Motivation April 28, 2009
Posted by Krystle in Motivational/Inspirational, Snap Fitness, The Routine, Thin & Healthy Total Solutions.Tags: Donna Krech
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I haven’t updated for a few days and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to do so! I weighed in last night and lost 1.8 lbs since my last weigh in on April 22nd. I was pleasantly surprised, and it’s exactly what I needed to keep going! I got on the scale this morning and it said 231.0 – I use my at home weight as my true weight, but for steady documentation purposes, I used my Thin and Healthy Weigh In, to keep things official/regular. I was super excited to see 231.0 on the scale… that is only TWO POUNDS away from 220’s! I haven’t been back there since last year at this time, and I always felt half way normal in the 220’s… obviously not normal enough because that is still too heavy for my liking, but you know what I mean. So, since March 30th, 2009 until today, I am down approx 15.2 lbs – I clearly remember seeing 246.0 on the scale at home with no clothes on right around that same time and that just so happened to be my official weigh in at Snap, so I’m using 246.2 as my official weigh in on all counts. Either way, 12.6 lbs down at Snap and 15.2 down at home – I will take it, absolutely!
A friend mentioned to me that she can tell I’m different this time around… I have a different attitude, I’m more motivated, more into it than I used to be… more understanding of what is going on with my body I guess is a good way to put it. Before I always thought I had to quit eating certain foods, exercise a certain amount, add certain foods to my diet, buy certain products, etc… I thought ALL of that was going to take the weight off… but guess what? It didn’t. Know why? Because I didn’t let it, and I didn’t give it 100% of my attention… nor did I truthfully think about the factors I needed to help me maintain a healthy life style. I was making FAR too many choices right off the bat that set me up for failure right away. You know how that goes usually, right? You give up after a few weeks/month. Been there done that and I wasn’t going to do it again!
A big piece of my motivation is for this fall… I have 2 weddings, 1 of which is for my cousin and a classmate of mine. The classmate of mine will have several of our high school classmates there for the dance and I absolutely positively want to show them all that I won’t always be the “fat girl”. Not that I care what they think, but for a mental thought for me… that’s what I want… I want to show them! More importantly for me though, I want to feel confident.
I haven’t been trying incredibly hard this time around to lose the weight… I’m trying to make it as seamless as possible. If I jump in head first, I promise you I will not continue this. I think that is what making it this time that much easier. I am just doing it – I’m not thinking about it all the time, it doesn’t occupy my mind every minute of every day like it normal would have. The times I think about it during the day is when I eat (obviously!) and when I stand up and walk to where ever I’m going. My stomach muscles are tighter, my pants fit better, I’m not bloated, etc… and THAT is what is making it so much easier this time around!
Right now I’m listening to Donna Krech’s Motivation Assassination CD and it is absolutely amazing – and has SO MANY valid TRUE points of why people fail at trying to lose weight. I wish I could put it on here for you to listen…!
**I am slowly getting a new website set up for my diet blog – I’m working on the theme right now. Stay tuned. When I do get it up and running, I will update you all here and provide a direct link to my new spot!**
Dare April 22, 2009
Posted by Krystle in Motivational/Inspirational, Snap Fitness, The Health Stuff, The Routine, Thin & Healthy Total Solutions.Tags: Dieting, Motivational, Thin & Healthy, Weight Loss
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Don’t Quit
When you’ve eaten too much and you can’t write it down,
And you feel like the biggest failure in town.
When you want to give up just because you gave in,
and forget all about being healthy and thin.
So What! You went over your points a bit,
It’s your next move that counts…So don’t you quit!
It’s a moment of truth, it’s an attitude change.
It’s learning the skills to get back in your range.
It’s telling yourself, “You’ve done great up till now.
You can take on this challenge and beat it somehow.”
It’s part of your journey toward reaching your goal.
You’re still gonna make it, just stay in control.
To stumble and fall is not a disgrace,
If you summon the will to get back in the race.
But, often the struggler’s, when loosing their grip,
Just throw in the towel and continue to slip.
And learn too late when the damage is done,
that the race wasn’t over…they still could have won.
Lifestyle change can be awkward and slow,
but facing each challenge will help you grow.
Success is failure turned inside out,
the silver tint in a cloud of doubt.
When you’re pushing to the brink, just refuse to submit,
If you bite it, you write it….But don’t you quit!
– Author Unknown
Goals, Rewards and other ramblings! April 20, 2009
Posted by Krystle in Motivational/Inspirational, Snap Fitness, The Health Stuff, The Routine, Thin & Healthy Total Solutions.Tags: Factor V Leiden, PCOS
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I got to thinking a little bit this weekend about what I want my reward to be once I hit my goal weight. I don’t want to go out and have a big fancy meal, I don’t want anything relating to food to be my reward. Why would I want to reward myself with something that caused me to get where I was in the first place?
So I thought, and I thought about a handful of things that I would love to do as a reward to myself for accomplishing something I have been wanting for so very long.
