What's with the name?

What's with the name? In my mid-twenties, I had essentially gone through one kind of life and am starting to enter another. The people that are probably going to read this blog know exactly what I'm talking about - but for those who don't know, here's a brief rundown . Cheers to Chapter 2! A journey in health in many ways, and to be the best version of myself I can possibly be. I am also a blogger for GreenMommas.com. This is my blog.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Week 25 Recap : The New Normal

This week, I was presented with the opportunity (on more than one occasion) not to work out. When I think about that sentence, not working out is really not an opportunity, I guess. Let me explain. As most know, I am very lucky to have all the fitness resources I could dream of, for free. I am so thankful that I can get up from my desk and have a great workout during lunch, choosing from a variety of fitness classes provided by my employer. Therefore, I have gotten myself in to a schedule over the last five months to get up at lunch, and complete a class that I really enjoy. Coming in to work Tuesday morning, my strength training class was canceled for a company meeting. Then Friday, a meeting was called at the same time as my cyctone class. I had an option here - just scratch my workout for these days or find a plan B. Although I don't enjoy it as much, I did have the option of running after work, which is exactly what I did. I ran a 5k on the treadmill both days. On Friday I gave myself an added challenge of shaving a minute off the previous 5k time of 39.5 minutes that I had done at the end of June. I didn't do it - instead of 1 min, I shaved 2 min off my previous time and got to the 3.1 mile mark at 37.5 minutes. I am proud and although for some that would be a considerably slow time, I'm still improving and am much faster than I used to be. It felt really good.

Finally got around to the down 40lbs pics. I even did a side view this time, and not a crappy cell phone pic since I finally figured out how to do continuous photos with my Nikon digital on a 30 second timer. Click...30 seconds...pose...30 seconds...pose. Here they are:



The most noticeable difference for me is in my face. I guess the smaller waist is there too, although I am not seeing a ton of difference in the side view, which is a little frustrating. I did actually get a compliment the other day on my 'slimmer profile', though, so maybe I have the proportions off a little. Sigh. Pics are always a great reminder not only of how far I've come, but how far I have to go. 

After nearly six months at this, I believe I have finally settled in to a new normal way of doing things. My lifestyle has been adjusted significantly, but I still live a little. I really LOVE to LIVE. Friday we went out for some drinks and a bite to eat. I am privileged to live in [what I consider to be] a mecca of local and delicious food - VT! Just in Burlington there are so many options for delicious food that is sourced locally. If you are limiting yourself to those mediocre chain restaurants and you're living in the green mountain state, branch out! We have excellent food here for reasonable prices. We ventured out to try a new place - Pizzeria Verita, the former spot of 156 Bistro. Now, I've had my bad experiences with 156 so I was pretty exited to see it go in lieu of some fresh perspective on flatbread. I was thinking probably what a lot of you are : does BTV really need another pizza place? Eat here once, and your answer will indisputably be yes. This is a pizza of a whole different kind, folks. Starting with a small plate of foccacia, warm goat cheese and cured meats that rival some of the best I've ever had (in Italy), we ordered the Mais pizza to split (portion is meant for one person). The Mais pizza was, for lack of a better word, incredible. A cooked-to-perfection white pizza with delightfully salty prosciutto, sweet corn and basil. This is no American Flatbread. The crust had a earthy wooded taste, more like a grilled pizza, not too crunchy, but nicely chewy - puffed perfection. Delicioso!

Foodie spiel aside, I want to be clear that this is a manageable lifestyle I am trying to implement. I enjoy incredible food, wine and cocktails as I see fit - and then go for a nice elevation hike the next day :). It's all about balance and not overdoing it. I still want to enjoy everything life has to offer and not limit myself so much that I am bitter when I see someone take a bite of cake or pizza.

Now, as you may have noticed above, I hit the 40lb mark this week - and passed it. August totals : -5lbs / -41 total, which means another two pounds lost this week. I expected the 2lbs given the amount of work I put in.

Workout this week:

Monday : Spin & Sculpt (520 cal)/Treadmill run 2 miles (248 cal) = 768 calories burned

Tuesday : Treadmill 5k = 480 calories burned

Wednesday : Spin & sculpt (500 cal)/Bootcamp!(526 cal) = 1026 calories burned

Thursday : 2.6 mile walk = 300 calories burned

Friday : treadmill 5k = 490 calories

Saturday : Catamount trail hike 2 hrs 40 min : 1032 calories [new record!!!]

Now, if we do some quick math here - I actually burned 4144 calories this week just with my workouts. That's 1.2ish pounds, which is pretty amazing. I put some seriously hard work in this week with two double workout days plus a long hike on Saturday.

I really took a moment today to thank myself for all the hard work I've done in the last 5.5 months. In my brain it sounds something like this : "hey me, I know you started this journey at the beginning of a long road that seemingly had no end. But thanks for taking the time. I feel awesome, thanks to you." Although I may be only a little over 1/3 of the way through toward my ultimate goal, 41lbs is a lot of weight lost. I'm thankful for every rep, walk, run and drop of sweat that it took to get me here.

2 comments:

  1. Jessie - your side view is AMZING! You've lost a lot from you (there's now a curve forming), your lower abs look pulled in and your hips seem to have smoothed out. You are doing GREAT! xo

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    1. Thanks! Sometimes I struggle to see the difference - I have a post coming up about that next week. A different set of eyes always helps.

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