treadmill for the last 30 seconds of the workout...I was beat, but I did it! So that was Monday.

Tuesday brought more crazy gym workouts - dips, squats, crunches, curls and a crazy ab exercise that had me with my upper arms in slings, hanging from a bar, holding a dumbbell between my thighs and lifting my knees - I call this one the ab-and-a-half workout. It looked fairly simple, but I really broke a sweat doing it! Then of course more cardio, which included the stepper (ugh) and squats - all I can say is that I am expecting to turn around in the mirror one of these days and see an awesome booty staring back at me!

On Wednesday in the gym I did one-leg deadlifts with the barbell and a ton of upper arm and back exercises to work on my Lovely Linda arms. Then off to cardio for a team workout - between the two of us, my partner and I had to do 500 squats, with one person doing a 2 minute wall sit while the other did the squats. Well, unfortunately for me, my partner had misunderstood how many sets she was supposed to do in the gym and had pretty much killed her legs, so I ended up doing more of the squats. I'm telling ya, I did not know that this week was official squat week, but apparently it was!

For last week's challenge, I chose to try a new vegetable - acorn squash. Most of the recipes I found on the web called for baking it with butter and brown sugar, which I think would make just about anything taste good! I opted for brushing the two sides with olive oil and sprinkling them with salt, pepper and an herbed seasoning mix that I've had for a while. I baked them cut side down, with a little water in the baking dish. When they were done, I sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese and some pecans on them, then baked the squash upright for a few more minutes. The verdict? It was ok. It was a lot of work getting the darn thing open, and I was worried that I would slip with the knife and injure myself. So I probably won't choose to cook one again, although if I was served it, I'd eat it.

It looks like a heart - how cute!

Dinner - grilled chicken tenders, 1/4 of the acorn squash, 1/2 of a small avocado (with plenty of salt and pepper!)

A couple of days later, I used the other half of the squash to make Biz's Acorn Squash Soup - it was really easy to put together, and I actually think I liked the squash better this way.

Notice how the soup color matches the yellow plate - yes I am the weirdo who gets a kick out of things like that!

The Week 4 Challenges have been posted: double your intake of Vitamin C (the flu has hit our area already); swap out a "bad" food item for a healthier one for your kids (like switching from Cinnamon Toast Crunch to Cinnamon Life cereal, for example); keep a food journal for a week; and run four quarter miles for time (run 1/4 mile, rest for a few minutes, then run the next one, etc.). I will definitely do the food journal, as I haven't been keeping mine for the last few months - I've been losing, so I know I'm eating right, but it will be interesting to see where I am, calorie-wise. I may do the run - just have to figure out where and also need to get a timer or a sports watch. Oh, and get the nerve up to do it, haha!

Food!

Today I thought I'd share a few of my latest favs, finds and surprises. First up: Flatout Wraps pizza. I've been reading about Flatout Wraps ever since I started blogging over a year ago, but didn't see them in my grocery store until last week, where I quickly grabbed a package. I have been wanting to make my favorite Hawaiian-style pizza, and since I'm no dough queen like our dear Biz, I knew that these low-calorie, high-fiber wraps would be the way to go!

Two slices of deli ham, 1/4 cup pineapple tidbits, 1/2 cup non-fat mozzarella cheese, tomato paste and Italian seasonings made up this yummy pizza!

My pizza ended up coming in at 280 calories for the whole thing(<---Biz phrase that I shamelessly stole), which isn't bad! The flavors totally met my craving without going over the top, calorie- and fat-wise, and I liked how the Flatout crisped up in the oven. This is a nice way to incorporate pizza into your healthy-eating lifestyle, but it's definitely for thin-crust lovers only. Just for fun, I made the same pizza on a low-calorie, high-fiber wheat tortilla. It wasn't the same, not by a long shot! Although the tortilla got crispy, it did not taste nearly as good as the Flatout pizza. I'll save the tortillas for quesadillas and the like. One other observation: I used a Flatout to make a wrap sandwich for lunch...and I wasn't a big fan. Don't know if it's because I made it the night before so I could take it to work, but it was kind-of gummy. So I'll reserve the Flatouts for pizza and use Orowheat Sandwich Thins for my sandwiches.

It looks more like a pizza, but doesn't taste as good!

