Seven Weeks!

March 27, 2012

Current weight: 175.0

Current measurements: Unknown.

Woohoo! I've finished 6 weeks of workouts and have started my 7th week. I feel like working out has become a way of life for me now. I've never felt as strong or confident in myself. It's really amazing! I have my 6 week progress pictures which you can see below. Yesterday was tons of push ups and abs. I felt amazing yesterday because the first week I did the abs workout there were certain moves I could not even do 1 of unassisted. Now, I can do 25 and have moved up to the advanced version of those moves. It's crazy!

Today MT called and had to cancel the session so instead of taking a day off, I went ahead and did our planned workout anyway. I did the Navy Seals workout from last Tuesday and then at the end I ran for about 5 minutes. Not too long, but I wanted my workout to be at least 30 minutes. Today's workout was short because I did not have abs to do. We're getting back on track tomorrow but I feel like I honestly could be motivated enough to continue on doing this on my own now. I have not felt like this before and it's a really good feeling.

Here are the progress pictures as promised. The only one I really see a difference in is my back.

Boxing Day - Take 2

March 22, 2012

Current weight: 175.0

Current measurements:
Right thigh: 23.5"
Left thigh: 23.75"
Waist: 32.5"
Chest: 36.75"
Left biceps: 12.25"
Right biceps: 12.5"
Hips: 40"

Today was exciting because I fit into some pants I bought months ago before our move to Texas and have never been able to wear - until today! I can definitely see and feel a difference today in how I look. I am down over 15" from when I started this journey almost 6 weeks ago. It's amazing. I told my trainer that once I get down to the 160s he owes me a beach workout! I am so excited to get there. Only 6 more pounds to go.

Today we boxed again. Last week we added kicks into our boxing routine so now it's really tiring. My trainer (MT) told me I throw something like 1500 punches during this workout. It's a killer. I have been trying to get through it as fast as I can the last few times we've done it (every Thursday) because it's hard and I want it to be over! Haha :) Today it only took me about 40 minutes to get through the whole thing and I was really impressed with myself. No abs today. Tomorrow is legs and back (and abs). That workout is a killer so I'm going to try not to think about it until tomorrow. Tomorrow is also end of week 6 pictures! Hopefully I can see a difference in them from week 1...

Killin' It - Navy Seals Style

March 20, 2012

Current weight: 175.2
Measurements from 03/19/12:
Right thigh: 24.25"
Left thigh: 24.75"
Waist: 32.75"
Chest: 37"
Left biceps: 12.5"
Right biceps: 12.75"
Hips: 41"

Current total weight loss: 6.4 pounds
Total inches lost: 12

Last week we started a new program. It's the same idea: Monday is chest, shoulders, and triceps (aka LOTS of push-ups). Tuesday is running/plyo, Wednesday is arms, Thursday is boxing, and Friday is swimming or legs and back. The workouts have stepped it up a couple of notches and are crazy hard. The first week (week 5, last week) I couldn't even do 1 one-handed push up with my legs fully extended; this week I did 6. I can definitely see the progress. I feel much, much stronger than when I started. Last week we did not get to do our swimming workout so we will see if we do it this week. Today I wasn't quite sure what we were going to do because we had horrible weather and it was pouring down rain, thundering, etc. So I figured we wouldn't be running (since we do this outside). I thought we must be doing plyo, but when I showed up for my workout, my trainer had a surprise for me: His Navy Seal buddy had come over and agreed to train me for the day! I was nervously excited about this when I heard the news. I felt like it would be an amazing challenge and opportunity but there was no doubt in my mind I was in for some pain!

We did a workout that consisted of 6 moves done 3 times each in 30 second intervals. You do the move for 30 seconds, rest for 45 seconds and repeat 2 more times. Then you move on to the next move. Do this for all 6 moves and then you're done. It sounds pretty easy until you do it. The jump squats were definitely my least favorite part of the workout. I impressed myself, though, because I was not only able to complete the entire workout without stopping, but I also went and did a little bit more than they told me to do. It felt amazing to be able to do this workout knowing there was no way I could have done it 6 weeks ago. I hope we incorporate more of this workout style in the future, maybe on Tuesdays instead of running (which I am not a fan of!). Since I never shared them, here are my end of week 4 pictures. I will be taking more updated pictures at the end of this week for my 6 week progress pictures. This is the first week where I have really felt like I look different so I am excited to share in just 3 more days!

"Recovery"... Mwahahaha

March 5, 2012

Current weight: Unsure

I did not take measurements today.

