Weekly Results: Short skirts, tube tops and weighing everyday

Results

• Loss -4.6 pounds (Total lost 34.6)
• 84049 steps = About 39.89 miles
• Gluten free, vegetarian, had some key lime pie this week. (I think I am going to start indulging in sugar once in awhile. Mostly at social functions where it is offered. Sounds kind of a funny, "I'm a social sugar eater...")
• Week 15 of working out
• Week 11 of eating right

Thoughts
As I mentioned yesterday the 35 pounds I lost was a major goal. I have laid out a few major goals and wanted to reward myself in some way as I reached each goal. yesterday I went shopping and bought the sluttiest out-fit I have every owned in my life... Maybe slutty is a harsh word... Maybe I should say "not modest", or "shorter than I have ever worn before"... It was a short khaki skirt and a pink billowy tube top. I was kind of freaking out in the store.. I mean the skirt was like three inches above my knees... AHHH! As I was freaking out though I was looking in the mirror and you know what it looked good! My favorite barista took a good look at me too and she was smiling a little bit. She looks a little bit like a younger, and more emo KD Lang. (I'm gonna have to start shaving my legs above the knees to wear it though... That's a big concession to make for a skirt...)

Yeah! for looking good. Yeah! for gaining some more confidence.

I also got in a conversation this week with a friend about weighing everyday or not weighing everyday. Since I started working on getting healthy this time around I have started weighing daily. I've never done that before and some argue that its not good because you focus too much on the number. I am not totally focused on the numbers, but I recognize that the numbers help me reach my objectives.

My objectives are not to reach particular numbers on the scale, though the numbers are a tool I use. My objective is be able to hike, skate, maybe dance, and reaching a healthy number on the scale is a side-effect of or tool to doing those things. Does that make sense?

I have found weighing daily to be useful though for several reasons:

1. It holds me accountable. If I overeat or if I eat gluten I know about it right away and can start repairing the damage immediately. If I were weighing in once a week I might not notice water retention as much, or I might be less careful about the amount of food I eat, but weighing daily is a constant guide.

2. There are ups and downs on the scale everyday. It used to freak me out when the number would go up from day to day and I knew I was being good, but our body goes through different cycles and in some ways I think that weighing daily and tracking it is helping me get to know my bodies rhythms.

3. For me it is really motivation, centering, focusing to weigh daily. Just the routine of stepping on the scale reminds me of what I am working towards.

4. I like weighing daily because I am a mega-nerd and tracking my weight daily was an excuse to make an Excel spreadsheet.... I like watching the weight-line trend downward...

The heat is gonna kill me - I reached a major goal

I have lived in Louisiana for three years now but I've never actually spent a summer here. I'm starting to realize that maybe I don't comprehend how awful it could be...

I went out at about 9:00 am today to go to the track and only got 8 laps in before the heat was killing me... I hate driving to the gym everyday but going to the track is going to require getting out of the house a lot earlier in the morning.

When I started working out in March I had set a goal for the end of the school year. I wanted to lose 35 pounds by May 25th. I'm a few days late, but I have now lost 34.8 pounds! (I know I'm rounding up just a tiny bit.) I'm so excited!

I detest pictures of myself so I don't take any, but now I wish I had taken some "before" shots just to see the difference. Oh well. Part of the reason I have not prioritized pictures and talking about numbers goals has been because my focus is truly on getting strong enough to hike Timpanogos. I really don't doubt that I could do it at this point. Right now I just have to get to Utah and wait for some of the snow to melt... PLEASE MELT! (But no too fast. I don't want it to flood the valley below... Just slow and steady melting so I don't need snowshoes...)

Weekly Results: Habit and routine...

Results

• Loss -2.4 pounds (Total of 30.8 pounds!)
• 77,475 steps = 36.7 miles (Pedometer broke - step count is not accurate.)
• Gluten free, sugar free and still vegetarian
• Week 14 of working out.
• Week 10 of eating right.

 

Thoughts
I had no real deep or profound thoughts this week about fitness... I then realized that in and of itself is somewhat profound. Fitness and eating right have now become so routine that I no longer really have to think about it all the time. I can walk into the store and I know what I need to make healthy vegetarian meals without too much effort or thought.