Makeover: Thought about this, however I can do my make up and hair and dress half way normal WITH extra weight, what will I beable to do withOUT that extra weight? That’s a challenge I want to do all by my lonesome! Spend oodles of time and hours looking for my new fun clothes, at my own little pace!
Tattoo: I’ve been wanting a tattoo for some time. Nothing extravagant, just something fairly small to signify my life, and attitude towards daily challenges… and to remind me when the going get tough, to keep pushing through. I’ve thought about getting chinese characters of Strength, Faith, Love and Hope; I have also thought about getting the word Serenity written somewhere where I can see it every single day, perhaps on the inside of my wrist – just very small. I was looking at the Serenity prayer, and I just love it. I’ve thought about a few other things, but for now, these are what have come to mind.
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” ~Reinhold Niebuhr
Trip/Vacation: I would love to plan a vacation/trip in honor of me reaching my goal weight, but I’m not real sure at how achievable it is. I would love to tell myself to plan a beautiful trip to somewhere tropical where I can for once feel comfortable in my own skin and not hiding under ridiculous amounts of clothing, etc… but I don’t want to say I’m going to go somewhere and then not go. If I set a goal, and tell myself I am going to do it… I want to do it.
Family Pictures: I would love for Chris and I to go have some nice pictures taken of the two of us. He is trying hard himself to get healthier, and he has been working very hard at it. Of all the pictures him and I have over the past 4.5 years; to finally see us in a picture where we look so different, so much more alive… that would be great.
Special Gift: I’m not sure yet what this special gift would be; perhaps it’d be something that both Chris and I want or have wanted. Maybe it’s a new bedroom set, or a new something for the house or… I don’t know, maybe even a child. Maybe once we reach our goal weights and are healthier, and more dedicated to ourselves and our lives, maybe at that point we will realize that we are ready to have children of our own. We don’t want to be the parents who can’t go outside and play with their kiddos or parents who are always so so very tired that they cannot go anywhere or do anything. That is not fair to your child if you are giving up things for them to do in life because you let your own weight get out of hand. So, the special gift could be many things… time will tell!
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On another note, sorry if this is TMI, but I just have to talk about this. As you may or may not know, I have PCOS. It is SO very common in women, and unfortunately it can deprive you of SO many things in life… one of them being children. This is a tremendous fear for me as I would do just about ANYTHING to have a child of my very own. I was diagnosed when I was 17-18 years old, I hadn’t had my period yet… and I was started to feel left out. That sounds strange, but when you reach your senior year in high school and all of your friends at one time or another talk about their monthly cycle being a pain, etc – you feel weird, or left out because you don’t know how to act; as you don’t want to tell them that you don’t have your period yet. Most girls get them in middle school. Now, of course, looking back it was a perfectly fine thing that I didn’t get it until later in my school years… however, that was one of the main reasons for the diagnosis.
After I was diagnosed, my doctor put me on Yasmin birth control, and my periods came monthly just like anyone else. Eventually I don’t know what happened, but about a year and a half after I was diagnosed, I ended up getting pregnant, only to miscarry at 8 weeks. It was bittersweet about the miscarriage, horrible that it happened… however, I was happy to know that I COULD get pregnant – or at least I did that one time. I eventually had to be taken off my birth control pills because I was diagnosed with Factor V Leiden which is a blood clotting disorder, and has an increased tendency to form abnormal blood clots (and cause pregnancy complications). So, with having the Factor V, I could no longer be on any hormonal birth control due to the clotting factor that these have; which mean’t I could no longer be on birth control, which helped manage my PCOS/periods. I absolutely did NOT want to take any chances of getting a blood clot. My mom has this, my uncle and another aunt have the FV Leiden, in fact my uncle almost died from a blood clot, and my mom’s dad who died at age 46 of a heart attack, had clots too – however he was never diagnosed with the FV Leiden. It just wasn’t a risk that I was willing to take; so off the birth control I went. After about a year of having less than 5 periods in 12 months, I started dieting and I ended up losing about 35 lbs… after I started eating healthier and losing weight, my hormones were leveling out and my monthly periods were returning! This was great, however I eventually gained back that weight and low and behold, my periods disappeared once again to a once every 3 months type deal over the past year. This past January I started eating healthier again, and starting in February I got my P, and then about 29 days later in March, I got it again… and now here we are in April, and I got it again, right on day 27-28… this is a huge motivator for me… who would have thought getting your monthly cycle would be a motivator for someone to continue losing weight? I didn’t. Chris and I had a long discussion this weekend about children, and when we would like to start our own family… and I have ALWAYS been absolutely terrified and concerned about the fact that we will have trouble conceiving because I don’t ever get my periods. Now that I know healthy eating, exercising and weight loss will help keep my cycle under control, and montly… I’ll be damned if I’m going to stop now. I want a baby, and that is that… So, just another reason why I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. It’s not too hard to weigh out… chocolates, sweets, over-abundance of carbs, pop and no periods which means extra trouble getting pregnant… or, healthy eating, less sweets, good carbs, less/no pop, and monthly cycles which means better chances of getting pregnant……….. I bet you know which one I will pick! ;o)
So, needless to say – as of yesterday, I was still down 1 lb from my last weigh in at Snap on Wednesday the 15th, however this AM I was up 2 lbs – I usually always go up a little bit when my P rolls around… and this is okay! I know it’s my body doing wonky things, and I know come later this week or early next week, I’ll be right back to square one. Any other time, this would have discouraged me and I would have thrown in the towel. It’s a known fact that us females go through highs and lows (and hell and back! Oh, our poor husbands!) that week out of the month, and I can’t feel guilty for getting on the scale tonight with one of my coaches and seeing a gain. It’s just the way it is, and that’s okay – they as well as I understand!