Well, today was the first day of my "recovery" week. I suppose it was a little easier in that it was only about a 40 minute workout today. But we boxed today and built on a little bit to what we did last week. According to my trainer, we are going to box 3 times this week and do tons of core work the other 2 days. So tomorrow begins core work day 1. I got a preview of one of the things we're going to do next week which involves working out in the swimming pool and frankly it seems CRAZY hard. But I've been so impressed with the things I've been able to do thus far that I'm sure I will surprise myself in this, too. And just for fun, here is a picture of me and my daughter on the beach today:

Another one bites the dust

March 2, 2012

Current weight: 179.0
Right thigh: 25"
Left thigh: 24.75"
Waist: 34.25"
Chest: 38.75"
Right biceps: 13"
Left biceps" 12.5"
Hips: 41.75"

Total inches lost: 7
Total pounds lost: 2.6

Well, another week in the books! Today was legs and back and holy cow! Every day I don't think I could sweat any more than the day before and then I prove myself wrong again and again. I could have wrung out my shirt by the end of this workout. It was SO hard!

I was able to do modified abs today, so instead of doing 25 of each of the 11 moves, I did 10. It felt really good to be back at doing abs. I was afraid I would have lost some of the progress I made since I hadn't done abs in a while, but I was even stronger than when I quit. That was really encouraging.

I also lost weight today! I'm still not back to my lowest but making progress. As long as I'm trending downward I'm happy. The effort I put in this week showed and I feel great. I get the weekend off to recover and then we start week 4 which is called the "recovery" week. I'm guess it's going to be really hard like the rest, but in a different way. Time will tell! Part of me wants to run tomorrow but I'm not sure if I should give myself 2 days of rest or not. Guess I'll decide tomorrow...

Boxing Day

March 1, 2012

Current weight: 180.4

Measurements are the same as yesterday.

I was feeling a bit frustrated to see my weight go up again this morning, but again, I am trying to use that as motivation to work harder.

Today, my trainer had a surprise for me. No yoga!! Instead we boxed for an hour. That is a crazy fun and crazy hard workout! I seriously loved it. I told him to feel free to swap yoga for boxing anytime.

I'm hoping tomorrow I see some change but if not, I'll just keep at it. My arms and definitely looking/feeling stronger. Now to get some inches/weight off my stomach and thighs...

I'm a Maniac, Maniac

February 29, 2012

Current weight: 179.4
Right thigh: 24.5"
Left thigh: 25"
Waist: 34.5"
Chest: 39.5"
Right biceps: 12.5"
Left biceps: 12.5"
Hips: 41.75"

I was a bit frustrated this mornign when I woke up and weighed myself only to gain wait this morning. AGAIN. Not sure what else to do at this point so instead of giving up I decided to let it movtivate me to work even harder in the gym. I wasn't sure if is was possible but I kicked butt today. Today was shoulders and arms and this workout felt amazing. I was curling 15-20 pounds and one time I even did 4 curls with 30 pounds just to see if I could! I did 50 triceps exercises on each arm, too. Ouch! I felt super energized at the end of this workout. Arms is definitely my favorite day. I had to skip abs again today because I did 2 moves and it hurt my strained ab a little so we'll try again on Friday. My traininer suggested to get some of this belly weight off I start running in addition to our workouts so I think I might start that tomorrow. I forgot to ask how long/fast I should be running.

Tomorrow is yoga day (blech). I only have 2 more days until I've got 3 weeks down! I'm so impressed with myself and doing things I never would have thought I could do 3 weeks ago. Today was definitely a win.

Setbacks and Kicking Ass

February 28, 2012

Current Stats:
Weight: 179.0
Right thigh: 24.75"
Left thigh: 24.75"
Waist: 34.75"
Chest: 39.5"
Right biceps: 12.5"
Left biceps: 12.25"
Hips: 41.75"

Overall, I gained parital inches in a lot of areas. But yay for a loss in the hips! The only thing I could think of to explain the gain was not drinking enough water yesterday. I really didn't and I think that if you don't drink enough water, your body holds on to what you do drink because it gets dehydrated and protects itself. So today I've made sure to drink a TON of water, especially since it was plyometrics day and I sweated bucketfuls.