 

Going to the gym or going to the track is so routine that getting myself off the couch to go and do it is just not a problem any more.

 

These changes, eating right and working out, have become not just something I am doing to lose weight, but they are well on their way to being lifestyle changes! YEAH for routine and habit!

"Have you lost a lot of weight lately?"

I had about eight people stop me and ask me this week how I was losing my weight. It is always fun to watch them all react as I tell them that I went vegetarian, gave up sugar, and exercise so that I can hike up mountains in high altitude environments… I think what they wanted was to join whatever club or plan I was following.

I think I have mentioned in the past that my entire family has varying degrees of weight problems. When I say family I mean EVERYONE. My mom’s side, my dad’s side, almost all of the cousins, even all of the in-laws that married into the family are big people. Some of the kids have managed to escape the fat-fate (not many but some). The ones who escaped were the ones who had sports hobbies.

My sister lost about 60 pounds three years ago when she got into kung-fu. She has stuck with it and looks amazing. She is healthy and strong. She was really the first person I ever encountered who got healthy through a hobby rather than crash dieting. She is my inspiration!

She is not taking kung-fu at some crap school either. She is at a serious school and she can now take down men that are twice her size! It is super impressive.

I think people at school want a quick and easy fix. I think many of my family members on these crash diets plan want an easy fix. Its not realistic...I think the only fix is to sweat it out somehow and eat healthy.  

Anemic?! WTF...

I’ve had a really hard time working out this week not because I have not wanted to but because work and finishing up the school year has been so crazy. I have also been really tired. The fatigue should have been the telltale sign, but then the bruises started showing up. (My pedometer broke too and the new one is definitely not accurate…)

I have a history of anemia. This is really common for people with Celiacs Disease and going vegetarian this was something I was concerned about since plant iron is harder to absorb than iron in say steak… I’m just surprised that the anemia did not hit me sooner. I’ve been vegetarian now for about 9 weeks. I’m not sure why it took so long to show up…

I’m going to have to read up on how vegetarians deal with anemia. I’m going to eat a lot of eggs over the next few days. May some good spinach and egg omlets will do the trick. I hope I don’t have to go in for a nice, pleasant iron shot … Ughhhh..

Tofu Tacos

I have been buying tofu salads from Whole Foods, and I thought they were a pretty good deal. They were already made and I did not have to worry about figuring out to cook tofu. Last week when I went to do my grocery shopping though I noticed that an entire pound of uncooked tofu is only like $2.50... I love a good deal... I bought the tofu and it sat in the fridge all week because all I have ever heard about it is how hard it is to cook...

Finally, this weekend I decided to give it a shot and I read everything I could find about how to cook tofu. Without going into any more boring details I made wonderful tofu tacos last night and plan on never buying overpriced tofu salad at Whole Foods again...

What you need:

• 1 package extra firm tofu (I used Nasoya brand)
• 1 package of taco seasoning (or go to allrecipes and use this recipe to make your own taco seasoning - I love this particular recipe)
• Non-stick cooking spray
• Whatever you like to put on your tacos with (shells, lettuce, salsa, corn, etc)

Steps
1. Put the tofu in the freezer for 72 hours. (This apparently makes it easier to work with and changes the texture. As this was my first time cooking it I am not sure what the texture would have been like without freezing it.My friend said the tofu crumbs and falls apart if you skip this freeze and thaw process.)
2. Thaw on the counter or in the fridge. Put the thawed tofu on a towel and squeeze out the excess water.
3. Once thawed cut into cubes. (It really does not matter what size. My cubes were about 1/2" by 1/2".)
4. Put the taco seasoning and cubes in a ziplock bag and shake until the tofu is covered in taco seasoning.
5. Spray a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and dump contents of the ziplock bag into the baking pan.
6. Bake the tofu cubes at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes then flip them over and bake for about another 10 minutes. (You can repeat this step depending on how crispy or tender you want your tofu cubes to be.)
7. Remove from the oven and use tofu cubes in place of regular taco meat.