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I have been doing more reflecting over the past week. I have been working hard at keeping the attitude I currently have… it’s what keeps ME going, and apparently inspiring others. I’m so proud of that, and I’m so happy that me of all people, who 6 months ago would have rather stayed curled up in my own shell, is now starting to come OUT of that shell and be the person she truthfully wants to be. This is HUGE! I’m learning things that I can and cannot do, when I’m pushing it too far, and when I just need to step back and analyze what I’m doing so I don’t get tired or burn’t out. Thankfully I haven’t had a whole lot of burn out feelings or tired feelings – because seeing the changes in my body is making it absolutely worth it, and inspiring myself to keep on, keepin’ on. This past week, however – I have had a little lower routine as far as physical workouts go. I blame my parents. No, no, I’m totally kidding! 🙂 I only blame my parents because they were on vacation in California from Wednesday until yesterday, and I missed them at the gym. I haven’t done the weight machines since last Monday, 7 days ago. For that week prior, I was feeling pretty sore, and it took about 4 days to finally not feel like my arm was constantly carrying a 50 lb weight around… however, I know I didn’t need to have off the past 7 days from those weight machines like I did. Monday night, my parents and I worked out like normal – 30 mins cardio and about 45 min to an hour on the weight machines. Tuesday, they don’t usually work out, so I was going to go on my own. I drove seperate to our park n’ ride to drive straight to Snap right after work as normal, except I made a horrible choice to read for about 5 miles in the car, on the way home from work, while sitting in the back seat. Apparently that’s all it took for my stomach to start flopping in circles, and to migrate it’s way up my throat. I drove home with the A/C on, windows down – fighting off the urge to get sick. I got home, spent some time outside in the nice breeze, had a little relaxing time on the couch and then after about an hour, my stomach finally settled down and I started cleaning. You know that strange feeling when you have the flu and then you puke and right after you feel a strange sense of energy? That’s how I felt, only I didn’t have to throw up in order to get that way. I changed into my comfy clothes at home, and got moving – I cleaned the whole house, vaccumed out my car, I broke out in a nice big sweat, and it felt great! So, thankfully when I didn’t think I was going to get my workout in, I at least got some sort of physical activity. Wednesday evening, I went to workout – weighed in, got measured, spent quite a long time talking with my coaches (who seriously owe a tremendous amount of thanks to, because they, especially Kari the owner got me to where I am right now, and I am SO thankful!) and it soon got to be 7:30/8pm and it dawned on me that our puppy (1.5 yr old german shepherd, ha!) was at home!! He is usually at my parents house, outside but since they weren’t going to be home, Chris left him at home! I got a late start getting to Snap anyways, since I started work an hour later than usually since I had to bring my parents to the airport, but still… so, I quickly did at least 15 minutes on the treadmill and ventured home. I was sad I wasn’t able to work out like normal, as I had planned to do the weight machines and workout routine as normal, but Duke was happy to see me – and I ended up going to bed early anyways, which worked out well in the end. Thursday then, I had a pre-scheduled 60 minute massage after work, from 5 until 6, and the plan was to go straight to Snap afterwards and do my workout… well, I didn’t leave my massage until 6:30, by the time I got to Snap it was nearly 7, Duke was at my parents house this time with their dog since I had planned to be home later anyways… and I got on the Arc Trainer like normal, and I was so incredibly out of breath, SO quick… I could barely catch my breath, I had to keep trying to yawn to get a deep breath, I just didn’t have the umpf and feeling I normally had; I felt strange. So, after 10 minutes on the Arc, when I normally can do 30 without a problem, I got on the treadmill and finished there for 20 minutes. Still not filling well and with it being about 8 or so by now (as I had talked to Kari for a while!) I headed home… I just wasn’t feeling right. After I got home, I relaxed a bit – drank some water, and went to bed. Friday, I don’t remember what I did… I had plans of weighing in, but then I remembered that there was no coaching that night – so I went home and cleaned the house again. This past weekend, didn’t really consist of a lot other than Chris and I spenting quite a bit of time together, which was much needed. Some days I forget who I’m married to since we only see each others on the weekend as we work opposite shifts!
So, as you can see – I didn’t have the best workout week, however worked out at least a little none-the-less! I’m looking forward to tonight, I’ve missed it and it’s always fun when my parents are there, just because we have fun while there! And, tonight and hopefully for the next month Chris will be coming with us too! He went back to working days for the next month as he is training on a machine that my dad is running! My dad and Chris work at the same place, and have the same occupation – and now they’ll be working on the same machine! 🙂 So, all 4 of us will be working out now… one little happy nerdy family! Ha!
