BLAH non-update

So, I can't actually post anything significant this week.

You already know about my 10K run; that was the highlight of the week for me. By far! Graeme even brought me flowers to congratulate me - he sees and knows how hard I've been working!

I also got to go on the first *real* (with biking shorts!) ride of the season with Kerry - fantastic ride. We stumbled upon a really scenic road quite by accident, wound up right by the river, and on our way back, had 4 deer cross the road right in front of us. Then, 10 minutes later, after we'd turned the corner to hit the township road, they ran in front of us again. SO COOL!

The week was hard food-wise; two family functions, another birthday party... way too much sugar and such.

But what I can't post are my numbers... we are checking in only with the competition administrator, and all the numbers are being kept secret. I'd post mine here, 'cept that one or two of the contestants also read this blog on a not-so-regular basis, but there's still a chance that they might see the numbers...

Let's just say that while I'm pleased, I definitely have my work cut out for me this week. The closest competitor to me is really REALLY giving me a run for my money, and it really could go either way. I am hoping for a GREAT week this week - lots of working out, but also lots of excellent food decisions (as I sit here with my empty plate from my lunch spinach salad)...

Anyway...

Ciao!

Only a couple of these left...

I'm talking about the BLAH updates. This is my 3rd last week.

I am really excited. I was hoping for a 2-lb weight loss this week, and I got 3. That makes a total of 35 lbs gone since October, and 28 for this leg of the competition.

My workouts this week were intense. I had to take it up a notch because of the Easter Fallout as well as Dustin's birthday party - my little guy turns 4 today!!! His party was on Sunday. Oh yes, and of course I had to take it up a notch because of the intense competition.... hooooo boy. I'm not sure how I'm going to keep this up!! At any rate, I put in many hours at the gym - a lot of elliptical, but also a bit of treadmill. I can't wait till the weather gets nicer and I can be OUTSIDE for my runs. I'm absolutely loving the Jacob's ladder, and am using the stairmaster to mix things up a bit, too. I hope to get more swimming in this coming week.

To think, 3 months ago, I couldn't even run to the end of the block without gasping... and now? I'm stringing together a whole lotta sub-10:00 minute miles. Not the blistering pace I want to eventually see, but the endurance is coming along nicely. Endurance first, pace second. Right? This morning I did a one-hour run, with a couple of walking breaks. Meaghan had been up early, and so I skipped to the gym, leaving Graeme in charge of getting Joshua ready for school. I had to walk for part of my workout to become Graeme's alarm clock, as I was pretty sure he hadn't set his... and good thing I called. Everyone was still snoring away!

I feel stronger. None of my clothes fit. I feel like a bit of a hobo when I'm on the platform at church leading worship, with my too-big clothes. I've already downsized once, but apparently have to do it again. I'm thankful for spring sales and Value Village!

These next couple of weeks are going to be exciting...!! EEEP! I hope I can stick it out and win it... as of today, I am back in first place, but just by the skin of my teeth. A little too close for comfort, if you ask me!! I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about winning... I wanna win just to say I did. :) Regardless, the weight loss alone, combined with the healthier lifestyle, makes me a winner already. And God thinks more of me than the number on the scale...

I can't WAIT to do before & after pictures this time around. Can't wait!! I might even post my worst 'before' pictures here, too...

...or not. You'll get my 'average' before pictures... ha ha!

BLAH again...

Sorry I skipped last week!! It was a tough one - volunteering at day camp at church, which was awesome, but then Meaghan got sick, I had a worship rehearsal, etc, and very little sleep.

At any rate, I'm down another 2 lbs., after not losing anything the week that I didn't post. :)

That's a total of 25 lbs for this competition, and 32 lbs since the start in October.

I'm kicking my workouts into high gear, just when I thought they couldn't get any higher. I did four two-hour workouts in a row (I mean, 4 days in a row...)... and my leg is starting to heal, so I'm able to run a bit again. That, my Biggest Loser Videos, some swimming, lots of hard-core elliptical... I leave icky sweat puddles on the gym floor. Isn't that a lovely mental image?