We do 6 sets of 6 workouts each and by the end I want to die. I am always very proud of myself for just getting through this workout no matter how many breaks I have to take. I think last week I took about 10 breaks of about 10 seconds or so just to breathe. Today, I took about 3. So that is definitely improvement! Also, I was able to do a few more difficult moves. I used the fact that I want to see a change on the scale tomorrow morning to motivate me and I worked my butt off (literally!). So hopefully tomorrow's scale and measurements are kind to me. If not, I've got 3 more workouts this week to push myself as hard as I can to get those results.

The Beginning of the End

February 27, 2012

Current Stats:
Weight: 178.8

I didn't take measurements this morning.

The title describes the beginning of week 3 for me, the last week of my current set of workouts. Yay! I can't believe I'm already on week 3. It's gone by pretty fast. Today I was so proud of myself! I have never been able to do even a single push up without being on my knees. Today I did TWELVE of them! It felt great and I am so glad to be working out hard again. We really pushed ourselves today and it was awesome. I am sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow!

Here are some updated pictures taken today after working out after 2 weeks (and 1 day) of workouts. I don't think they look much different but I can definitely tell a difference when I get dressed.

Still totally gross but getting there...

A Day Off

February 25, 2012

Current Stats:
Weight: 178.2
Right thigh: 24.5"
Left thigh: 24.25"
Waist: 34"
Chest: 39"
Right biceps: 12.5"
Left biceps: 12.5"
Hips: 42.25"

Total weight lost so far: 3.4 pounds
Inches lost: 7

Well, my weight has not changed in 3 weigh-ins but my measurements continue to change. What's interesting are my thigh and bicep measurements which keep fluctuating up and down. Waist and chest keep dropping and hips are dropping sloooow. I'm just going to keep at it, progress is progress! I'll take new pictures after Monday's work out.

I'm a little bit nervous about my abdominal muscle. Everything I read said to rest, rest, rest it and I seriously think I tweaked it again on Friday. It throbs a little just sitting here and getting out of bed was killer. I just hope it feels better by Monday because I am sick of missing out on my ab workouts. At least last night's pizza did not make me gain weight.

All By Myself

February 24, 2012

Current stats:
Weight: 178.2

Total pounds lost: 3.4

I didn't take measurements today.

Well, today was interesting. My trainer said to stretch for 45 minutes yesterday. I honestly felt like I stretched everything from head to toe really well and it took maybe 15 minutes. Well, I tried.

Today was a little better. I went down and did his circuit workout which consists of pull ups, push ups, and squats. Rinse and repeat. I was fine throughout the 15 minutes and I was really feeling good so I thought, "why not go to 20 minutes?". I did the pull ups for the 16th minute and got down to do the push up and my pulled ab muscle had had enough. It felt like it was tearing (rippin' and tearin'?) apart. So I quit that and ran on the treadmill changing up my speed every minute for 17 minutes. It wasn't as hard as it was last week which I was encouraged by. Hopefully next week I can step up the speeds.

This evening I was feeling lazy and didn't want to cook so we ordered pizza. Big mistake! Now I feel all salt-laden and disgusting. I ate 2 pieces and nothing else with them. I just hope the bloating doesn't kill me on the scale in the morning. Ugh. Never again.

Plugging Along

February 22, 2012

Current Stats:
Weight: 178.4

I didn't take measurements today.

Wednesday is arms and abs. We didn't do abs so it was just a killer arm workout. I felt really proud of myself after this workout because I could see a significant difference in the amount of weight I was using. I was using 15-pound weights for biceps curls which is 5 more pounds each arm than last week. I was up by about 5 pounds on every exercise which was really encouraging.

My trainer had to go out of town on Thursday and Friday this week so we shall see how that goes. He outlined a less intense program for those 2 days. Thursday I am supposed to stretch everything from head to toe (no yoga! Can't say I'm disappointed) and Friday is a program where he is having me do a circut workout fast for 15 minutes and then some interval training on the treadmill for 15 minutes. Not too bad.

Here We Go Again

February 21, 2012

Current stats:
Weight: 179.4
Right thigh: 24.75"
Left thigh: 24.75"
Waist: 35"
Chest: 39.5"
Right biceps: 13"
Left biceps: 13"
Hips: 42.25"

Yep. My weight was up by 0.2 pounds which is really nothing. I did lose a little here and there on the measurements so I'm happy about that.

Yesterday was the same, chest and back. Lots and lots of push ups. Honestly, they were a bit easier this week. Not too bad. I worked up quite a sweat but it wasn't as daunting as last week. I knew what to expect. We're going to do the same workout moves only with harder weights for 3 weeks, then have a "recovery week" with lots of yoga and cardio (yay... yoga). Then we start a completely new program for month 2. I felt a lot more confident in the moves in my Monday and Tuesday workouts this week because I had already done the moves last week. Plyometrics still kicked my butt but I didn't have to stop as much. My face still burned though!

