WI Week 9

Bootcamp Start Weight: 231
Previous Weight: 213
Current Weight: 209
Current Loss: 4 lbs
Total Loss: 22 lbs

Overall Total Loss: 146 lbs

Down 4 this week!
I'm coming up on 150 lbs down, and closing in on leaving the 200's forever!

I am feeling very motivated and plan to have a repeat of my awesome week :)

Excellent Week :)

I am having the best week that I have had in MONTHS! I have been totally 100% on plan with my food, making healthy choices, tracking every little bit and drinking lots of water. I have gone to they gym, hot yoga, or both everyday this week!

The scale is reflecting kindly and I'm aiming to get under 210 this week!

I am so exited... I am starting to FEEL small. My body fits into normal clothes. I don't stick out like a sore thumb in photographs. I ENJOY exercise and healthful foods!

I remember a time when this was the future... and this was something I wasn't even sure I could achieve. I'm here, I persisted, and I'm looking forward to the next leg of journey!!

:)

whole new world...

So I discovered today that I can shop almost ANYWHERE! For shirts, at least. I now have shirts from Banana Republic, Ricki's, and a local hippie-type shop :)

This is a whole new world for me... I have been waiting for this day!

Today I bought a long sleeved shirt in an XL.
I bought a tank top in a L.
and... drumroll please!!

I bought a sweater in a MEDIUM.

A MEDIUM!!

I phoned my boyfriend from the store to tell him *I* bought a *MEDIUM!* and it looks very nice!!

It is our 1 year anniversary on Monday, so we are going out for dinner tomorrow night. We are going for Thai food and a movie. I plan to weigh in for bootcamp tomorrow morning instead of Sunday, so that I'm not on salt-overload. haha

I have been way too busy to write. It might be like that until next week. But I'll be sure to keep you updated :)

Halfway... dang.

As predicted, I am up 1 lb today.

Today was the Week 6 weigh in. That means I'm half way through the program. I'm a bit disappointed with my numbers to date, but there is no sense dwelling on it. I have been working on an attitude makeover for the new week. I want to WANT to work hard, I want to WANT to eat well. Instead of phrasing everything in a "I don't want to" way, I need to remember why I'm doing this and that I have limited time with this amazing opportunity.

Push yourself! There are only six weeks left!!

I am going to get back to weighing and measuring my food, and work really hard at the gym this week. My Tuesday and Thursday cardio will be a solid 45-60 minutes.

I can do better! I hope to make my goal of 199 by the end of this program. I can reach that if I really put my mind to it.

I will be posting portion sizes and cardio workouts for the week on here, to keep myself accountable :)

Progress Pic - 139 lbs down

Camping in the rain + rock climbing = not so pretty picture.
However, who CARES! With that kind of comparison shot, I would have posted the pic even if I had spinach in my teeth. LOL!

I've lost an additional 9lbs since that was taken, in September.

Feels good again!

I took a few days off over Thanksgiving and I think that is exactly what I needed to feel better! The last few workouts I've had have been fantastic.
Yesterday, I did 30 minutes of spinning with my trainer before class. I was drenched by the end - and felt great! Then we did cardio boxing again, which I'm totally loving. We also did a bunch of lunges, squats, push-ups and crunches. It was a great day overall, totaling about 2 hours of exercise.

My new exercise watch says I burned 1580 calories. I was ECSTATIC!! It sure felt like I could have burned that, the spinning itself was SO intense. However, my boyfriend doesn't feel that is an accurate number. So I punched my exercise into Fitday.com and it came back saying about 900 calories. Okay, fine. I was a little less excited about that but it's still good!

I've been doing fine without cereal, and the no carbs in the evening thing was going well... until last night. I had some popcorn. I had plain air popped though, so there was no margarine or salt!! Just plain ol popcorn.

