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.

Week 24 Recap : Three Golden Rules

I had a bit of blogger's block this week thinking about what I should write about for this recap. Usually I can just start typing on the page and it comes to me. Well, not this week. I thought about blogging about a recipe or new workout but I wanted to dig a little bit deeper. Then today, someone asked me how I keep my motivation and the idea came to me. I [hope] I'm about to write a really insightful post here about how to get and stay inspired. Without further ado, I present to you my three golden rules about how to get started and stay on a 'health' plan.

1. Identify your weakness

I'm not talking about chocolate cake, macaroni and cheese or the fact that you don't have a gym membership. Those things can all be overcome as long as you are in the right mindset. What I'm alluding to here is what in your mind in getting in the way of starting, or continuing a fitness/weight loss plan. Do you not think you're worth it? Do you think it's going to be too hard? Do you keep making excuses? I'm not trying to sound like a self help book here, but I've identified that being successful at this is mostly about your mindset (I would say 90% mindset, 10% nutrition and hard work). No, really. If you are not in that frame of mind to push farther, eat healthy and give the whole thing 110% you might as well throw in the proverbial towel from the start. My discovery about myself was that I was not holding myself accountable for my [lack of] actions - I made constant excuses to myself about why rarely working out and eating empty calories was ok.

2. Plan and implement real world solutions to overcome your weakness

This is also very key. I can't tell you how to do this except to tell you what I have done. Having a lack of accountability to myself, I had to find a solution so that I would be accountable. Enter real world solution : A weight loss contest. This works for many people for one reason or another. But for me, I know I perform my best in a competition environment [that's the Leo in me], where someone is watching my every move. Having 80 other contestants and someone weigh me in every month for four months forced me to be accountable. It also stopped me from making excuses because if I did, I would have to answer to someone else at the first of the month. Making this four month commitment helped me learn to be accountable for my own actions when it came to getting healthy. Which leads me to step 3.

3. Find allies

I was again faced with the challenge of how I was going to continue to hold myself accountable and keep up the great results after the weight loss competition was over. So I started blogging, and posting my blogs - everywhere. I shared the blogs on a variety of social media sites (FB, Pinterest) so pretty much anyone that knew me or was 'friends' with me is well aware of what I am doing. Blog reader, you are my ally in this journey. I found out quickly that if I let the world know what I was doing and where I was trying to go people would ask me about it - it became expected of me to keep up the results. It also helps if you have family and friends that are entirely on board with your plan - I am very lucky in this way. My mom goes to nearly all fitness classes I attend and I have a person in my life that cooks and plans healthy meals, goes hiking and is going to do boot camp classes with me. Also, the person that was weighing me in once a month for the weight loss competition happens to be the instructor for nearly all my fitness classes. I planned it this way. She expects to see me there, and will ask why I wasn't there if I didn't show up (that hasn't happened yet). I have a lot of allies in this health journey, and I feel looking better and pushing myself farther is, in large part, because of these people. It is also what keeps me motivated and in the appropriate mindset for success.

So there it is. I believe once you think you can do it, you will. Once your brain is in 'go' mode, overcoming other obstacles becomes significantly easier. 

Workout this week : 

Monday : Spin & Sculpt [501 cal]/30 min treadmill run & hike [320 cal] = 821 calories!

Tuesday : Bodypump = 360 calories

Wednesday : Spin & Sculpt = 450 calories

Thursday : 2.5 mile walk = 300 calories

Friday : Crazy shopping day!

This week was pretty crazy but I still got 5 legit workouts in [I'm not counting the shopping day]. I still have to try and make time for my ab routine, I only did it twice this week, but I completed the whole thing. This week was Landon's birthday and I still behaved ok in the face of massive amounts of sugar! I did have a piece of cake and some relatively low-cal ice cream, which I didn't even have for my own birthday but I didn't think I overdid it this weekend. I really would've like to get to a spin class Friday but it was a super crazy day, driving around and shopping the whole day. Lost another pound this week which is fine, still progress. Two would've been better but I'm going to go full throttle this week and get it done! Next week I WILL hit the 40lb mark!