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So with yet another extremely long winded post that got way too indepth, I will leave you with a song my mom told me about this morning that she said is her new favorite. I have a slight feeling it’s going to become my new favorite too… if you can figure out why!
Do more than exist, LIVE.
Do more than touch, FEEL.
Do more than look, OBSERVE.
Do more than read, ABSORB.
Do more than hear, LISTEN.
Do more than listen, UNDERSTAND,
Do more than think, PONDER.
Do more than talk, SAY SOMETHING.
– John H. Rhoades
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“By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be.” -Mark Victor Hansen
…so, this is what it’s like when you… April 15, 2009
Posted by Krystle in Snap Fitness, The Routine, Thin & Healthy Total Solutions.Tags: body fat, Body measurements, diet, Dieting, Measurements, Snap, thin and healthy total solutions, Weight Loss
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…work SO VERY HARD, and get rewarded for it!
THIS my friends, is what keeps me going!!! I got measured tonight… and I will every 2 weeks. Results? Yeah! See below! The first number’s are my measurements on 3/30 (my first day with Snap) and the second numbers are my measurements today on 4/15 after TWO weeks of kicking butt… and the third number is the total lost, comparing my last measurement. All numbers are in inches.
Neck: 16.5 – 16 = -.5
Shoulder: 44 – 45 = +1
Chest: 50.75 – 49.5 = -.75
Mid: 46.25 – 42.5 = -3.75 (!!!!!)
Waist: 44.5 – 42.5 = -2
Abs: 49 – 46.5 = -2.5
Hips: 47 – 44.5 = -2.5
Thighs: 26.25 – 25 = -1.25 x 2 (for 2 thighs) = -2.5
Knees: 20 – 18.25 = -1.75 x 2 (for 2 knees) = -3.5
Calves: 17.75 – 17.25 = -.5 x 2 (for 2 calves) = -1
Ankle: 10.25 – 10.25 = -0-
Bicep: 15.25 – 14.5 = -.75 x 2 (for 2 biceps) = -1.5
Forearm: 11.5 – 11.25 = -.25 x 2 (for 2 forearms) = -.5
Total Inches Lost for 1st Measurement: 21…TWENTY ONE! TWO-ONE!
Weight: 246.2 – 235.8 = -10.4 in 2 Weeks! 5.2 lb loss per week. Although I LOVE seeing 5.2 loss per week, I don’t want it to continue at this rate, I want it to come off so it STAYS off!
Body Fat %: 40.4 – 40.1 = -.3 loss in BF in 2 weeks!
Fat Weight: 99.4 – 94.5 = -5.0 lb loss of actual fat = 5 pounds of butter!
Lean Weight: 146.8 – 141.3 = -5.0 lb loss of lean weight = With a 10.4 lb loss in the last 2 weeks, this means I have gained +5 lbs in GOOD lean muscle! Yay!
Activity Level: 10 – 11.5 = +1.5 which means, my starting activity level was sedentary (10) and it has now increased to 11.5 which is activity 3-4 nights per week. Ya!
Metabolic Rate: 1468 – 1624 = +156 more calories every day that I’m burning now that I’ve started to be more physical!
I cannot even tell you how thrilled and happy I was with seeing that many inches lost, and lost in every part of my body. That tells me that I am doing something right, I’m losing EVERYWHERE! I also like looking at the Lean Weight Loss/Gain and BodyFat %, etc and the Metabolic Rate. This is all so very interesting, and REWARDING! I am SO proud, and SO happy that I am finally treating my body like it should be treated.
When I had my coaching tonight with Kari, the owner, she mentioned to me that she would like me to be her poster child, with my motivation and dedication, and positive attitude… I could inspire a lot of people. I know what type of inspiration I want to see, or what inspires ME… and I like to take that, turn that around and do my absolute best at inspiring YOU, because that KEEPS me inspired. It’s a thing that just keeps giving, and giving, and giving.
Proud of myself; I cannot even begin to tell you what that word means to me… and how it makes a person feel.
“You have failed only when you quit trying. Until then, you’re still in the act of progression. So, never quit trying and you’ll never be a failure.” ~Tommy Kelley
“My life tomorrow will be the result of my attitudes and the choices I make today.”
“Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.”
Success is not a race, be patient.
Success leads to success.
Success is always a work in progress.
Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.
Success is a journey, not a destination. Focus on the process.
Some people dream about success… while others wake up and work hard at it.
Success is achieved and maintained by those who try-and keep trying.
Everyday is a good day to SUCCEED!
