Back on track and feeling hopeful

I haven't posted in a long long time it feels like. The holidays got in the way initially, then I felt like I didn't really have anything to say, and then I didn't know how to articulate what I wanted to say. I know I needed help, but I didn't know what I needed help with or how to ask for it. Silly I know. The last 4 months or so I have been maintaining my weight. I have yet to figure out if I took a true maintenance break or if it was a plateau. At least I wasn't regaining weight.

I have slacked off on my workouts lately too. I've been battling a head cold and sinus infection the last couple weeks. Part of it is dealing with a knee injury. The irony is the non-runner has runner's knee. I've only had two PT appointments though and my knee is almost completely better! The other part of it was February and March blahs brought on by just getting tired of winter and deep in hibernation mode. All that means is I was feeling exceptionally anti-social due to seasonal depression. I'm not one to be out in the sun a lot, but damn I miss it when it disappears for a few days. On the upside I have been trying to go swimming a couple days a week with a friend, so that's been a lot of fun. It's been great girl time.

This last week I finally feel like I've gotten back on track with my eating. I bought a lot of easy foods for healthy and fast meals last week. Breakfast has been eggs, toast, and coffee. Lunch was low-carb wraps, with a variety of fresh veggies, fruit, and some cheese. Dinner has been a variety of things. I immediately started feeling good again and having more energy.  I also noticed that my craving for sweets diminished quite a bit too. I ended up having a great loss at TOPS this week as well. It was 2.25 pound if I remember right.

Friday I had a follow up with Dr. H. I am down 3 pounds from the last visit. Again we had a great discussion. He was concerned because it looked like my weight loss had slowed down quite a bit. So he brought up if I thought the Contrave was still working, and maybe changing it out with a different one. He was also concerned about costs for me, which I appreciate. In the discussion about other possible meds to try we went on to discussing changing up my eating habits. We talked about three different options.

1) Go down to two meals per day. I wouldn't be cutting out any calories, just the number of meals. I'm not sure how feasible this is during the work week for me, but on the weekends this usually ends up being the case anyways.

2) Change up my calorie distribution - make breakfast my biggest meal of the day, and dinner the smallest. Easy enough change to make.

3) Intermittent fasting - Going 24 hours without eating. He would like me try it one day a week and see how it goes. If I'm feeling up to trying a science experiment. Damn him speaking my language! haha

All 3 options have had a variety of studies done and have been shown to promote weight loss. Those who participate in intermittent fasting usually do it 3 days week (every other day) but it has been shown to be helpful with even one day a week.

The biggest part of our discussion surrounded option 2. There was a study published this last week that had very positive and amazing results. It was looking at type 2 diabetics and what happened if they had 6 small even sized meals versus 3 meals with breakfast being the largest and dinner the smallest. Both groups at the same amount of calories. The group that ate the 6 small meals ended up gaining 2kg over the 3 month study and using 2 units of insulin more per day. The group that ate the small dinner ended up LOSING 5kg and using 20 units LESS of insulin per day. That's a huge difference! Dr. H said they weren't sure if it's the large breakfast, the small dinner, or a combo of the two that helps with weight loss. While I don't have to worry about insulin use, I will definitely be giving this a try.

Towards the end of our meeting I went back to the earlier discussion about changing up the med. He said he wasn't going to for two reasons. The first is I didn't seem particularly excited about it. The second is that given some comments I made about eating mindfully and the like, the contrave is working. He said he thinks he was just making a mountain out of a mole-hill. The slight gain I had was over the holidays. We'll see how things go this next month and go from there.

I'm so happy I started seeing him. He seems to know exactly what I need to feel like I'm getting back on track and get me moving in the right direction again.

In other news I was a division winner in my TOPS chapter this last year. Each division is broken up by how much you weigh at the start of the year. I lost 26 pounds last year.

 

 So far things are looking up. I really want to try and do more blogging this year. I enjoy the writing as an outlet. Hopefully I can keep this going.

Pride and the importance of having a trainer

I really wish I had been with it enough to post this blog yesterday morning after my workout with my trainer, but I was dead after work and working out. It also didn't help I was still on the edge emotionally after my workout. It was a great workout, and Sandy definitely knows how and when to push me. She definitely pushed me and we reached a major milestone yesterday.

I hate running. I always have and probably always will. I can think of a million other things I would rather do than run. Part of me even wants to say I would rather go through a double root canal again than run. But having done a double root canal, I think it might be a toss up as to which sucks more in my mind. That being said, I admire runners. I admire those (even though I think they are bat-shit crazy) who run for fun as well as health. Especially those that regularly run 5Ks and 10Ks. Although I think Marathoners are their own breed of crazy. Who willingly puts themselves through that?!? And being overweight most of my life, especially the last 10 years, I would love to have the ability to run. To be able to jog a mile or two for a workout and not feel like my I am going to die. To not have every bone in my body ache the day after a jog would be incredible. Well yesterday Sandy had me jog for the first time in about 13 years when I was a junior in high school.

