Back to the Drawing Board

Finally!

It has been too long since good workouts have been a regular part of my daily life. Even though it was due to my bum knee I feel like a lazy bum. The past two days it has been feeling like it is back to normal so I am ready to get started again. It is about time! I have put on a pound this week and that really is getting on my nerves. I have not gained inches in the areas that I measure but I know I have in places that I don’t, this is unacceptable. Now that getting back on track is possible I am starting today.

Where to start is my main question. Round One or Round Two? With it being weeks since working out full force has happened I am thinking Round One but doing the Les Mills Pump ULT cardio workouts on the cardio days and doing yoga on rest days. I seem to recuperate better with yoga, it is relaxing and helps with my aches so it counts as rest in my book. So here I am back to the drawing board at day one. Getting back is exciting but starting over is mildly discouraging. One step at a time though, no need to do something and end up with another bum knee because I decided to go balls to the wall with it.

So here I am Day One of Ninety! Wish me luck!

I should get my Color Run pics from the photo shop today. Can’t wait!

Oh and we can not forget my weigh and measure in. Here  you go!

• Chest: 31.0 inches (- 0 inches)
• R Arm: 12 inches (- 0 inches)
• L  Arm: 12 inches (- 0 inches)
• Waist: 32 inches (- 0 inches)
• Hips: 41 inches (- 0 inches)
• R Thigh: 23.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• L Thigh: 23.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• Weight: 163 pounds (+1 pound)
• Pant Size: 12
• BMI: 29.6% (+.2%)

First Round 1 Thursday Weigh in & Vacation Workout Plan

To commemorate the end of Week 1 of Round 2 of Les Mills Pump today I weigh and measure in. This week was a rough week so my workouts were not on PAR I missed a workout and two I only did my basic Pump portion. I did make up for it by doing a billion loads of wash and purging the house of a bunch of unneeded clothing so they could go to others who are in need. I have 4 bags ready to go and will have 4 more by tomorrow.

I leave for vacation on Sunday. Gozzer Ranch here we come My Mother in Law emailed me and had me send her my “diet” aka just how I eat now so I can’t call it a diet anymore, and is graciously providing me with the foods that I need. So food won’t be an issue, I am  glad not to have to worry about that. As far as workouts go, I think I will take my Jillian Michaels Yoga meltdown and Les Mills Pump Hard Core Abs just in case finding someone to watch Emma does not work out. I can lock my self in a bedroom and do those and Yoga Meltdown offers challenging body weight exercises. The boys will golf early mornings so my runs are out in the a.m. So after dark is when those will have to happen. Yes, I will have cocktails in me but it’s all good. It is a vacation right? I want to try to get three runs in while I am there, for 7 days I figure that will not be so bad. I will be gone 9 but will be in Idaho for 7. I plan to blog a little while I am there but am making no promises. I do not want to take my lap top and I am not sure how the internet on my phone will run. Last year I had voice service but no data there. It is fairly remote so I didn’t really expect it to have data.

So here is what you all came here for:

Drum-roll please…..

• Chest: 31.0 inches (- 0.5 inches)
• R Arm: 12 inches (- 0 inches)
• L  Arm: 12 inches (- 0 inches)
• Waist: 32 inches (- 0 inches)
• Hips: 41 inches (- 0 inches)
• R Thigh: 23.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• L Thigh: 23.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• Weight: 163 pounds (-2 pounds)
• Pant Size: 12
• BMI: 29.4% (- 0%)

Not to shabby!  Maybe this is marking the end of my plateau!

Tuesday Weigh In

Today is day 30 of my 30 day Les Mills Pump Ultimate Cross Training and Day 130 since I started Les MIlls Pump. this past 30 days so far have not been as heavy on results as I would have wished. But there was a little progress.

Here are this weeks results:

• Chest: 31.5 inches (-0 inches)
• R Arm: 12 inches (-0 inches)
• L  Arm: 12 inches (-0 inches)
• Waist: 32 inches (-0 inches)
• Hips: 41 inches (-0 inches)
• R Thigh: 23.5 inches (-0 inches)
• L Thigh: 23.5 inches (-0 inches)
• Weight: 165 pounds (-1 pound)
• Pant Size: 12
• BMI: 29.4% (-0 %)

Not a ton of change but I will take what I can get!!