Another cool thing - I have been stashing away two pairs of the smallest jeans I own. Mostly because I bought them, they were always too small but I couldn't bear to get rid of them. These jeans are new, but three years old. Well, this weekend I finally pulled them out. Now, for a person who had sworn off any sort of sized pants for the last two years this moment was certainly intimidating. I realize I have been walking around in stretchy leggings and dresses through the cold months, and forgiving sundresses in the warm ones. But it has been a long time since I've worn jeans. I was literally crossing my fingers as I slid the first pair on - and it buttoned and zipped with no muffin-top action! I remember about six months ago I tried them on just for the heck of it and was so upset when I could not even get them up over my lower hips. They would get to the top of my legs and that was it. An even cooler surprise, I managed to catch a glimpse of the size tag taking them off - I swore they were a 16, but no, they were a 14!!!!. Another 10lbs and I will really be exited to be shopping for fall clothes! Considering the last sized thing I bought was a 22 (dress, not pants), this was a pretty incredible moment for me. I love that there are going to be more moments like this one, when I can physically see the size difference, in the near future. Oh ya, and the other pair was too big, it was a 16....

It's Monday and I'm going to give it all I have this week. I feel rested and ready to take it on, really push myself. As soon as I hit that 40lb mark another pic to come!

Week 23 Recap - New Look!

As you may have noticed, the blog has a new look, and a fancy weight loss ticker [thanks again, MyFitnessPal!]. A little more simple, less disco multi-color. I tried to make it look nature-y but I could't stand the cheese of leaves/bamboo/mountains as the blog backdrop. So I chose a backdrop the reflects my current state of mind (not just today, recently) - sparkles! lights! sweat drops! I really don't know what they are but as I continue to lose weight and become healthier I feel like I've taken on some sort of sparkle. It is probably because of my increasing confidence and feeling better about the way I look in the mirror.

I'm sitting here eating a slice of chicken alfredo pizza and wow, can't tell you how delicious pizza tastes! It's been awhile since a baked piece of triangular, bread goodness covered in cheese has graced my mouth. Wait, what! I'm eating pizza??? Why yes, I am. Oh, you thought people only lose weight by eating salad? Mark my words, this slice o' heaven is probably more nutritious. The crust is wheat and gluten-free, whole milk cheese, creamy tomato sauce, grilled chicken, lots of spinach and fresh chunks of tomatoes. AND I have a side of kale on my plate as well. Ya, it's pizza, but pretty good for you, no? I'm having one slice as well. I remember not too long ago where I could get down three or four slices of that pizza-in-a-box and not think twice about it. It's all about moderation, and a sum of small, good choices that will help you get to where you want to go. In this case, I choose to have pizza in it's finest form. Fresh ingredients, no gluten and a good amount of protein and veggies on it. Oh, and it's GOOD.

While we're here let's talk about take-out. Chinese food or take-out pizza used to be a weekly staple for me - I'd indulge once a week in either of the two. But then I listened. Pizza talks. I listened to what my body was telling me. For example, have you ever eaten fried rice, general tsos chicken, egg rolls and crab rangoon and then thought; wow, I feel great right now - I have much more energy? My guess is no. While it may be tasty, if you listen to what you're body is telling you, you will probably figure out quickly what kinds of foods are good for you - what kind of food your body needs. Do I miss the taste of take-out? Yes. Do I miss the way I feel after I eat it? No. So anytime I feel like it, I think about this: the taste is momentary but the post-indulgence feeling last a while, perhaps a day for me. In all consideration, it's just not worth it.

This was my first full week with the heart rate monitor and I'm definitely loving it.

Workout this week:
Sunday : 3 mile hike at Indian Brook Res. = 350 calories burned

Monday : Energy Spin [440 cal]/20 min treadmill run and hike [255 cal] = 695 calories burned


Tuesday : Bodypump = 440 calories burned


Wednesday : Ab Challenge workout/Spin & Sculpt = 490 calories burned !RECORD!


Thursday : 3 mile walk = 320 calories burned


Friday : Zumba = 325 calories burned


Saturday : Trail hike = 290 calories burned

Wow, that is 8 workouts. I'm impressed with myself. I only did the Ab Challenge workout twice this week, but August started Wednesday, so I think that's excusable. I was pretty sore the next day even though I didn't complete the entire thing either time, it's tough!

Also : -2lbs last week, BAM! Which means, down 38lbs and just a week, maybe 2 away from the big 4-0! I'll have to have someone take a real comparison pic when I hit that mark - taking pics of yourself with a cell phone in front of a full-length mirror doesn't work all that well!