Now, here's a surprise: I was shocked to discover that some canned tomato products contain high fructose corn syrup! While I was buying the ingredients for my pizza(s), I first grabbed a can of regular tomato paste. Then I saw one that had Italian seasoning mixed in, so I picked that one up and luckily checked the ingredients...after tomatoes, HFCS was listed! Why in the heck would they put that in a can of tomato paste? Naturally I got the plain paste, where the ingredients simply listed "tomatoes." When I got home I checked my canned goods and found a can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning...and you guessed it, high fructose corn syrup. As I haven't cooked my spaghetti sauce in a long time, I'm thinking this can has been in my pantry for quite a while. It's just strange to me that ingredients would be sweetened - I kind of understand things like jarred spaghetti sauce, because some people like their sauces sweet. But tomatoes? Color me surprised!

Next on my find list was Popchips! I bought a single serving bag - you get a lot of chips for 100 calories. I liked them! They were crisp and flavorful and make a great substitute for regular, or even baked, potato chips. Now, these will most likely not find their way into my diet very often, as they don't quite fit the "eat clean" bill, but if I were dying for some chips, I'd get these.

They come in many flavors, including bbq, sour cream and onion, and cheddar.

I swear there were more than 16 chips in the bag, but I was too busy eating to count!

The last item that I tried was Hershey's Dark Chocolate Kisses. I am not a huge dark chocolate fan - I absolutely LOVE milk chocolate - but having a couple of Dove Dark Chocolate Promises every evening seems to fulfill any chocolate cravings that I have, without me going off the deep end and devouring the entire bag, like I *ahem* have been known to do with milk chocolate. So why did I buy Hershey's when I like Dove? Well, Dove Promises are about 40 calories each, while the Hershey's Kisses are only 20. And I, in my crazy-brain, thought "Hey...I can have four Kisses for the same amount of calories as two Promises!" But guess what? The Kisses are no Promises. They just don't compare. So after I tried four of them (I had to be sure!), I handed the bag over to my human garbage disposal husband.

Sorry, Kisses...I love your pretty purple wrapper, but you don't stand up to the Promises.

My stash is getting low...need to buy some more soon!

Blenders...

Goodbye, old friend - you gave your life for my smoothies.

Hello, gorgeous!

Changing of the guard (and look how much bigger the new pitcher is - 56 oz. vs 40 oz.)

An essential part of my day! Easy recipe - 4 cups frozen fruit mix plus 2 cups water.

Beautifully blended!Ahhh...bliss!

Wednesday Friday Workout Update

Um, I've been a little behind this week, lol!

This was a busy week for me, and with the big dinner gala on Tuesday, that meant I couldn't make my 4 pm workout that day. Now the old me would have just said "woohoo, I get to miss one" but not the new me. Oh no. I asked Brad if there was another time that I could make up my workout...and yes, there was - 7:15 am on Tuesday. Geez, I have a hard enough time getting myself to the 8 am workouts...but I took it. So Tuesday morning, after catching up with Will, whom I haven't seen in months (his training schedule changed), I was immediately regretting that decision as the first thing he had us do was run sprints on the long driveway, with 25 squats between each sprint. Yeah...125 squats later, Will said "let's walk it out down the street" and I was thinking how nice he was, letting us work our sore muscles...but after we got about halfway down the street, he had us turn around and do lunges all the way back to the gym. Not so nice, Will!

I was glad that I did the workout, even though it was a little strange not being with my usual people. I was proud of myself for not letting a work event stop me from getting my exercise. I can't emphasize enough how abnormal this is for me - making the extra effort to get my workout in. Sometimes I take a step back and just wonder at who I've become!

So Wednesday's workout included another mile run (!!!) - and I have to say that just a minute into it, I thought I was gonna die. Sweet Linda was running with me and worked to calm me down - said my breathing was "panicky" - well, I would say so, as I was having severe doubts at the idea of how long that mile was and my being able to do it again...I mean, what if that first time was a fluke and I happened to be having an exceptionally athletic day? But, I did it - and actually took a minute off of my last time...finished at 10:56! I have to say that the street sign turn-around came up quicker than I expected - so the mile is getting shorter in my head, haha. I do, however, need to work on my breathing...the whole "in through the nose, out through the mouth" thing is harder than it sounds!