If at first you don’t succeed-try, try again
What’s your excuse? If you have an excuse right now that you cannot lose weight, or that you cannot workout or get physical activity, or you have no idea where to start-so you don’t……well, guess what? NONE of your excuses are good enough, notta, none! You know why I know that those excuses aren’t good enough? Because I’ve been there… I’ve been RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE! I’ve told myself over and over and over again, ALL of my life… “I’m starting on Monday, I really am starting on Monday this time, I’m serious.” I bet you and I both know what I did, and that wasn’t “starting on Monday”. I’m not hurting annnnnnnyone else but MYSELF… do you like hurting yourself? Do you like every single day abusing your body? I bet you don’t… and you don’t have to. Why keep cheating your body and life out of something so amazing…
So tell me again… what’s your excuse?
“In addition to increased risk of health conditions, nearly 300,000 Americans die unnecessarily each year due to obesity-related health problems and obese people die younger than normal-weight people.” -I found this blurb here.
Reflection April 15, 2009
Posted by Krystle in Snap Fitness, The bodybugg, Thin & Healthy Total Solutions.Tags: Dedication, Dieting, Eating, Fitness, Health, Healthy, Life, Reflection, Snap Fitness, Weight Loss, Workout
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I haven’t updated for a while, not because I haven’t had anything to say – but just because I haven’t had the time to sit down and think it all out. I’ve had a lot of thoughts roaming through my mind for the past few days, some good thoughts, some okay thoughts, some… you know, same old same old. For the most part, I’ve been feeling really well, and really proud. If you could see from my last post, I’ve had more inspiration than normal lately. I think I’m finally putting 2 and 2 together, and doing what I need to do, and not making it a chore like I always used to.
In the past years, I have tried dieting in the form of pills, exercise, not eating, depression, every fad diet out there it seems which includes LA Weight Loss (EXPENSIVE!!), Weight Watchers, plans with a close friend because “I was going to listen to her this time, and she was going to kick my butt in shape” and all sorts of other things. If you look back a few posts, you’ll see all the things I bought that I thought would allow me to succeed in my weight loss. I have spent ungodly amounts of money the past 6 months of things that truthfully, I don’t use. I can honestly tell you, I haven’t opened up a biggest loser cookbook and made a single thing out of there. I have spent oodles of money on those. I had the 30 Day Shred, TBL Cardio Max with Bob, Jillian and Kim, I have the bodybugg, the Wii Fit, Wii Jillian Game, the DWTS Latin Dance Cardio Dance DVD, I even joined TBL online club which gave me ALL of my food and exercise plans, and I’ve joined SparkPeople in the past (which was thankfully free!)… all sorts of stuff, and to be 150% honest with you, I have never ever had the feeling of dedication and inspiration with them that I had now, well other than the bodybugg. I spent let’s see… let’s just tally this all up.
bodybugg: $340
30 Day Shred: $14
TBL Cardio Max: $15
TBL Online Club with 3 cook books: $60 for 3 months
WW Online: $60 for 3 months
SparkPeople: $0 (free and AWESOME for those of you who need only a little extra push)
TBL books (4): $55
Wii Fit: $90
Wii Jillian Game: $30
WW at Work: $200 total with sign up fees and weekly $10 payments for weighing in
DWTS Latin Cardio Dance: $20
LA Weight Loss in 2007/08: $500 or more TOTAL over the course of 6 months (includes sign up fee, weekly bars, etc)
Am I forgetting anything? Let’s see what I’ve spent over the course of the past let’s just say 4 years. After totalling it all up, I’ve spent $1,384.00 on STUFF, stuff that I never truthfully gave my heart to. I will say though, I can take the bodybugg out of that equation for sure (I LOVE THAT THING!!), so that gives me $1,044.00 over the past few years (mainly within the past year) that I have spent on “trying to change my life.” And I never stuck to those things. I gave LA Weight Loss a good chance, I did lose some weight on that, but it came all back on within 6 months of losing it, WW Online just never stuck with me, TBL Online Club didn’t work for me because I didn’t like the program/online formatting, and TBL cookbooks are great, I just never used them. I also have the TBL Fitness Program book and TBL 30 Day Jump Start book which I didn’t barely look through; I wasn’t ready.
