Mysteria1884

So my friend Katelin and I have become more than just walking buddies - now we’re RUNNING buddies!  We started this program called “Couck to 5K” and last night we finished up Week 5, which was running straight for 20 minutes!  Okay so it was a jog, and we only made it a mile and a half, but still - going from struggling to keep up running for 60 seconds the first week to keeping up a consistent jogging pace for a mile and a half is AMAZING to us!  The funny thing is, both of us felt that although it was tough, we probably could have run even longer.  For the sake of my body, though, I’m glad we didn’t!  I’m sooo sore today.   I slept like a rock last night after our run though, LOL.

Also - I finally figured out how to add before/after pics to my profile.  Ha!  I feel like an idiot for not figuring it out before.  But anyway, my weight has been stuck in a stall for the last month, but I’m okay with that because my pants are looser, which means I’m probably gaining muscle weight from running, which is displacing fat.  **Hoping?**  =p

I’m moving into a new place at the end of the month, so I’ve been trying to sort through and pack all my junk. This morning I located the measurement sheet from my personal trainer from last year. I retook my measurements just for the hell of it this morning, and this is what I discovered: I have lost a total of 36.25″ from my body since January 29th, 2007!

bicep - 3.5″
chest - 5″
waist - 7″
belly - 8″
hip - 6.75″
thigh - 3.5″
calf - 2.5″

Can I just say, HOLY COW! I was thrilled.

So I finally reached my mini goal (180), which is a total loss of 60lbs for me.  I’m so excited about it!  Now I only have another 20 lbs to reach my ultimate goal.  Piece of cake, right?  LOL - I hope so.  I’m 5′9″ so 160 is a healthy goal weight for me.  I’ve already had tons of comments from people, and even some warning, “now don’t lose too much!”  Those always make me laugh.  I’ve always been “big” so being a normal healthy weight will be amazing.

So this is what I had for breakfast this morning:

And it’s perfecty legal on the nutrisystem program. It counts as one breakfast entree (nutrisystem blueberry pancakes), 2 proteins (2 morningstar sausage patties), and free foods (sugar free syrup and FF reddi whip).

I’ve set a “10 by the 4th” challenge for myself with some others on the NutriSystem website. So far, amazingly, I’m doing okay! I’ve already lost 6lbs (as of June 1), so hopefully I’ll make my goal. May was rough for me because I only lost 1.6 lbs in the entire month, but I’m hoping that plateau will stay over for a while. I’ve been walking pretty faithfully with my walking buddy, but she’s going to be out of town for the next week so it’ll be a struggle to get it done every day. When she gets back next Monday, we’re going to attempt a program called “couch to 5k,” which is a training schedule that gets you from out-of-shape to running 5k (3 miles) in 9 weeks with 20 minute sessions 3 days a week. I’m skeptical about my ability, but hopefully with my buddy’s help, we can push each other into getting it done.

I’m in such a great mood right now, and I just wanted to share it with everyone!

The last few weeks I’ve gotten really frustrated because I’ve been in a weight plateau. It was pretty much entirely my fault not staying on track, but I’m sure you all can identify with me. I was annoyed with myself for not exercising and irritated that I couldn’t stay 100% on plan. I even started to get a little panicky that I might be another one of those statistics of people who only stay on for 10 weeks. According to a study I read, that’s apparently the average for people to stay on.

Well, with the help of the Nutrisystem boards (specifically my dear No Excuses 2008! friends), I re-dedicated myself to the program and I’m back on track, and doing better than I ever was. To start out with, I figured out that the ONLY way I can motivate myself to exercise is NOT to motivate myself. It’s to get someone else to do it. Yes, that’s me being lazy, but I know that’s what works. So… I posted an ad on my local craigslist “strictly platonic” personals, “seeking an exercise buddy.”