I have to mention that I felt like a total badass in the gym after the run - we were doing the bench press, and I did 3 sets of 25 reps at 55 pounds. I don't know why doing arm weights gives me such an attitude, but it cracks me up. What can I say, I find entertainment in the strangest ways!

With that run, I completed week 2 of Brad's challenge; now onto week 3, where the choices were: No caffeine (What?!? Give up my iced tea? Never!), no "whites" (flour, sugar, potatoes, etc.), no fried food (not an issue for me unless it's our once a month hamburger and fries dinner) and try a new vegetable. I chose the last one, and bought an acorn squash - I've seen several bloggers post recipes and pictures using this cute little vegetable, so I'm going to give it a try this weekend. I'll let you know how it turned out next week.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Last night was my workplace's annual dinner gala. This is my third year of going to this event - last year I was a few months into my diet and had lost about 35 pounds and was very pleased with what I was wearing and how I looked. Last night, I was thrilled with what I was wearing and how I looked! Pics below tell the tale:

September 2008
September 2009

Full-length shot (standing in my closet facing the mirror...and yes, I *do* happen to have pictures hanging in my closet, lol!)

Oh, I forgot to say that I borrowed the black beaded shrug that I'm wearing from a friend - what is so amazing about that is that I haven't been able to borrow any clothes from friends in a couple of decades!!!

And now one last picture - I had a few minutes to kill after I got dressed and sat down at the computer to read a few blogs (naturally) - I glanced over at my arm and noticed the faux diamond bracelet that I only wear on special occasions was much farther down on my arm than normal...what do you know, the bracelet has suddenly gotten bigger!

Eating Contentment

I had a couple of crazy busy days on Friday and Saturday and as a result, I was off of my normal food routine. But you know what? It was ok. I did not overly worry about what I was eating; I made a few reasonable choices as to what was in front of me and I felt good about it!

On Friday, my workplace hosted a luncheon for a national museum organization - a bunch of bluebloods came, toured, had a catered lunch, dropped some nice cash in our gift shop, and moved on to their next event. We worker-bees got to have lunch with them, and it was nice to not fret about what I was served - the salad had walnuts and gorgonzola, and although it came already dressed, I ate it without worrying about the fat or calories. Then came the main part of the meal - grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast with a bit of pesto sauce on top (yum), served on a homemade bun, with an olive tampanade on one side. I elected to not have the tampanade side of the bun, and used a knife and fork to eat the chicken/pesto side. It was so good and I didn't miss the other half of the bread - and while I normally choose to not eat white flour bread products, I didn't worry about the half that I did eat. A little melon and berries were served with the meal, which of course I gladly ate!

After work I quickly ate a homemade egg mcmuffin for dinner and then went to a friend's house where we, along with a few other folks, were getting items ready for a huge garage sale fundraiser for an organization that I help out with. We were overwhelmed by the amount of things that had been donated, and were trying to sort out everything in the pouring rain. It was crazy - tarps were up, but we were all getting pretty wet. At one point my friend and I went inside for a little snack break and had grapes - I have to say, it's pretty cool when you have someone who is on the same page, eating-wise, as yourself...makes life so much easier!

Saturday morning came much too early - we were up at 5 am and I ate a Luna bar while driving back to my friend's house for the actual garage sale. The rain held off for a couple of hours, which was nice, but then it came back with a vengeance! A few dozen donuts were brought by some other members of our organization, but I wasn't even tempted. At some point during that morning, my friend put a gorgeous peach into my hand - it was the best peach I've had all summer, no joke!

I had to leave the sale to get to work by 9:45 am, and once there, my husband went out for a cup of hot coffee (now that I was in an air conditioned building I was wet and cold) and a Jimmy John's unwich for me - just had him ask for no mayo - and I ate the entire thing! BTW, an unwich is a sandwich wrapped in a huge lettuce leaf instead of on bread. I guess I was so hungry because I got up extra early that morning? I normally don't eat that much for lunch.

Came home from work and had a much-needed nap! Then we decided to go get a hamburger for dinner - we split a half-pound burger (the place we go to will cut it for you and fix up two baskets with the fries that come with the burger - how cool is that?!?). After dinner I suggested a trip to Baskin Robbins - and I am proud to say that I kept my wits about me and only ordered a child's size scoop of their Chocolate Overload flavor - it's one of their healthier options, but it tasted like the real deal!