I was going to go to the gym this morning but I couldn't get out of bed. It was just too cozy in there, cuddling my kitty and snuggling my boyfriend. I may go after work, or I may just take the day off. Tomorrow is WI and super-buttkick day at the gym... so perhaps a rest in preparation :)

My home scale is showing me down about 4 lbs this week. I'm eating fresh today and drinking lots of water - fingers crossed that number sticks around for tomorrow! The scale says 217 - Every time it gets lower, I am more bewildered. I am 217 lbs? ME? I am actually at a weight that I don't really consider to be that bad. I'm at a weight where years ago I would have dreamily thought "Wouldn't it be nice?" haha.
I was right - it is nice :)

I have my sights set on Onederland. It's coming up around the corner - I know I'll get there :) In the summertime I set a personal goal of being 199 lbs or less by New Years Day, 2011. I think it can actually happen!!

:)

Confessions of an Indulgent Weekend

It wasn't the vegan pumpkin pie, it wasn't the mashed potatoes, or even the mushroom gravy. It wasn't the fact that I missed two of my workouts because I had two different dinners to attend.

It was this - this sneaky little bugger found his way into my hand. Over and over again:



Damn you, long island iced tea!



I did alright all things considered. I do feel like I ate too much bread, drank too much alcohol, and worked out too little. However, my home scale is being forgiving and only showing me up half a pound. I will be heading to the gym this afternoon for a high-quality cardio session. I will be eating light for the rest of the week.

It's funny - I was starting to feel burnt out with the whole bootcamp thing, but after my positive measurement results and my two days of eating without tracking - I am totally ready to recommit and give it my all again! I feel EXCITED to get working out. It was exactly what I needed.

:)

Sunday WI

I just posted this on the WW message board. Instead of re-articulating my thoughts, here is a cross post:

- 0, Stayed the same!

I was very disappointed at first, but I feel much better about it now. I've had some time to think and I decided to take the advice that I always give people who are down about STS. I didn't gain, I maintained. I had a huge loss last week and a fairly hectic week food and exercise wise. I am happy to have maintained.

I am still down 8lbs in 2 weeks, which is great. My clothes are already feeling better and I've received 4 compliments in the last three days. I am looking at the positives!

It is so easy to become a slave to the number on the scale and I don't want to do it anymore. This journey is so much more enjoyable when we're focussed on the positive, including NSVs.

I'm going to divorce my home scale this week and just focus on eating right, following the plan, and exercising the best I can. If I keep up a healthy lifestyle the weight WILL come off.

~ H

I was really choked when I didn't lose, but the gym owner came and gave us an awesome pep talk. I'm feeling so much better now. Our work out was great, I pushed myself that extra bit. I feel stronger; push ups and sit ups are getting easier. My thighs feel harder to the touch. I feel like I look great in the mirror when I'm working out.

In the last three days I have had a handful of compliments. I got a FB msg from a friend saying that "you look great in your pics, whatever you're doing - it's working!" I had an ex co-worker squeal "You're looking skinny!" when I ran into her. I had an old high friend tell me "You look great!" and - my mom and dad gave me a hug on my birthday and exclaimed "There's nothing left to hug!"

So, I can't been too upset the scale didn't move :)

First Weigh In!!

Well, I am home from my WEEK ONE WEIGH IN!

I lost 8lbs!! EIGHT!!
That is even better than when I did the bootcamp last time, and I was heavier then!

I had a great week, I ate well, had awesome work outs, and overall I feel like I really earned that loss. I am ecstatic!! I'm also super excited because I am at my lowest weight EVER :)

Bootcamp start weight: 231 lbs
Current weight: 223 lbs
Bootcamp loss to date: 8 lbs
Total loss to date: 132 lbs

I wish I could share more, however it is 9:00pm and I am leaving for a camping trip at 7:00 am, and I'm barely packed and frantically trying to get it together! I will be back on Tuesday night with tales of hiking, kayaking, spelunking (??), and all kinds of neat beachy-woodsy activities. :)

YAHOO!!! :)

Welcome to the hardest workouts you'll ever have

It's approaching rapidly and I'm ready for it!! I have a cocktail party tonight - drinks and appys with friends - and then IT'S ON!!

Here is the welcome e-mail I received last night. I have X'd out the names & telephone numbers for privacy.