Resting today, I am pretty beat from this week, hoping for another great week!

Welcome to Ab Challenge August [has it really been 5 months already?]

July Progress: -8 lbs / -36 lbs total

8 spin classes

5 Bodypump classes

25 miles tracked on RunKeeper (walk/run/hike combined)

As month five of my health quest comes to a close, I'm starting to realize how many great new habits I am forming and how my mindset has really changed. Case and point : I packed my gym bag for Monday morning with two t-shirts and no workout pants! I was mid-change in the locker room as was completely bummed that I wasn't going to be able to do my spin class. But hey, no excuses right? Don't worry, I did not do a spin class with no pants! I thought of ways to overcome this mini 'challenge', though. There was another spin class at 1 (I had signed up for the noon class) so what could I do to make it to that one? I thought about just going back to my desk but the idea of not getting my Monday workout in was just not acceptable. So this is what I did - I took the world's shortest shopping trip to TJ Maxx up on Shelburne rd. I darted in there, grabbed a pair of $7.99 workout capris and headed back in to work - I did this all in 10 minutes. I completed the 1pm spin class. That's some hard-core dedication if I do say so myself :). I mean, it's not like I didn't need some more workout clothes anyway, right? I'm at the point where no excuse is acceptable anymore. In fact, I realize how great I feel when I get a good workout that I get pretty upset if I'm going to go a day without it. Five months ago, I would've really enjoyed just hanging out on the couch on a Sunday, relaxing. But on Sunday we did a 3 mile trail hike with Landon, which I definitely enjoyed.

July was a pretty good month. I'm back on the weight loss train! Not like I was ever off but I pulled a pretty high loss this month of 8lbs. I was on point with my workouts - I even had a few weeks where I did more than five workouts, my eating was great. I would've like to have done more like 10 spin classes, however the studio was closed 1/2 of last week so I got more running in than I planned. I did splurge for the first time in a long time during my birthday weekend. The drinks were going down smooth and I did have some mac & cheese (gasp!) for the first time since March. Once every four months having pasta and delicious cheese is really not going to throw me off track. It's a manageable healthy lifestyle [with very planned indulgences]. So here we go, in to August. I really wanted to set some goals in stone [on the blog] to work towards. Seeing how I am obsessed with Pinterest these days, the idea came pretty quickly : Ab Challenge August! YES!

This is the Ab Challenge I'm doing. I'm shooting for three times a week on top of my normal routine. Why Abs, you ask? Now, we all know I am light years away from a six pack. This is more about strengthening my core to aid the fat-burning process in that whole stomach area [that is a massive trouble area for me!]. Plus, between bodypump and the spin & sculpt classes I feel like I am getting plenty of arm/back/leg strength training. A great core workout is what I'm lacking in my training plan [that's what I'm going to call it from now on]. I did a trial run of this ab routine, I barely made it half-way through without stopping from fatigue, so it will be quite a challenge indeed. I will be tracking my stomach and hip inches to see if I actually make an improvement with this strategy.

August Fitness Goals [July plan with the Ab Challenge added]:
Ab Challenge workout 3X/week
Spin 2-3X/week
Bodypump - once a week
Quick 30min run 1-2X/week
Long walk once a week

Weight loss goal :
-7.5 lbs [-43 total] Who's hitting the the 40lb mark this month? ME!

Nutrition Goals:
Keep on course - less booze!

Please follow along, or feel free to do the Ab Challenge with me so I have someone to complain to about how sore I am! Oh, and feel free to check out my Workout playlist on Spotify. I'm always updating!

Pinspiration for August : 

Week 22 Recap

Before I get to the recap, let's have a moment of silence for all those people who take shortcuts with their weight loss - you know, like magic pills, diet fads, etc., etc. They somehow lose weight by seemingly not changing their lifestyle. I don't know about you, but when I get the body I dream of, that I know is hidden inside me somewhere (and it's not a matter of 'if', just 'when', because it WILL happen) I think that people will probably inquire about how I did it. Maybe they'll ask me my 'secret'. And this is what I will say : I changed my lifestyle, made sacrifices and healthy decisions not once in awhile, but EVERY day. I pushed myself and sweat like crazy working hard a minimum of 5 days a week, sometimes more than that. I MADE the time, I MADE myself a priority. I researched the right foods to eat, I adjusted my food intake based on what my body was telling me. Because when (and not if) I get to the top of this fitness/health mountain I am climbing, I want to know that I created this body of mine, just me. It was my own doing and hard work, not because of shortcuts or doctors or dangerous extremes. Enough about that....