Looking back over the past 30 days, I have changed a lot. I started out just wanting to give up… I knew I was big, I knew I had a go 60 or so pounds to lose, but I started getting comfortable in my own skin. I always told myself, “I could be bigger, I could have it worse, I’m not the only one weighing 246 lbs out there, that’s nothing right? Right!” and I’d be on my merry little way to DQ or McDonald’s. I’d tell myself that, and while some people would give their left arm to be 246 lbs; with that being my so close to my heighest weight ever, I had a completely different mind set. I didn’t want to try to better myself, I was going to be fine just where I was at… that was no question. Until, one day it hit me… looking in the mirror and seeing pictures of myself; I wanted to cry. That wasn’t me in that picture, or in that mirror… I didn’t want that to be me. I wanted to be proud, to make my husband proud because I know he wants me to feel better about myself too. Over the course of the past few months, my parents joined Snap Fitness near our home, directly on our way home from work. My dad is a big guy, however only weighing his highest at 255 lbs, 6’1″ I believe he is. He was a big guy, but far from extremely obese… except he knew he wanted to lose a few pounds, he knew he had to do something before his weight continued to raise. And, my mom? She’s 5’8″ 140 lbs… she doesn’t need to lose any weight, but she enjoys working out, she enjoys staying physical and staying strong, both mentally and phyically. Over the past 4 years, since we had a horrible tragic death in our family, she has really kicked her healthy-ness in gear. She has been dedicated ever since to make herself a better person or the person she wants herself to be. She always feels better when she works out, and as an added benefit, or extra kick in the butt, she has a motorcycle, and she wants to make her arms are stronger for holding her bike up. She wants to focus on making HERSELF a more confident person. She can tell if she gains weight in her stomach, or thighs or arms… so she targets that area and works that much harder. Our family (her side of the family) was “blessed” with some extra flab on our upper arms… and she has ALWAYS been self conscious of this… so what did she do? She worked on them! Since my dad and her have been working out at Snap, in the last 6 weeks, he has lost 6.5 inches, gained an inch (muscle!) in his calves and thigh I believe, and lost an inch around his belly, and chest and his biceps and an inch in his neck. I’m not sure if his biceps got bigger or not… and his weigh stayed the same (total though as of this morning, he was down 14 lbs since January – I’m not sure how long that took him, but in the past week he finally got over his plateau and was down 5 lbs! He was SO proud of himself, his confidence level has SKY ROCKETED! My dad, of all people… since when do dads have confidence issues? I never really thought of that much before. Dad also lost a whole percentage of body fat I believe. I am SO proud of him. And my mom, she has lost inches too, and gained a lot of lean good muscle… I think her weight stayed the same, or even went up a pound or two with the muscle gain… either way, they are dedicated, and proud, and motivated to make themselves better physically, and feel better mentally.
The reason I mentioned Snap was because… my parents always always always know that I want to lose weight, that I hate being overweight like I am, and that I don’t do very well at sticking to my guns and giving myself the credit I do deserve. I’ve always been a Daddy’s Girl, I’m an only child… and since I’m built very much so like my dad, he knows why I want to work out (we have the big upper body, big rib cage, belly, wide neck, etc – take a look at my picture history page for proof!) and he knows I want to work out… he and my mom had been talking, and Dad said to me one day, “If my baby (he always calls me baby) joins Snap with us, I will pay for your monthly membership fee.” I said, “Dad! Really? You don’t have to do that.” His response? “I want to do that for you, for my baby… I want my baby to be healthy.” I at first told him, no that’s okay, and that Chris might get angry considering the amount I had spent in just the past 6 months alone on diet/fitness stuff. Then, after a little thought, a week or two passed and I messaged mom at work (we work together at the same company and can chat via instant messaging), I told her, “I’m joining Snap with you guys, that’s it!” And I did…that was that. I signed up that next Monday, and the rest is history. I cannot even begin to thank my parents for so graciously offering to pay for my monthly membership.. I didn’t want them to pay for it, as I gave my check card number to Kari (the owner) first, and then Dad insisted that he was paying for it, so Mom had it changed over. I am SO thankful they offered that to me, it has given me a WHOLE new outlook on working out, and being there. My mom and I along with a few neighbors carpool together to and from work, and my dad has a carpool as well… the Snap we all go to is on our way home from work, so Dad has his carpool drop him off on the way home every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Mom and I do the same on those 3 days. We all get there together, and Dad, Mom and I will on occasion be working out (treadmill or Arc Trainer) all side by side together. Dad will look over at me and wink or give me a smirk, or I’ll be working on the Arc Trainer and Dad will be a few machines away on the Treadmill and he’ll look over at me and do some funny face and make me laugh, or Mom will be working out, and I can look in the mirrors back at what she is doing, and then I make fun or her, or she makes fun of me (we call each other Losers, or we hold up the L sign when we’re walking by each other, or through the mirrors, or mouth it to each other without saying it out loud, it’s an inside joke, ha! People probably look at us like we’re NUTS!)… and we just laugh, and laugh and laugh. It makes it SO enjoyable to be there with them, it is SO worth it and I look forward to it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Since I don’t live with them anymore, I don’t get to spend as much quality time with them as I used to, and since joining Snap with them, it has given a whole new meaning to quality time. Who thought I of all people would say we enjoy quality time together, working out… I know I sure didn’t. Anyways, I am so so thankful I have such great parents who support me in everything I do. I am SO lucky.
Since joining Snap, my first day was Monday March 30th. I weighed in at 246.2 lbs that afternoon. (With 250.0 being my highest weight ever in mid 2006, 246.2 was creeping way too close for comfort) I am proud to say, that as of my last weigh in with them on 4/8, I was down to 238.2, so down 8 pounds in 9 days. I am SO proud of myself… I have stuck to this, given it my heart, my all… and I am doing it. Over the Easter weekend, I had probably a bit more to eat than I should have, and I went up 2 lbs, however as of Monday afternoon, I was only .6 lbs up from my last weigh in with my coach on 4/8 weighing in at 238.8. I got on the scale this morning (grant-it no clothes, and in the morning) I saw 233.8 on the scale. When I would weigh in at 238.8 on the scale at Snap with clothes and at 4:30 in the afternoon (after a full day of eating), I would weigh myself that next morning at home, and the scale would read 235.8 (so there is about a 2 lb difference with clothes and without clothes), anyways, this morning when I got on the scale, like I said, it showed 233.8. I was astonished! So proud! I have done well today food wise as well… and I’m hoping this afternoon when I weigh in, that the scale reads between 235 and 236, that would be absolutely wonderful. It’s the littlest things that keep me going, and when I see even .1 down on the scale, it puts a smile on my face. It gives this life style change a WHOLE NEW MEANING.