This is where I started the 30 days at:

• Chest: 32 inches
• R Arm: 12 inches
• L  Arm: 12 inches
• Waist: 32 inches
• Hips: 41 inches
• R Thigh: 23.5 inches
• L Thigh: 23.5 inches
• Weight: 168 pounds
• Pant Size: 12
• BMI: 29.5%

So the over all change for the past 30 days is:

• Chest: – 0.5 inches
• R Arm: -0 inches
• L  Arm: -0 inches
• Waist: -0 inches
• Hips: -0 inches
• R Thigh: -0 inches
• L Thigh: -0 inches
• Weight: -3 pounds
• Pant Size: -0 sizes
• BMI: -0.1%

Since I have started Les Mills Pump results:

• Chest: -6.5 inches
• R Arm: -0 inches
• L  Arm: -0 inches
• Waist: -11 inches
• Hips: -4 inches
• R Thigh: -5.5 inches
• L Thigh: -6 inches
• Weight: -15 pounds
• Pant Size: -2 sizes
• BMI: -22.6%

Tomorrow I start Round Two of Les Mills Pump. I hope it goes much better than these past 30 days.

Weigh In and Shopping for Cardio

Is it possible to consider five hours of walking around shopping as cardio? After returning home I was pooped, and broke. But, I need clothes to wear that fit. No one works hard to lose weight just to keep wearing the clothes they wore when they were larger. Also I prefer the term “get rid of weight” over “lost weight” when something is lost you tend to look for it. I really don’t want any of my size back. so whoever finds it can keep it! So yeah, I shopped ’till I dropped once again. For quite some time I have been saying I want to wear shorts again, and I ending up braving trying a pair on, I wasn’t too turned off by them but didn’t like the style, so I loaded up the dressing room and left the shop with two pairs of shorts!! I have not worn shorts in three years or more so this is a big deal. I also bought two dresses that are wait for it… wait.. MEDIUMS! So exciting.  It has been a long time since I have fit into a medium dress. No more clothing shopping for a while I will wait until this set is too big, I now have enough pieces to get me through some time mixing and matching. Well, I do need some jean Capri’s but that is it. So here were my finds from yesterdays shopping extravaganza:

Oh and I think I have my scale back in order and went across the street to my lovely neighbor Janis’ and tried her two scales. This is where I ended up for week 12:

• Chest: 32 inches  (- 1.5 inches)
• R Arm: 12 inches  (- 0 inches)
• L  Arm: 12 inches (+ .5 inches)
• Waist: 32 inches (- 0 inches)
• Hips: 41 inches (- 0 inches)
• R Thigh: 23.5 inches (- 1 inches)
• L Thigh: 23.5 inches (- 1 inches)
• Weight: 168 pounds (-3 pounds)
• Pant Size: 12
• BMI: 29.5

For a total of 3 inches and 3 pounds lost. This is day 86 of 90 of Les Mills Pump so on Day 90 I will have my last official weigh and measure in documents my 90 pump results. My Les Mills Pump Ultimate Cross Training Upgrade was dropped off by FedEx yesterday. I will blog about that later, promise So, that will begin the day after Round 1 of Les Mills Pump is done. It is a 30 day schedule, I will continue my blogs and keep counting weeks as they are now.

Tuesday Morning Weigh in is Postponed

Meet Max I blame this 20 lb behemoth cat for my scale issues.

Last night I got on the scale (it was around Midnight so it technically was not cheating and weighing in early), it said 164! So excited, then this morning it said 164, then 189, then 200, then 169, then 172. So yeah, I have no idea what I weigh. I did go grab my old scale that was weighing me heavier and it said 168. So I think I am going to go buy a new scale today and weigh back in after. I swear my huge cat sleeping on it all the time messed it up. I flipped it over and noticed that the legs on it were jamming up, so there is the issue. I wish I still had the box and receipt so I can just exchange it. I haven’t had it that long. But oh well. It is what it is and it is a jacked up scale. All I know is that there is no way in hell I gained 29 pounds in a week! I really don’t think there is any way I gained an ounce really. But I will get a new scale and we will see. So I will more than likely weigh tonight and post my results tomorrow morning. I am just hoping those lower numbers last night and this morning don’t leave me disappointed.

I really do think my big cat constantly sleeping on the  scale, jumping on the scale along with his other cat like shenanigans is what has messed the darn thing up. I am so annoyed right now because the stupid scale got me all excited and now I am sure that the numbers are totally wrong, even if I did get them twice (last night and this morning) UGH!!! Anyhow, enough ranting, whining and complaining. All I know is I think I look visibly smaller this week and I want the stupid scale to reflect it. And I am being a big baby right now because I don’t actually know.

I have a super busy day today and company tonight to watch Smash, New Girl and Glee so this will be today’s only post. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!

I’m Back! Here is how week 11 measured up!