-----

It's Finally here and we are all ready for you!

YOUR TEAM CLASS TIME IS 5:30 AM, (ugh) so you should be here between 5:00 and 5:10 am (double ugh) to do your cardio warm up before the class starts.

This may not be the exact time that you wanted but hopefully it's close. If you can try to make this time work, it is a logistical nightmare to do the scheduling of all 6 teams and the least amount of changes that I have to make would be very much appreciated.

YOUR TRAINER IS [NAME] and her email is [e-mail] and her cell phone # is [phone #] please make sure you contact her if you can"t make your class.

The Mandatory classes are Monday, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays. You will be assigned a Cardio Buddy for Tuesday and Thursday, hopefully this new support person works out to help you stay on track if not let your trainer know and a new arrangement will be made for you.

If you will be away, make sure your trainer knows to put together a plan for while you are away.

I have attached your teammates email addresses in the "To:" line for your contact between yourselves.

THE SEPTEMBER BIGGEST LOSER CLASS TIMES AND TRAINERS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

5:30 AM [TRAINER NAME]

6:30 AM [TRAINER NAME]

9:00 AM [TRAINER NAME]

4:30 PM [TRAINER NAME]

5:30 PM [TRAINER NAME]

You may substitute your class for any of the following times as long as you inform your trainer and please try to stay in your time and team for the 12 weeks but please use these other times so not to miss a class when your schedule does require changing.

The START DATE IS THIS SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 12TH, in case you didn't know!!!!

YOU CAN ATTEND ORIENTATION AND YOUR FIRST SESSION WITH YOUR TRAINER EITHER AT 10 AM till 12 NOON or 5 PM to 7 PM. Normally you attend either session on Sundays, but for this 1st one please reply back with which one you will be attending on the 11th so I can let your trainer know and be ready for you.

The First hour on Sunday, you will be orientated with Team, and Trainer, the Biggest Loser Handbook, you will receive your BL Shirt and be orientated on the level one Cardio options that start each workout here. Then as a group we will all be participating in the first workout. Please be ready to workout, sweats or comfy pants, and runners etc. We will be outside for these Sunday workouts so if you want to bring your "outdoor" shoes, feel free.

I have attached the first week of food and the shopping list for you to get prepared before Sunday to start the eating plan Monday September 13th

THE dreaded "Before" Photos, will be take an hour before and during and an hour after each session time and take 2-3 minutes. Please bring or wear your before outfit and try to wear the same clothing again in 12 weeks. Ladies please sports bra and shorts showing mid-section and upper thighs (Oh Good Lord, are you kidding me?) and guys shorts and no shirt will give you the best result for visual gratification as to how far you have come and how all your hard work paid off. The photographer will take good and private care of your photo's and will be back in 12 weeks to do them again. (WHAT! I have to wear short shorts and a sports bra for a PHOTOGRAPHER? Yikes!) Again, we do not use them, see them, put them on our website or photo albums they are for you and you only. They are not done in front of anyone else, and we really encourage you to step outside that comfort zone and do it as they will blow you away to show how much you changed. (Okay that doesn't sound SO bad. It will be uncomfortable though.)

Please reply to my email or I will call you to confirm. I want to make sure you are #1, ok with your session time for mon/wed and fri and which session time you will be attending on Sunday!

If you would like to bring a friend or spouse to Sunday, please feel free, we will try to rope them into the first workout though, so maybe give them a warning!!! (Oh yes, I am going to try to drag my boyfriend!! It'll give him a taste of what I'm in for these next 12 weeks!)

Thank you from all of us for being part of the coolest fitness program Nanaimo has to offer! We are looking forward to the transformations ahead of us and riding along this journey with you is going to be amazing!

I have met and spoke with each and every one of you and you are such an amazing group, I know the success will be off the charts. Please feel free to contact me throughout the program anytime for any reason to make your program better for you. I have the time to reply to an emails, questions and concerns you may have.

Welcome to the Biggest Loser SEPTEMBER 2010 and Fitness Edge!