As I lay in bed later that night, I realized that I was really content with what I had eaten. I had what I wanted in reasonable amounts - I didn't feel deprived at all - and I still feel like I'm on track with regard to my weight loss. Times like this make all the eating struggles of the past worthwhile.

P.S. Did you know that people show up to garage sales early, in the dark, armed with flashlights? There were some hardcore bargain hunters out there!

P.S.S. I'm happy to report that we made nearly $1,900 for our organization, so even dealing with the rain, it was worth it!

POMx Iced Tea Review!

The nice folks at POM, makers of the delicious POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice, sent me some of their new POMx Antioxidant Super Tea to try - woohoo, I love iced tea and free stuff!

Here's my disclaimer: I don't like to drink my calories (protein drinks excepted) so this is not something I would normally buy. Even the low calorie bottles are 35 calories per serving, and each bottle contains two servings - and really, who would only drink half the bottle? So count on a minimum of 70 calories per bottle, or 160 if you're drinking their regular tea.

Also, I am a plain-Jane, unsweetened iced tea kind of girl. No flavors - I hate it when restaurants mistakenly refill my glass with their peach or raspberry tea. I don't know why I'm this way, but like Popeye says, "I yam what I yam." So take my review of these flavored teas with a grain of salt. Although that would be gross. Just - buyer beware, ok?

Onto the tasting. First off, I had the Pomegranate Wildberry White Tea, which was very light and refreshing. I liked it. It does not taste like iced tea to me, but it's a nice beverage that I would choose again, for a special occasion.

Next I tried the Pomegranate Hibiscus Green Tea - this was definitely a much stronger drink! I liked it at first, but then felt a tiny bit of a bitter aftertaste. Nothing horrible, mind you, but I didn't notice any aftertaste with the first flavor.

The next two teas are the full-calorie flavors: Pomegranate Peach Passion White Tea, which I didn't like, but then I'm not a big passion fruit fan; and Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea, which had an interesting flavor that I was not familiar with...must be the lychee - I liked it. That said, I wouldn't bother spending 160 of my daily calories on a drink that is not either a protein shake or a couple of servings of fruit, as in a smoothie. But I'm stingy like that - I like to eat my calories!

According to the literature that came with the teas, all of the POMx Iced Teas have more antioxidant potency than red wine, green tea, grape and acai extracts. So you're getting a pretty healthy bang for your buck with these drinks. All of the teas contain fructose, and the light teas also contain erythritol, which is a natural sweetener.

This Post Has No Title

A couple of updates...

First, I went shopping for new pants - and found that I was in uncharted territory! The last pair of pants I wore before summer hit was a pair of size 14 Lane Bryant jeans. They stopped fitting me around May, I think (it's been so long since I've needed to wear long pants that I can't remember). I spent the summer in capris and bermudas - easy for a short person to buy, as you don't have to deal with hemming them.

But long pants are a whole nother story! I must have tried on close to 30 pairs yesterday...it was crazy! I concentrated mostly on jeans, and pulled 10's and 12's from the petite section - did you know that some brands of petite pants come in "short" AND "average" lengths? This was news to me! Some jeans fit me in the size 10 and others in the size 12. Well, you know what size I wanted to buy, right?!? I know, it's not about the size, or the number on the scale, but darn it, I haven't worn a size 10 in probably 20 years, so you can see why I am a little fixated on it, lol!

I ended up loving a pair of Lee trouser jeans - but as the 12's were a little big, I decided to buy the 10's...only to discover that there was not a pair of this pant in size 10 in any color at the store today! Dang it, someone got to them before me! I found out I can order them from the Lee website and not pay any shipping, which is cool. So I'll buy them and of course have to get them hemmed - I want to wear them with my 2" heeled ankle boots, and the petite length is too short. Oh, to be just a couple inches taller!

Of course, while this will set me for work, I still need a pair of casual jeans. But that will have to wait for another day, when I can face the dressing room and a kajillion pairs again!

I did go to a thrift store today, and while they didn't have a big selection of jeans, I did find a cute navy blue Banana Republic (my first BR piece - woohoo!) fitted 3/4 sleeved jacket that will be perfect for three out of our four seasons. It's a little tight in the arms right now, but I think it will fit me perfectly pretty soon. And for $6, I couldn't pass it up! The size? Yeah...it's a 10. (cue the laughing now!)