Wow, it was strange not writing blogs and reading blogs for a few days. Blogging has become a habit, maybe even a ritual for me. I missed it. I spent the entire weekend painting. When we bought out house every inch of it was brown, every wall, every floor and even the outside is brown (except one bathroom they never bothered painting and the laundry room). The people who built this must have had a brown obsession. The only lived here six months after they built it so they didn’t have a chance to realize that they made a bad choice with all the brown. Upon buying it we knew we didn’t like the brown but would change it over time. We have now rid, 4 bedrooms, the living room, sitting room, kitchen/dining rooms, the upstairs hallway and the foyer of the brown. All that there is left is 2 bathrooms and the carpet. The Carpet guys were supposed to come measure yesterday but did not and will be here tomorrow. Hopefully the new carpet will be in soon! I did not take before pictures just because I was in the let’s do this zone and didn’t think of it but here are the pics I have. The pics are not the best because I am still waiting for Canon to actually do their job.

Original brown walls

Hallway/stairwell landing. Painting two story tall walls is hard!

Hallway: tape is still up and paint trays on the floor but you get the point.

What happens when you beagle decides he needs to sit against the wall and constantly wag his tail against it. his tail is not supposed to be white it looks naturally white, but it is not.

Contrast with new color

Almond white on main walls and baked scone on the accent wall (fireplace)

The kid approves!

There you go, that was my weekend in a nutshell. We did also do some shopping around for all mounts for the TV and a new media center. No luck finding what I have in mind. I am very picky I guess. I am hoping to have everything done by the last weekend of the month. I am hosting a jewelry party here and it may be a good thing to not have the house a disastrous mess.

I did well with my food intake over the weekend even with keeping busy. I would have rather had take out all weekend just because it would have been easier. but once I actually made an effort to cook, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I was so close to falling into  my old mindset of being busy means that you should just eat what is quickest and came in a take out box. Whew, crisis adverted. I did get a bit of exercise in but not as much as I would have liked. but painting was pretty hard on my hands with the dip in the weather this weekend. My body hates temp changes. Especially when it drops down like it did. I froze my rear off at Emma’s game on Saturday morning. It was so freaking cold! I wish Michigan weather could make up its mind! Anyhow, I rambled off there for a minute. back on topic now. Exercise.  I didn’t put in as much effort as usual. But painting had to be done and it was work so it counts as a bit of my missed workout. All, in all I still was active. The main thing that I was lacking in was my Les Mills Pump. I missed one session of Extreme. Just did a quick Challenge session instead. I skipped Flow, but no biggie, it’s just a 20  minute yoga workout. All in all I think I could have done worse so I am okay with it.  Got back to it full force yesterday.

I suppose you all want to know how I fared with week eleven, here are my stats for the week:

• Chest: 32 inches  (- 1.5 inches)
• R Arm: 12 inches  (- 0 inches)
• L  Arm: 11.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• Waist: 32 inches (- 0 inches)
• Hips: 41 inches (- 0 inches)
• R Thigh: 24.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• L Thigh: 24.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• Weight: 171 pounds (-0 pounds)
• Pant Size: 12
• BMI: 29.5

Minus 1.5 inches this week. Not too shabby. I would still really love to see the scale start moving though.

It’s time for my Week 10 check in!

I have an obsession with the apples and measuring tape pictures I collect them on my hard drive now. I am so weird

I am finished with week ten! Wow, the time has really flew by! I am officially 71 days into Round one of Les Mills Pump, that means I have 19 days left to go before Les Mills Ultimate Cross Training! I am a bit nervous.

This week my results were not great but any positive move forward is still a move forward so I will take it with a smile. I went through my meals and i think I pinpointed why I got on the mini plateau, I had some hydration issues (as I blogged about before) and I did not eat enough calories. I miss too many snacks and I am positive my body did some storing. So I am going to start getting back on my proper calories and see how that works. Some days I was almost 700 cals short. That is not good. Buckling down and planning my food better around out schedule is a necessity. So after my workout this afternoon I am on it! I’ve got to do my “mom” schedule for the month anyhow. I am glad I figured out where the issue is and it is an easy fix! Maybe fix up some containers of to go snacks for the week so I can just grab and go will make it easier.

So here are my results, nothing amazing but change is change!

• Chest: 34.5 inches  (- 1.5 inches)
• R Arm: 12 inches  (- 0 inches)
• L  Arm: 11.5 inches (- .5 inches)
• Waist: 32 inches (- 0 inches)
• Hips: 41 inches (- 0 inches)
• R Thigh: 24.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• L Thigh: 24.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• Weight: 171 pounds (-0 pounds)
• Pant Size: 12
• BMI: 29.6

So a 2 inch difference this week! Way better than last weeks no change at all!!