Looking forward to getting through this week and being done with 2 weeks of workouts. Still eating really well.

Oh, I did something to tweak what I am guessing is an abdominal muscle in my lower right quadrant. It kills when I try to do anything that uses my lower abs. So we're skipping ab workouts this week. I'm not too happy about this because I was seeing significant results in my waist measurements last week. Well, hopefully I'll be healed by Monday so we can start them up again.

Week One Done

February 18, 2012

Current stats:
Weight: 179.2
Right thigh: 25"
Left thigh: 25"
Waist: 35"
Chest: 40"
Right biceps: 13"
Left biceps" 12.5"
Hips: 42.5"

The weight is coming down slowly. Not too much of a change in the stats, but another half an inch off my waist. I'm not complaining about that at all!

Friday was legs and this was yet another killer workout. I have never done so many different types of squats. My legs felt like Jello by the end but that's okay. I made it through my first week! I get the weekend to recover and boy do I need it.

During this week, I also decided to completely give up soda. Since I have read a ton of studies linking artifical sweeteners to obesity and a much greater risk of stroke (among 90 other health issues that aspartame is known to cause), I did not want to just switch to diet soda. So, I'm drinking water, milk, and an occasional glass of watered down juice. So far I'm not missing it at all. I gave up caffiene back in October and so I haven't added coffee or tea to my drink menu.

I have also been working this week on eating much healthier whole foods and I've cut out almost all sodium from my diet. So far I'm loving it. I feel dramatically better and I don't feel the weird anxiety about my blood pressure all the time. Yay for progress!

Workin' Up a Sweat

February 16, 2012

Here are today's stats:
Weight: 180.6
Right thigh: 25"
Left thigh: 25.5"
Waist: 35.5"
Chest: 40"
Right biceps: 13"
Left biceps: 12.5"
Hips: 42.5"

The big loss this morning was 2" off my waist which is awesome!

The past 2 days have involved a 2-hour workout consisting of arms (biceps, triceps, etc.) and then Thursday's yoga and cardio workout which is about an hour. Oh, and abs on Wednesday.

I honestly thought yoga would be a "break" day but HOLY COW. I think it might be harder than plyometrics and I quickly figured out that yoga is NOT awesome. Worth it but yuck! Ha ha!

Anyway, I'm still sore as hell and working through it. One more day to get though and week 1 is done.

Let's Get It Started

February 13, 2012: Day 1

I have had enough.

I am tried of feeling fat and disgusting and I refuse to be unhealthy or let myself go through another summer feeling ashamed and trying to hide my fat every day. I am tired of dashing to the pool when I take my clothes off to go swimming as fast as I can so as to have people only see me for the shortest amount of time possible, but also not so fast as to jiggle my belly, thighs, etc. too much. It's a precarious fine line and I am sick of walking it.

So when an offer came up to train with a guy who is working on becoming a personal trainer I jumped at the offer. We started on Monday, February 13, 2012 and day 1 was chest and back. We worked out for 2 hours. The workout consisted of tons and tons of different push-ups, pull ups, etc. By the end I felt like I was going to die. And then he said, "Ready for abs?"

The next 30 minutes or so (45...?) were spent doing 12 different abdominal moves and if looks could kill, he would have died many times during that workout. When I was done I felt proud of myself that I got through it.

I don't think I have ever hurt as much as I did the next day. It was indescribable. Yet I went down at our training time ready to go because I felt so good that I was taking these steps to get healthy. Day 2 was plyometrics. That should be a dirty word. It was so hard and by the end I wanted to throw up. My face felt like it was burning. An hour and a half of jumps and fast paced movements. Then he asks, "Do you want to do the bonus round?" Ha ha! Nope, I didn't want to do it and I didn't. I just didn't have it in me. But I got through the workout, sore muscles and all.

Here are my beginning pictures, taken after my workout on day 2:

I took those pictures immediately after my day 2 workout.

Here are my starting statistics:
Weight: 181.6 lbs
Right thigh: 25"
Left thigh: 25.5"
Waist: 37.5"
Chest: 41"
Right biceps: 12.5"
Left biceps: 12"
Hips: 43"

Yep, I'm putting it all out there. Hopefully I never see numbers like those again!