**********
I completed Brad's first week challenge. Tuesday he listed the second week challenge choices:

• Drink 80 oz. of water each day (I already drink more than a gallon a day);
  
• No alcohol (I don't drink and tried to sign up for this one but he wouldn't let me, haha);
  
• Eat fish or take fish oil supplements three times this week (I hate seafood, and the one time I tried a fish oil capsule - about 5 years ago - I burped fish smell all day...it was the longest damn day of my life); or
  
• Run either one mile, a 5K or a 10K (depending on where you are in your fitness abilities). So that's the one I chose. Now to just do it!

Oh, and I had a cool NSV this morning at workout...I haven't worn my very cute purple (favorite color!) BCS Fitness shirt that I bought last February since June, when I switched to wicking workout shirts due to the extreme heat. It's cooled down in the mornings, so I wore finally wore it last week, and got a lot of comments along the line of "wow, your shirt is really big on you" - so this morning I took a couple of smaller sizes into the bathroom to try on - came out feeling like Miss America in my new size medium shirt - woohoo! From an XL to a M in eight months!!!

Challenge Update and Body Image

First things first...I got in my exercise for both Saturday and Sunday - yay! Went for a 5.72 mile bike ride on Saturday (was aiming for 6 miles, but Ginger came out and Paco wanted to play with her, so I cut it short) and I did a bunch of arm and back exercises using my new exertube-thingie! I have to say, I was confused at first because the tube has a dealie that slid around it...finally read the instructions and saw that you can shut it in your door - either on the side or on top - and do additional exercises. Note to self: make sure the dealie is secure in the door or it will smack you in the head - that was a surprise! Anyway, it was very cool - I was able to do some things that I remembered from my workouts that really work my triceps and shoulders. Lather, rinse, repeat for Sunday (except that I only rode 5 miles). I have to say that it's a little different riding my bike around the neighborhood without Jeff...for one thing, it's a kind of boring. Also, strangers tend to holler "hi" a bit more often. I'm proud of myself for doing it, and also for riding for so long - I've never gone past 5 1/2 miles.

And now onto body image. This might sound strange, but even though in my head I know that I've lost a ton of weight, and have bought clothes in progressively smaller sizes as a result, sometimes I still think of myself as fat.

I had a terrible fat day on Friday - just felt very big, bloated and blech. Partway through the day I caught sight of myself in the bathroom mirror and was really depressed by what I saw. Spent the rest of the day wondering if I would ever be thin. Went home, and as I was changing into comfy, lounge-around-the-house clothes, I looked at the sizes of what I was wearing: XL navy sweater shell (that I bought almost a year ago), L orange cardigan (bought last Feb/March) and size 12 brown capris - and realized that everything was really baggy on me. No wonder I felt so blah - I looked it! I threw everything into the laundry and then folded them for the Goodwill bag. And proceeded to try on and clear out my closet of more clothes that are too big. Yes, I could probably get away with wearing some of them, but not at the expense of feeling so crummy about myself.

So I'm down to 3 pairs of capris (plus the one pair of bermudas that are a bit too tight to wear in public yet). I need to get a pair of jeans - it rained last Thursday and I actually would have worn long pants to work had I owned a pair. So I'll be shopping this week - something that I'm actually trying NOT to do much of since we need every extra penny for our Hawaii trip. But I can spare a little bit in order to save me from my mental beat-down.

Challenges

Apparently September will be a month of challenges for me!

First, I took on Lori's personal challenge of losing four pounds this month, and then last Tuesday at my workout, Brad offered up several different challenges to do for one week (no sodas - I already do this; no drive thru meals - I already do this; no sugar - what, give up my Dove dark chocolate Promises?!?; or workout for five days this week) - you can probably guess that I chose the workouts, lol!

This means that I have to do something both Saturday and Sunday in order to complete Brad's challenge...I'm thinking that I'll ride my bike for six miles around my neighborhood and I'm also going to go buy an exercise tube so I can really work my arms. I figure I can also take the tube with me to Hawaii so I won't lose the progress I feel I'm finally making to get my Samantha Harris er, Lovely Linda arms and back!

I'm posting this on Friday night as my public commitment to getting those two workouts in - I know my lazy self, and with Jeff out of town until very late Sunday night AND my not having to work on Saturday (we're closed for the Labor Day weekend, woohoo!), I would otherwise loll around the house and not move much at all. So at least I'll move for about 45 minutes each day - go me!