And as you know, in my last post… When I joined Snap, I joined their Thin and Healthy Program (which isn’t free, FYI for those of you interested in it – however it is VERY decently priced, and so worth it!) – and I will tell you the one on one support they give you is amazing; you’re not just a person or a number or someone who just gives them money to stand on a scale… you are a real person, with true feelings, that needs advice more often than not and they see that. There are over 70 people from my Snap alone that are doing the T and H and seeing them there working out right next to you is SUCH an inspiration… these people have lost tons and tons of weight, it is such a boost to keep doing what you’re doing when you see them feeling so good. They just prove to you that it CAN be done. Like I said, we usually get there right after work, and it is the after work crowd that comes in and we all just get to know everyone, everyone encourages you, and notices if you’ve lost weight, them and the coaches are what keep you going. Everyone is there with you, every single step of the way… I don’t have to worry that I’m alone in this process or will be forgotten about, I don’t have to be concerned that I’m going to give up. I’m just not, I don’t have that temptation like I did with everything else I tried to do. Today for instance, I received a call from them just checking in, letting me know I hadn’t had a coaching session since last Thursday. You’re supposed to have them at LEAST 2 times a week, if not 3… and I was going to do it on Monday, but I just hadn’t written down my food for the that day and the Sunday prior, and I didn’t have time as I was working out with mom and dad and we only had one vehicle (I don’t want to make them wait around for me while I’m coaching, even though I know they wouldn’t mind), so I talked to one of the coaches and said I’d be back on Tuesday (yesterday) to coach, so I drove seperate to town, and got in with my carpool there, because I was going to go straight to Snap after work (my parents don’t usually work out on Tuesdays), but on the ride home I was reading something, and I got horrible car sick and I could not stomach the thought of working out with my stomach in my throat… so I got in my car, turn the AC on high because I had the sweats, and got home… man, I didn’t feel good. Once I got home, got some fresh air, I started to slowly feel better. Eventually after about an hour or so at home, I got a bug up my butt and I ended up cleaning my whole house, worked up a sweat even, like dripping sweat, ha! And then my uncle came over to use my computer and by 9:45, I was tuckered out and hit my pillow! So, today I am going straight after to work out, and coach. I’m excited, I always look forward to it – I can take my time, work out on anything I want – usually I like to spend about an hour and a half there – I do 30 minutes of cardio and spend the rest of the time doing the weight machines, sit ups on the ball (sometimes with a weight ball on my chest, good god that gets painful!), sit ups and leg raises on the floor with the ab roller. I have really learned how to focus while I’m working on the weight machines – focus on which muscle hurts, which muscle is being worked, which muscle isn’t being worked, and which ones I really need to work on. I’m finding tremendous joy in working out; there is something so calming about it – so releasing. If I am not looking forward to going some day at work, or what not… once I get there, it’s like a switch flips. Night and Day! The energy is so incredible there, everyone welcomes you with a smile! I went to a Snap by my in-laws house last Friday, and grant-it, it was during the daytime on Good Friday, but still… it was so… I don’t know… so… boring. There weren’t very many people there, the energy was low, no one talked to anyone, the person that was working just stayed in her office… it just wasn’t like ours. It really made me appreciate ours more, how dedicated and how awesome it really really is! Chris (my husband) and I had joined a snap in 2005 when we moved in together, about an hour and a half from where we live right now, and we thought we better get our butts moving – so we joined, and we only worked out there once. He (the owner) barely showed us the machines, didn’t give us any input on what weights we should use, what machines we should or shouldn’t use, what targeted what on your body… it was just so different, and maybe it has changed since that was 3 years ago now, maybe it’s a requirement for the owner, or person on staff now to show you all of the machines and run you through a little workout, but still… it just makes me enjoy our Snap SO much more!!