Weekly Results: We are on the same team now...

Results:

• Loss -5.4 (Total lost 28.4 pounds - There was something wrong with my spreadsheet. The loss numbers have been wrong the last few weeks. This is corrected.) YEAH!!! All the gluten is gone, plus more!
• 105,033 steps = 50.74 miles
• Gluten free again, still vegetarian, ate chocolate this week so not sugar free
• Week 13 of working out.
• Week 8 of working out and eating right

Thoughts:

I spent some time serious time looking in the mirror this week. I took the time to notice changes. I took the time to really see and appreciate the strength and the beauty. I tried really hard not to let any of the negative thoughts creep in that are so typical of women in general. I just wanted to love what was there right then in front of the mirror.

I really started to hate TV as stood there looking at myself. I googled it. The average woman celebrety is something like a size 2 while the real average American woman is a size 14 and I would guess in reality that down here in the South average is more like a 16 or maybe even an 18. If beauty is always portrayed as this wafish, anorexic, stick person and that is the only message that is sent to us no wonder we are so critical. Size 2 certainly seems to be what many of the women in my life are shooting for...

As I stared at in the mirror I realized that no amount of working out is going to change my actual shape. I'm sooooo pear shaped. I am one size on top and another size on the bottom. Its a good shape to be and while I did not always love it in the past I am learnign to appreciate it more and more. The pear shape is so womanly. It feels strong. I like having hips. I am starting to own my feminenity more. (Down here in the South the pear shape is an asset. The J-Lo booty is HAWT and I get picked up on a lot by guys which always makes me laugh.)

This week I gained an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my body. I love how strong it is becoming. I love the things that it can do. I am starting to feel like my body and I are on the same team these days. We both want to climb Timpanogos even if there is a ton of snow...

Chocolate... Its really the only candy...

Blogger is a mess right now... I am missing at least one post to this blog now. I hope it comes back? I may have to go cut and paste it from Google Reader if Blogger can't get it back... Oh, well...

This week has been awful…

Unusual job stress, combined with major family stress resulted in me eating chocolate this week. Not a ridiculous amount by any stretch (chocolate on Sunday… chocolate on Monday). Two chocolate bars in a week do not equal pounds and pounds of unhealthy but I am still a little bit mad at myself. One of the things that I have really attempted to do in my recent fitness attempts is to deal with emotions in healthy ways. I have actually been super successful in this endeavor until this week.  

Let me say, the chocolate tasted incredible. I don’t remember chocolate ever tasting as good as this chocolate and it was crappy cheap Hershey’s chocolate. Maybe it was the complete absence of milk chocolate for two months that made it soooo good… The aftereffects of the chocolate however were not so great.

I repented of the chocolate bars by burning them off on the elliptical machine and paid in other ways too. The sugar killed me. I felt cranky and tired after eating it. Maybe smaller amounts in the future would be alright or I should just stick with the dark stuff that is a bit more healthy and  has a lot less sugar…

We so easily fall back into old patterns…  

What?! Jillian can't leave Biggest Loser!

The only TV I watch these days besides crappy LGBT movies on Netflix is Biggest Loser. Jillian announced this week that she is leaving Biggest Loser. Why does the hot lesbian have to leave the show? I may have to quit watching now...

Really, the show has a lot of critics, but I have found it motivational. This season especially has been motivational because I feel like I have been progressing right along side the contestants. I was not really big enough to even qualify for the show. Yet I relate to the people on it the show in many ways. Just like many of the contestants, I have allowed my weight to determine my confidence level. I have allowed my weight to limit me. The weight was an excuse to not to do things... Now even with the few pounds that I have lost I feel more confident.

I find myself engaging more actively with the world now that I have lost weight, where as before I was definitely holding back.

I still find myself looking at really big girls and wondering if I look like that. My mental image of myself does not match reality. My mental image is that of an enormous fat girl. I know on some level that I am not an enormous fat girl but it is still a fear... I was never an enormous fat girl so why do I think that I am? What part of me needs to imagine this "reality"?

Weekly Results: Gluten...