 

The Countdown Begins! (and a question for runners)

My next step into fitness

I am in day 70 of my first round of Les Mills Pump, that means I have 20 more days to go. Where did the time go? Truly it does not feel like that much time has already passed! In about a week I will have to order the Les Mills Pump Ultimate Cross Training Deluxe upgrade. It sounds kind of scary. I have never been the deluxe kind of girl. It will be fun though and I will be able to do it. It was surprising to me that I even got this far without quitting. Quitting is not something that I have even thought of. Surprising myself feels good.

Tomorrow I weigh in, there is no obvious changes in my opinion, but with the weeks happenings I didn’t always make the right choices, I don’t think I ate enough, I had missed some workouts, alcohol was consumed a couple of days and I didn’t sleep much. There were a lot of happenings this past week. Life happens and I just got to get on track and get off this plateau. This week we had showings, a funeral, friends come into town, a birthday and Little League season officially started, as well as all the normal stuff.  Really, I don’t think I budgeted my time well. All in all I don’t think I did bad, just not good enough to show change so if I don’t gain pounds or inches when I weigh and measure tomorrow that will be good enough for me.  Tomorrow starts a new fitness week and I will rock it. (Today too!)

I haven’t eaten yet so I better get onto making some breakfast then I am going to get in my C25K before I run errands then do Pump after.

Quick question for all you runners out there. Are Compression socks something you would recommend for races? Do you use them and how have they benefited you.

Tuesday Weigh in Week 9 *sigh*

It is that time again. I’ve got my scale and tape measure handy and I am ready to go. I am not sure how accurate anything will be this week. I have some MAJOR bloating issues and still have a pot belly going on, swollen from my stomach to thighs (I can feel the fluid, yuck). My Fibromyalgia is flared up pretty badly. I feel foggy and things that should be easy are getting more and more confusing. I went to Zumba last night and wow, did I have a really hard time catching on. I did 100 times better last time, and that was my first go at it. Oh well, I did my best and worked up a really good sweat. That is all that matters. Right now I am hoping this fog, the bloat and the elevated pain passes quick. I am definitely going to have to tone down the weights for now. I really hope it doesn’t set me back to far. Ah, the life of a cripple.

I had to go pant shopping yesterday, needed some dress slacks for a Showing this afternoon. I hate shopping when bloated, makes finding things harder. I was still able to buy a size 12 though. So I was happy.

Let me hop on the scale and get this done and over with:

• Chest: 36 inches  (- 0 inches)
• R Arm: 12 inches  (- 0 inches)
• L  Arm: 12 inches (- 0 inches)
• Waist: 32 inches (- 0 inches)
• Hips: 41 inches (- 0 inches)
• R Thigh: 24.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• L Thigh: 24.5 inches (- 0 inches)
• Weight: 171 pounds (-0 pounds)
• Pant Size: 12
• BMI: 29.9

Well, that wasn’t as bad as I though it would be, all the bloat sits above and below where I measure. How convenient! So no change this week. Not exactly pleased but I will accept it and move on. I think I need to step up the cardio or go a little stricter with the diet so I can get some sure changes for next week. Hoping it will clear out this water weight I am carrying around right now. I really dislike weeks with no change they feel like set backs and are disappointing. It is the beginning of a new fitness week for me so time to change that!

Have a great Tuesday everyone.

 

Day 60 of Les Mills Pump

Well, I made it 60 days and have 30 more days to go. Boy, did the time fly by. It is almost strange that in these 60 days so much has changed for me physically and mentally. My lifestyle is dramatically different, exercise and a good diet is my norm now. I can hardly remember my life as it was before. Everything is so routine. I am far more confident, I like myself more and am not as down on myself as I once was. I have found healthy outlets for my frustrations and a place to share my thoughts and feelings with people who understand and don’t try to find a way to make this journey harder (Here!). I am also finding that I am not feeling the need to explain myself and what i am doing to people so much anymore. let them think I am doing something wrong. Because as they continue to live their unhealthy lives I am prolonging my life and bringing my self up.

It is amazing how a $190 investment into an at home fitness program can be the best investment I have ever made. I can not wait to see what the next 30 days brings and I can’t wait to order the Ultimate Cross Training upgrade. Then onto round 2.

Screenshot of my progress and goals on teambeachbody.com. Granted the weight goal is no longer a goal, I have hardly lost weight and have went from a 16 to a 12 in these 60 days so the number on the scale is starting to mean nothing to me anymore.

I also did try on my “inspiration dresses” I mentioned in a previous post. My camera needs repair so I could not get pictures. I did try Emma’s camera and my phone but I really suck at the self portrait taken with my super thin mirror with those things. I couldn’t even get my before pictures right in the mirror, Emma took those, yep, a six-year-old. LOL  Anyhow back to the dresses. They are too big! I never even got to wear them. So I may get them altered.