Eating has been going great as well, I have really been paying attention to what I put in my mouth – although it hasn’t been very hard since I have been following an eating plan for the past 5 days from T and H. I feel this time around is the last time I cross this bridge… I am looking at this completely different, with eyes and arms wide open. My coach told me, as I’m sure I mentioned before, but I’ll never forget it, she told me when I first started, “It’s not about what you can’t have, it’s about what you CAN have.” It’s not that you cannot have that cookie, you cannot have that ice cream, you cannot have that candy bar, you cannot have that big greasy cheeseburger and fries, because I CAN have it, I can have ALL of those things, every single one of those bad things out there, I CAN have them, but… do I want them? Do I realllllllllly really want them? Are those the GOOD calories that will keep me full for a long time or are they the bad calories that will make me hungry again in an hour or so. I choose to look at this as I can eat anything and everything I want – but do I want it? 9 times out of 10, no! I don’t want it… why do I want to eat something that is going to make me upset, and going to make that number on the scale go up and set me back that much further. What is the point of that? Last weekend on Saturday, I COULD eat that Dairy Queen Blizzard, and I DID, but guess what? I ate about 1/4 of the medium blizzard and threw the rest in the freezer for whoever else wanted to eat it. I could have ate the whole thing, but guilt set in and I did NOT want that 980 calories to impact my weight, had I eaten that whole thing. First off, NINE-HUNDRED-AND-EIGHTY calories!! 980!!!! 44g of fat! 540mg of sodium! 113g of sugar! ALL for a little ice cream! Hold on their batman, that’s NOT something I want nor need… YES, I can have it, but NO (!!) I do NOT want it! That was just a wake up call for me too – I didn’t realize there were 980 calories in that – next time you go to DQ, before you go, take a look at their nutrition guide… I bet you’ll think differently before going, I know I will now! So, since I ate 1/4 of the blizzard, I had 245 calories. 11g of fat, 28g of sugar, and approx 135mg of sodium… that is a little better. Geez. And, as you know I said I went up about 2 lbs over the Easter weekend – I weighed myself nakey on the scale on Thursday morning, I was at 235.8, I got on the scale on Sunday morning after our Easter festivities on Friday and Saturday, and I still was at 235.8 – I hadn’t gained a single pound, I was so proud – that was my goal, to at least stay the same! Then we went to my parents for Easter on Sunday and she had the normal, Ham, Cheesy potatoes (she made 2 batches, one low fat one for Chris and I, and one normal one for others, and to be honest, you could BARELY tell the difference of them!), anyways, I had ham, and a small scoop of the lowfat cheesy potatoes, and some corn, and a bun and then for supper Chris and I had left over ham and a few LF cheesy potatoes and when I got on the scale Monday morning, it showed that I was up 2 lbs – so I definitely think I over did it with the sodium intake on Sunday, but now I’m back down almost 4 lbs if you count the 2 lbs I was up! Persistence pays off!
I’m anxious to see what the scale says tonight when I weigh in. I will say, weighing in 2-3 times per week has helped me TREMENDOUSLY! I will weigh in again tomorrow night, and then return to my normal M, W and F coaching… it has been making an incredible impact on my attitude and willpower! AND, seeing that scale go down more than it goes up has been a huge motivator too – and I’m feeling better. I can feel now that I’ve been working on my abs that my clothes are fitting a little different – mainly right around my waist – and when I suck in, I feel like I’m sucking in – my abs get tight.
Chris has been eating healthy too, and he is doing TBL Online, and he has lost I believe almost 10 lbs now too. He has been working out at the gym at his work after his shift is over, and he has been making his food every day, and preparing the main dishes on Sunday and freezing them so he doesn’t have to worry about them all week. I’m so proud of him… he is dedicated, and that is helping me too! Our house does not have a SINGLE ounce of junkfood in it – not in the fridge, nor freezer or cabinets… notta! Well, there are 3 boxes of unopened Girl Scout cookies, but those don’t even tempt me – I don’t want them, and Chris is supposed to be bringing them to his work friends so they can eat them. I better make sure he takes them tomorrow! I always thought having Chris diet or eat healthy and try to lose weight would have a negative effect on me – in prior attempts, he would lose 5 lbs right off the bat, and brag about it and rub it in my face, when I’m struggling to lose 1 or 2 lbs, and then I’d take that to heart and get discouraged… so I never wanted him to diet when I did… and if he did, I didn’t want to hear about it. So when he said he was going to join TBL Online, I was a bit apprehensive, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. At first I thought Please, No… but you know? I think since I feel like I’m looking at this completely different, it has had the reverse effect on me. I’m proud of him, I proud of the eating he is doing and the dedicaton he has, and I’m even more proud and thankful of the inspiration and dedication he/it has given ME! Before when I would be trying to eat healthy or lose weight, he wouldn’t be and then when we’d go to his parents house on the weekends, I’d always cave! If he was having that greasy burger and fries, I could have it too! Now? Now he doesn’t have any interest in that type of food, and now instead of just me trying to eat healthy when we go up there, now it’s both of us. We’re a team, we want a family of our own some day, we want to be healthy parents and set good examples for our child(ren), and in order for us to do that, we have to do it for ourselves, first. He supports me, and encourages me when he knows I need it. He KNOWS what I want, and my goals, and what I need to hear… and no, he no longer rubs his weight loss in my face… we talk about it, and encourage and compliment each other like we should be doing! We are proud of ourselves and each other!
So, as you can see by this incredibly long post – I HAVE done a lot of reflection, and reflecting on the changes I have encountered in the past month. I’m looking at it in a whole new light, and I am so very very proud of myself.
re·flec·tion (ri flek′s̸hən) 1. the fixing of the mind on some subject; serious thought; contemplation 2. the result of such thought; idea or conclusion, esp. if expressed in words
Dieting... Take Two. 