I got a response back from a girl who had just moved to town a few days ago, and she was also looking for someone to get her motivated to start moving. Yes, I was careful to check and make sure she wasn’t a serial killer/rapist before I met with her! Anyway, we met up Friday and so far it’s been GREAT. Since we have set times and dates (we’re trying for daily), we HAVE to meet up to exercise. So far we’ve just been walking together, but we’re both chatty and we generally get in a couple of miles before we even notice we’re doing exercise.

This morning, after we walked for about an hour, I jumped on the scale and my plateau is OVER! I lost weight! Woo hoo! I’m so excited. I KNOW I can stick to this plan. My goal weight is starting to get closer and closer! I’m so excited.

When I first signed up for buddy slim, I had a full *80* pounds that I wanted to lose.  I kind of figured that was impossible, but figured anything I lost would be worth it.  I hired a personal trainer and went to the gym at least twice a week until about September of ‘07.  My trainer told me to consume a minimum of 1700 calories per day. 

My mindset has now changed significantly.  For what my trainer cost ($700 for thirty sessions, each half an hour), it wasn’t worth it.  I lost about 20 pounds with him, and I was eating too much food and too much fat.  I was still eating dinner most nights at my boyfriend’s house (with his parents), and they were giving me non-healthy foods.  I was also stocking up on all the cookies, brownies, and pastries that his mom kept on the counter.  I lost an additional 5 pounds after I stopped working with my trainer, but it didn’t last long, and I knew that if I kept up what I was doing, I’d eventually gain it all back.

I have a new love, and it’s called NutriSystem!  Instead of consuming 1700 calories a day, I’m getting about 1200-1400, and I’m NOT hungry most days!  I know exactly what to eat for every meal and I know the correct portion size.  Remember how I said I lost 20 lbs with my trainer over the course of 9 months?  Well I’m on my third month with Nutrisystem, and I’ve lost 21 lbs already.  I’m still exercising, too, but not with the intensity that my trainer had me doing.  When I was with my trainer, I was doing a lot of strength training, and a little bit of aerobic exercise (cardio).  I have since discovered that you lose more fat when you’re doing a LESS intense workout.  If you look on the treadmill where it’s got target heart rate, it tells you that, but I never paid attention before. 

So now I’m down *46* pounds from where I started, and I only have 34 to go!  This is looking more and more like I really can achieve that goal weight.

Well, it’s been a month since I hired my personal trainer, and today he retook my measurements.

I just joined a gym and hired a personal trainer.  So far, I’m doing really well.  My trainer put me on a 1920 calories a day diet, and I’ve noticed that I’ve had a hard time actually getting UP to 1920, which is very strange.  The other day I ate a decent amount of food and it came out to only 1077 calories.  Perhaps it’s because I’m trying to completely avoid bad carb foods?  I’m also having trouble with doing 5 meals per day.  I am used to 3 meals a day and occasionally a snack after dinner. 

rn

Exercising is hard.  I have no trouble going 5x a week to the gym and walking on a treadmill or biking, but my PT is working me HARD!  He’s having me do circuit training.  Although I know it’ll be very beneficial for me in the long run, it’s making me very sore right now.  Lunges are the bane of my existence.

rn

I have not been weighing myself so far.  I’ve only been going to the gym about 3 weeks now, and I think I would only been frustrated if I kept weighing myself.  My pants already feel a little looser, however. 

rn

I’m conditioning myself to like light, fat free, and diet foods/drinks.  I haven’t had a regular soda in 3 weeks.  I’m starting to really enjoy the flavored waters.  I also have started in on fat free ranch dressing .  One thing that’s really hard is trying to convince my boyfriend’s mom that 1)  I really am not hungry enough to eat that HUGE plate of food and 2)  I can’t eat the french fries, chili dogs, fried chicken, cheese sticks, and hamburger helper that she LOVES to serve (on a nightly basis!)  So far the only way I’ve been able to get away with this is that she hasn’t been watching me eat, so I can pick and choose from alternative things like carrots, yogurt, and grapefruit juice that I’ve stuck in her fridge.  At least she’s all for the unsweet tea!

rn

Wish me luck in keeping up with what I’m doing so far.