Week 22 aka my birthday week hooray! Since I have started losing weight, I have been trying to hold myself back from buying any new clothes. However, soon it's going to be necessary. Enter a good reason to spend a little dough on myself : birthday cash. I've ordered a cute dress for my birthday night, four sizes smaller than  the last 'sized' dress I bought (numbers, not letters). It's the smallest I've been in about 3 years. It was delivered to me on Wednesday, and I immediately pulled it out of the box. I actually slipped it over the dress I was wearing, without even unzipping the side - and it FIT! This was not a stretchy material either, sort of chiffon-like. Not only that, it was a little big, I probably could have ordered another size smaller. WHAT!?! - so exiting. First new item of clothing I purchased since I have been losing weight and it was kind of big. It's a pretty rare occasion where I over estimate the size I am. I digress...back to the recap.

This week I had fun working out! I received a Polar heart rate monitor as a birthday gift, which allows me to see a) my heart rate at all times and b) calories burned in a workout. I've been sort of guessing the calorie burn (based on time input and my current weight on MyFitnessPal app). Now I have a much more accurate number. I also was given a 10 class pass for boot camp! Hoping to start that soon.

Workout this week:
Monday : Spin & Sculpt class/20 min. on the elliptical

Tuesday: Bodypump (burned 325 cal)/Treadmill jog hike (361 cal) = 686 calories burned!


Wednesday : Lunch walk 2.8 miles (280 cal)/evening walk 2.2 miles (280 cal) = 560 calories burned!


Thursday : Bodypump (465 cal)

Friday : Day off

This was an extraordinary cool experiment. The two bodypump classes were the same this week, but at Thursday's class I made it an absolute point to push myself.  I found, somewhere, the athlete in me. During the lunge track (towards the end of the class) I actually caught myself smiling during the last set of squat jumps, realizing the pure power my legs had. If you don't know what squat jumps are, they are exactly what they sound like, a squat and a jump, then back in to the squat, and so on, and so on. I jumped higher and squatted deeper with each rep, sweat pouring in to my eyes and my legs burning. I kept telling myself : turn the pain in to strength, and I did it. I forgot about the pain and found my stride. While others in the class were stopping, I jumped higher and let my muscles catapult me in to the air. I may have only jumped a foot off the ground but it felt like five. My hard work was rewarded with 145 extra calories burned than the class on Tuesday. A heart rate monitor was a brilliant idea as a gift. I can't wait to try it with the spin classes so I know which burns the most!

Instead of telling you about the food I'm eating this week, I'll just show you a picture of my fridge:

Now in case you can't see it (I know it's a crappy pic) -

Top Shelf: Blackberries/Strawberries, tomatoes from the garden, broccoli from the garden, OJ (for Landon), pickles (made with cukes from the garden), Raw milk from Family Cow Farmstand (YUM!)
Middle shelf: Butter (you sure as heck won't catch margarine in my fridge), chard, kale, cukes and beans (all from the garden)
Bottom shelf: Hard boiled eggs, light bread (35 cal/slice), sour cream, pork/steak
Drawers: Squash (from the garden), garlic scapes (from the farmer's market).

Let's just forget about those frappaccinos - I got them for camping, had one, and haven't touched them since. From this picture I can say about 90% of the food in here is local, fresh and organic. My breakfast, lunch and dinner will all have food from this stash this week. I rarely eat anything out of the cabinet - if I do it's organic rice. This is a fridge I am proud of, with many things that were grown by us! Also you may notice there is nothing 'low-fat' or lean protein. Never fear! I have shrimp in the freezer and usually have some sort of poultry for lunch from the cafe. But remember, the fat content of the meal is actually what keeps you full. So no, I don't eat bone-dry chicken breast all the time. I'll take a steak or some pork any day of the week! Fat is good, as a country we absolutely need to get over making everything low fat - it's not natural, and definitely not as tasty.

So, has my hard work paid off this month? On the scale this morning I was down another 2lbs this week, 7.5 total for July! That's 35.5 total! My official weigh in day isn't until Monday and I'll finish off the month with a progress post.