-----

So, that's it I guess!! I've bought my new running shoes, a big container of vegan protein powder, I'm stocking up on healthy groceries this weekend. I have a little party tonight and that's the last I'll see of my dear friend alcohol for twelve weeks, and my even more dear friend, sleep.

I have actually put in a request to switch to the 4:30 pm group, simply because being at the gym at 5:00 am sounds HORRIFYING, I really don't know how healthy that would be for me. I suck at going to bed on time and I know sleep is very important for weight loss, stress management, and to keep me fresh for all my classes (as student AND teacher!) We'll see I guess!

I posted this on WW.ca so this might be a repeat for anyone who reads both boards.

I went shopping in Vancouver yesterday with my sister and mom. It was fun! EVERY single thing I tried on FIT, in every store! It felt so good to shop in non-plus size stores, to shop where my sister was shopping, and to really like everything I tried.

I am so confused about sizing these days. Either that or I'm confused about my body, haha. Yesterday I bought a hoodie from Lululemon that was size 12. I was amazed that anything from that store fit me, let alone be a TWELVE. I brushed it off as big sizing. Then, I went to Lotus Wear. I bought a pair of yoga pants... in a 12! Haha. Two twelves in one day. The 14 was too big! I still chalk it up to big sizing, because in Additionelle or Penningtons I'm an 16-18 top/18-20 bottom.

The clothes from Old Navy were all either L or XL (instead of the XXL or XXXL they offer). It was great! :)

All in all it was a very successful shopping trip. And now that I have two size twelves in my wardrobe, I can pretend that I'm a size 12. :P

New goals set :)

I have always known that I do much better when I set goals for myself, yet somehow I tend to ignore that. I recently cracked a milestone - with barely any effort - and it has re-inspired me to set some proper goals.

So here it goes!

I will go to the gym 3x per week, bike twice, and walk daily.
I will track my diet using fitday.com and weightwatchers.ca
I will drink 3L+ of water, daily.

My next weight goal has been set for December 31, 2010.

Current weight: 229.8
Target weight: 199.8
Total 30 lbs in just under 19 weeks

It CAN be done, but I will have to bust my arse!! I will be tracking, exercising, and weighing in. I have made a progress chart to make sure I'm on track to kicking these 30 lbs.

I know it will be a very meaningful day for me to see 199 lbs; I would LOVE to see that on the scale!

back!

The funniest thing happened the other day.

I decided to get my arse back to the gym (thank goodness! more on that in a moment) and I was talking with one of the trainers from the bootcamp. She said she was glad to see me back. After we were finished catching up this girl beside me on the elliptical asked: "Are you a vegetarian?"

I was like... vegan, yes?

She said she had read my blog and recognized me! Hehe... I didn't think anyone read this, ever! I guess she googled something about the bootcamp I was in and it came up. That kinda inspired me to get back to writing here, so... if you read this, and that was you at the gym - thanks! I will be posting my workouts and weightloss and stuff again. Perhaps adding some food photos and stuff. Yay :)

SO... on a personal note, things are going great for me. You'll notice in my last post that I was complaining about not knowing any other vegans or vegetarians, and about wanting to start a potluck or meetup. WELL... my how things have changed!

In that short of time, I've managed to move into a new place and all my roommates are either vegan or vegetarian. It is amazing - I'm so happy here! I've made so many new friends and I'm surrounded by awesome people who feel as passionately about animals as I do. They cook fantastic food which isn't so great for the weight loss, but I'm feeling especially inspired these days so I know that won't be too big of an obstacle.

Also... I have managed to get myself a very cute, very nice, wonderful vegan boyfriend <3

An awesome added bonus? He's in school for personal training, so he's going to kick my arse at the gym!! I will post about my weightloss and workouts here. I've already started, I've been the the gym 4 or 5 times recently. I haven't restarted WeightWatchers/portion control yet, so that's next on my list. I'm pretty happy about getting back into a proper workout routine though, and better yet - with an enthusiastic and motivating (and sexy!) workout partner :)

I gained back almost 12 lbs of the weight I lost over the summer, but I'm still at over 100lbs lost. I tend to do that though... lose 80, take a few months off and gain 10, lose 40, take a few months off and gain 12, etc etc... as long as it's going in the general downward direction I'm happy. It's a bit annoying but I know it won't take too long to re-lose that weight.