Results:

+3 pounds... Total lost 25...
93,800 steps = 44.38 miles
Not gluten free yet, vegetarian still, sugar free

Thoughts:
I unknowingly ate gluten all week long! Clearing it out of my system is going to take awhile... Anytime I eat gluten my body responds by retaining crazy amounts of water, I get super tired, and I will avoid sharing the long and detailed list of the other gluten signs...

Last week was a busy week so I did not cook. I went to Whole Foods and bought various salads. They had basalmic quinoa salad, marinated tofu and vegan borracho beans... Half-way through the week I started freaking out because the number on the scale jumped like five pounds in a day. I knew I had not eaten five pounds worth of food... The next day three more pounds... In two days the number on the scale jumped 8 pounds and I was super tired.

Yeah, Whole Foods borracho beans have fakin bacon in them which has wheat in it... So annoying. It will probably take another week or two to recover from this. I can't believe I did not figure it out sooner. Ridiculous.

Alcohol, caffeine and Benedryl really get to me now...

I am sitting in the Barnes and Noble right now. I got a tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte and I am shaking from the caffeine. I used to get the grande with an extra shot of espresso and had no problem at all going to bed a hour later... I have only lost about 30 pounds but caffeine is killing me now...

I also took some Benedryl last week and the normal dose knocked me out. I got a great night's sleep but I seriously could not keep my eyes open. 

I am careful when I drink to not actually get drunk. I don't like getting wasted. I can usually drink three or four drinks and be more or less fine. Last night I had two and it was too much... I got a little loud and rowdy!

All of this was a more or less unexpected effect of weight-loss. Not sure why it did not occur to me sooner that this would happen. 

Sports...

I spent a lot of time last week staring at Mount Timpanogos completely covered in a super-thick layer of snow. It has been a bad winter in Utah and it has stayed cold pretty late into the year this year. I had a horrible thought pop into my head a few days ago... My window for climbing it is June/July. The snow will definitely not be melted by June and it is possible that a lot will still be there in July. Hiking the mountain in snowy conditions may require more mountaineering expertise than I currently posses and things like snowshoes... DAMN global warming. 

Trudging through snow will require an even greater level of fitness so maybe that makes the goal all the more worthy! (I need to find out if they even allow the general public up on the mountain when there is a lot of snow.) 

The whole thing got me thinking about sports. After this summer and after hiking the mountain I am going to need other interests and goals to get me through to the next summer. 

1. I want to get into roller derby. There are two teams in Baton Rouge. Another possible goal would be learning to skate well enough to make the team. 

2. I really want to get a mountain bike. There are lots of country roads out here. 

3. I want to learn how to swim. 

4. My sisters wants to do marathons with me. She wants to start out doing some 5Ks this summer. I'm going to start running. I think my back can handle it.

Weekly Results (Late again! I was traveling)

Results:
Lost 4.4 pounds this week. Total lost so far 28.0 pounds
85,548 total steps = 40.47 miles
Gluten free, vegetarian, sugar free

Thoughts:
My steps total leaves a lot to be desired this week! I knew it would be low though because I was on vacation and did some serious socializing instead of my normal three hours of working out each day. About 25 of those 40 miles were super intense hiking in Moab, Utah. Every muscle in my body had been sore for about three days now.

Living on sea-level and than going on vacation to Utah was interesting. I was working out at about 5000 feet above sea-level. It was such a strange thing to know that my muscles had the potential to work a lot harder than they were. I knew that I could walk faster and yet I could not get enough oxygen to make that happen. As the week progressed working out in the high altitude environment got easier and with my expanded lung capacity I am curious to see what I can do today back at sea-level again.

Despite the altitude if Timpanogos was not totally and completely covered with snow right now I think I could I hike it. (I have seriously no memory of the snow being this thick on that mountain before. This winter has been brutal in Utah.) I am basing this on how I did on the Moab hikes. So now the goal is not really to be able to hike Timpanogos. The goal changes to be more about how easy I can make it to hike Timpanogos.

___________________________________________________________

I am happy with this weight loss for this week. I ate out with friends six times on this trip and still managed to eat healthy. YEAH!!!!