Sandy had me working on upper body strength training and then said we were headed upstairs to the track to do intervals. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't jogging. We walked about half a lap, jogged about a third, walked a third, jogged some more, walked a quarter, and jogged about half. I was pretty happy with that and feeling good. I told Sandy as we headed down to work on my lower body strength training that that was my first time jogging and she said that was good and we would have to do it some more. Me and my big mouth! The last thing we did for the day was to head back upstairs and take one last lap on the track. I jogged a full lap on the track without stopping!! When we finished the lap Sandy gave me the biggest hug and I couldn't help tearing up. It was more than I expected of myself. When I pulled back there were tears in her eyes too. I know we talked and she said how proud she was of me and then she had to go meet with her next client. Its a blur because I was so tired for one, and because I was in shock. I wish I had could say I had been thinking on that lap. But I can't. I just did it. I remember in high school having all kinds of hateful thoughts towards my coaches and running, but yesterday I just went with it. I am so proud of myself that I can't even begin to say. It shows just how far I have come in just two months.

There is something to be said for having a trainer. Sandy does stuff to me I would never willingly do to myself. And I will teasingly tell her no, but I don't fight her (too hard) on most things she wants me to do. I am doing this for myself (and the blasted contest), and I am getting stronger. I am feeling so much better physically and mentally. I know that I will hate her later (like right now due to very sore legs and arms!) but everything she does is worth it. She knows when to push me, when to back off, and always tries something new. I could go on and on about how awesome she is and how much I appreciate what she has done. And after the contest is over I will be making a point to still workout with her. Yes, personal training sessions are a bit expensive, but I never realized until working out with her how valuable it can be. I always thought personal trainers were for those training for marathons and the like. Not true! I attribute a good portion of my success so far this year to having Sandy helping me.

For those out there wondering if you should get a personal trainer or not all I can say is look into it. A trainer has so much to offer. Accountability is a big one for me. Also they help make sure you have good form, that you are using the correct weights, and mixing it up to keep you from getting bored. The biggest thing for me though is Sandy is one of my biggest motivators. On days like yesterday when I walk in feeling very down about my fitness and weight loss, she reminds me of how far I have come. She also pushes me to go just a little bit farther and do 20 reps when I would have easily stopped at 12.

If you do decide to look into different trainers at your gym here are some of my tips:

1) Find someone who has a similar personality. You won't get good results if you get someone who is more drill sergeant and you do better with gentle encouragement.

2) Make sure they understand your physical limitations and strengths. What are you good at? Do you have back/knee problems? You don't want someone who will ignore these things and tell you to work through the pain. Pain isn't good!

3) Make sure you are on the same page with fitness goals. No need to be training for a marathon if you just want to look good in a bikini!

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Now a couple quick questions for you all:

I feel like I should be posting more pictures or something. Do you want to see pictures? What of?

Is there anything in particular you want me to write about? What I'm eating? What I wish I was eating? (Mmmm steak)

Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Whew....and for those that made it through this post here is a motivational poster I found to be funny:

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Reader question: What milestones have you reached?

Starting Over...again

A new year, a new start and I am feeling better about staying on track right now. Or at least being able to get back on after falling off. In October I joined a gym here and I absolutely love it. The facilities are awesome (yay for pools, hot tubs, and saunas!), and best of all the staff and the other patrons are super friendly. I love walking into a gym where everyone greets you with a smile. Too often as an overweight woman I have gotten dirty looks, heard snide comments, and a general sense of intimidation. It is nice to walk into a gym and not worry about those silly things. I just wish I have had more time (and made more time) over the past couple months to fully use it!

When I signed my membership one of the perks is 2 free one-hour training sessions with a personal trainer. Today I had my first session with Sandy and she was awesome! She was very enthusiastic, encouraging, and has such a bright personality you can't help but smile when you are with her. She seemed surprised at times about some of my fitness interests, but was impressed I think. The one that seemed to surprise her the most is that I love swimming. She thought I was meaning water aerobics, but was genuinely surprised when I said I love doing laps. Anyways, she got me started riding a bike for a warm up while we went over health history, physical issues, and my goals.

Here are my personal goals:

• Lose 35-40 pounds (a good goal to start as that will put me where I was 3 years ago)
• Learn the butterfly stroke (the one stroke I can't seem to master....my body doesn't like trying to swim like a mermaid. Who knew?)
• Working on strength training - pretty much my entire body, but especially my core
• Make it to the gym 3 times per week for 30 minutes of cardio, and if I get strength training in it is a bonus. This was one of Sandy's goals for me.

After I got home I got on SparkPeople for the first time in a while and restarted everything. While it is nice resetting goals and timelines, I forgot what a pain it is too. It resets the workout program I had had setup in there which I had liked, and it just takes a while to redo it. Oh well, at least it is easy enough to do, just time consuming. I also set some mini goals through SparkPeople to help get me started. It is to see how many days in a row I can do these. Lets hope I can keep it up this time. Here they are:

• Track calories eaten each day
• Go to the gym at least 3 times per week
• Read an inspirational quote each day

Right now I am just looking at starting small. I want to get into the habit of recording my food intake regularly before I start to panic over what I am eating. One step and one day at a time. I can do this!

Thanks Sandy for the awesome kick start today!

Thanks Marshall for your love and support.

Motivational quote of the day: "Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom" George S. Patton