Anyways... I'm back! (I feel like I say that a lot? haha)

Once I have my workout routine down on paper from the boy, I will post it here. Also I will start posting my food. (Not today, as lunch consisted of vegan pizza and chocolate almond milk, haha) :/

Month One Results!

STARTING BODY WEIGHT: 282.5 lbs
CURRENT BODY WEIGHT: 263.5 lbs
TOTAL LOSS: 19 lbs

I actually lost 19 lbs in ONE month! Ohmygoodness. I feel like I could have done better because of last week when I gained 1, and I've had some drinks with friends a few times which will slow things down for sure... but 19 lbs? In ONE month? Wow.

The gym owner did my calipers (body fat testing) for the month. I lost an unbelievable amount of fat off my thighs, she actually had to retest 2 times to make sure she was doing it right!! haha.

My bodyfat percentage went down 4.1%. I lost 16.7 lbs of *actual* honest-to-goodness fat. I only lost .5 of lean mass which means I'm really doing things right -

16.7 fat
0.5 lean mass
1.8 water weight

I'm really proud of myself, and all things considered I think that is a great loss - drinks or not, stressful week or not - 19 lbs in one month is excellent :)

'Nother Evening Workout

Workout Length: 30 mins
Calories Burned: 490 (50% fat)

I was so pumped after running this morning that I went back to the gym to try it again. I was only able to go for 20 minutes before my ankle (which has been tender for 6 months) decided it was time to stop. Okay, so twice in one day is a little much? Note taken :)

I did 20 mins treadmill and 10 mins elliptical. I have to be back up and at the gym for 5:30. I'm hoping the scale says something nicer in the morning.

I saw two of the BL trainers at my work today, I got to chat with them a bit about how I'm excited about running and how I had a great loss, I'm feeling motivated etc etc... that was nice.

I've already prepared all of tomorrows meals, packed my lunch for work, and written down the points so I'll be totally OP again. 11 days 100% OP... I haven't even touched a single Flex or AP, I've had water every day, I'm on a roll! I'm so impressed with myself :D

Okay, bedtime!

I Rannnnn!

Workout Length: 60 minutes
Calories Burned: Bleep-Bleeeep! Grumble... I got to the gym and realized I forgot to put on my monitor. GRR!

I ran! I ran! I'm sooooo happy!

I got to the gym, and I did 20 minutes on the elliptical. I overheard one of the women on my BL team talking about how she ran on the treadmill. I remembered that I have that "Couch to 5K" podcast on my iPod, so I hopped on over to the treadmill and put it on.

I did week one of the podcast, so it's 90 second intervals of running, followed by 90 second intervals of brisk walking. I couldn't run for the whole 90 seconds, but I was doing between 45 and 60 each interval. I felt SO GOOD!! The endorphins were pumping and I was totally in the zone. By the end I must have looked hilarious because I was running with a big smile on my face, lol.

It was really hard, but it wasn't unbearable, and when it was over I felt better than I've ever felt after a workout in my life! I went home and bragged to everyone who would listen. LOL. I'm so proud and excited :)

I've decided that I love it and am actually going to follow the Couch to 5K program, and my goal is to finish the 8 week program over 10-12 weeks (it may take take me a bit more time than the average person) and hopefully by my birthday (Sept 22) I will be able to run 5K straight in 30 minutes. I don't really care about the time frame, I'd just be happy to be able to accomplish that!

On a not-s0-awesome note, I stepped on the scale this morning and I'm not showing a loss yet this week. Last week I was already showing down 4lbs by Thursday, so for me to not show anything yet is kinda freaking me out. I do feel like this week was a little messed up, with the salty popcorn and not working out 2x per day like I did last week. OH well. I just hope that I show even 1-3 lbs by Saturday... that'd be nice :)