Since this is a pretty boring post, I'll leave you with a couple pictures of Paco the wonder dog and his best friend, Ginger, playing in front of our houses this evening - they just love each other so much and have the best time together - watching them makes me laugh!

Paco is on the left, Ginger on the right

Playing with the neighborhood kids!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009...A Day To Remember

It started out like any other Wednesday...I woke up, read a few blogs, went back to sleep because it was still dark out (gotta love not being able to sleep through the night), woke up again when my alarm went off at 7:00 am, dressed and went to my workout. Brad divided us into two groups of three - my group went with him to the gym first, where we did some killer arm exercises which were very challenging. Then we switched over to Linda and cardio - I knew something was up when she told us to take a potty break if we needed it (she never does this) - and then as it was dawning on me that she had changed into a tank top, she got this funny smile on her face and said "we're going running."

Outside.

Half a mile to Bee Creek Street, and half a mile back to the gym.

I had a moment of panic, and then she said "I'll run with you the whole way. You can do it, I know you can."

And by god, I did it.

I ran the entire way, up to the street sign and back to the gym. Time: 11 minutes 55 seconds. I could not believe I did it! Tears were shed and hugs were exchanged - it was very emotional for both me and Linda. She's really been incredible with helping me get to my goals - and I had mentioned in July that I would like to be able to run a mile without stopping.

Someday.

I figured I might get there by the end of October. But today?!?

Well, I ran for six minutes on the treadmill on Monday, and then six minutes, followed by two minutes of walking and then another two of running on Tuesday...and apparently that's when Linda knew I could do it. Because if you'd asked me, I would have said there is no way I was ready to run a mile. But she knew. And stayed with me the entire time, talking to me, encouraging me, pushing me - and celebrating with me when I finished. I can't remember a time when I felt so accomplished. So thanks, Linda (she reads this blog) - you are amazing!

Later on, I checked Brad's Twitter page and look what he wrote - how very cool is this?!?

Final "Get Fit After 40 Summer Challenge" Weigh-In...And a Rant

By now, most of you know that I don't weigh myself daily or even weekly...the numbers make me crazy and can totally ruin my day. I realize that for some people, they can look at what the scale says logically and not be all bummed out if it does not show a loss when you've been doing everything exactly right, but not me. So I try to limit myself to a couple times a month for weigh-ins.

This really helps, especially since my weight loss seems to be going very slowly right now - but the important thing for me to remember is that I am losing while eating intuitively. Which is huge for me! In the past month, I've had a ton of fruit, lots of salads and grilled chicken, my favorite Greek yogurt, berries and cereal combination, cheese, nuts and smoothies, as well as some items from my "don't eat this very often list" which included: a restaurant meal with pasta, a yummy hamburger and some fries, a piece of red-velvet cake at a party, Ben and Jerry's Lemon Sorbet in a waffle-cone bowl (ate about half the bowl) and I'm sure there was more, but this is what sticks out in my mind right now. So with all that, I weighed in today and was happy to see that I have lost 17 pounds since June 1st! Woohoo!!!

Now on to September - I've pledged to lose four pounds with Lori...I'm definitely feeling motivated to make the best food choices I can in order to stay on this downward path!

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And now, a BMI rant. I have been weighing myself using my Wii Fit - this lovely piece of equipment not only tells you your weight, but also your BMI - actually it does this first. Then it pudges out your little Mii figure to correspond with how FAT you are - and says "that's obese" in a snotty voice. So today, I finally made it to the simply "overweight" BMI category - and I'm about 30 pounds away from my chosen goal weight. Which made me go look up my goal weight on a BMI chart - and apparently I will still be "overweight" when I am at goal, according to the BMI chart gods. What I want to know is who died and made BMI king?!? What a stupid, stupid system! I chose a goal weight that I believe I will be able to maintain fairly easily, without having to struggle on a daily basis. I want a healthy lifestyle, not something that I have to continually starve myself for. And for this, I will still be "overweight" - really?!? I don't think so. There is way too much emphasis put on the BMI number and I reject it. I am not just a number on a chart...or a number on a scale. I am much more than that - I am someone who has lost a ton of weight, who now exercises on a regular basis, who eats healthy most of the time, who has made a major lifestyle change. And I will not be defined by some stupid chart that was invented back in the 1800's.