I discovered Jacob's Ladder at the gym. A relatively new piece of equipment there, but oh SO effective!! It's a love-hate relationship, but it's really great! REALLY! :)

Graeme also got his (now my) bike fixed - one tire blew out last year when I did a big ride with my friend Kerry, so Graeme replaced both tires. They were really old and the walls were very thin!! He got them replaced with a hybrid tire of some sort. I hope to hit the pavement tomorrow morning before he has to shower and leave for work!

Oh. And my most exciting news?

I am now at pre-Dustin weight.

*happy dance*

The weeks are getting harder

...and yet I don't feel like I have the right to complain...

...even though I have some form of leg injury, making it painful to run or do much else, at least I'm not stuck in a cast from ankle to thigh - I can at least do *something*.

...even though I am not eating as well as I should (which means "clean eating", which fuels me and doesn't drag me down), I am thankful that we are able to have company over and are on our way out the door tonight to a wedding reception.

...even though the weight has not been coming off this week thanks to the above two points, at least I've lost 30 lbs so far. I should really be more thankful.

But I'm tired. I'm worn out. Every step of exercise is a really hard decision. My days are completely mixed up, I'm not sleeping well, my routines are completely mucked with, and I'm frustrated. And my motivation is seriously waning.

But it's only temporary.

I need to shower and get out the door soon for that wedding reception.

BLAH ba de blah blah blah...

Here I am again! :)

I can't believe it... but today the scale cooperated. My body finally *let go* of the amassed fluid etc from the pizza and other junk I ate in recent days.

I am down another 2 lbs.

This is huge cause for celebration... as of today, I am officially 30 lbs lighter than I was in the fall. And I feel pretty amazing.

But I'm not done... this weight-loss train is still pretty far from the station, and the motivation of these last 2 lbs today is pretty huge. I needed it, 'cuz it was getting hard.

A first for me last night - I ran 3 miles non-stop. Not even a water break, not even a short 30-second walking break. Nope, just plugged along. I've never (not even in high school when I ran provincially) run 3 miles non-stop. I feel pretty good about that!

Here's coming up on another week... but first, today will be a day of "active rest". I've done 9 days pretty hard-core with exercise, and my left leg is protesting a bit with an injury, so today will be easy; maybe a walk or something like that instead.

Time to pack up our swimming gear and think about heading to the pool to meet Lisa, Hudson, and Talliah!! First, I'll let Meaghan nap just a little while longer, though...

..and soon, I promise I'll have something to blog about other than BLAH!

BLAH update again. :)

Are you getting sick of these yet?  I gave you a couple weeks off... ha ha!

This week, we had a birthday party for a little nephew.  Cute as a button, he is, but the processed sugar (cake) and diet soda popped me up 3 lbs overnight, pretty much.  We've got a "diet pop" thread going on the other blog, and we've been talking about how diet pop can really make us retain fluid.  Yup, sure did!!  Thankfully those 3 lbs went away, along with two more.  I've lost 28 lbs since October!!

I hit a couple of personal firsts this week, the biggest one being last night.... the weather has been nice enough and I decided to go out for a run.  And run I did - I did 9.25 km, pretty much straight, save for 4 short 30-second walking breaks.  I have never run that much in one stint, ever, not even when I ran provincials cross-country in high school.  I feel pretty good about that.  My pace is still slow (it took me a little under an hour, but still, slow enough that I can't call myself a "runner" just yet), but the endurance is coming, and then the increased pace will, too.  I am thrilled!!

I did some videos this week, had some burn-out elliptical sessions, and went for two or three runs, and with the exception of two days, ate really really well.  I felt like it was about an 85% effort week overall... those two days could've been better, but hey, I'll take the two pounds and be thrilled!!!

In 4 more lbs, I'll be at my pre-Dustin weight.  And in 3 lbs, I'll be able to open a bin of clothes that I've been saving for when I hit a certain weight.  I didn't think I'd be able to open that box for a very long time yet.  Many of them are clothes I bought in the last couple of years that were tight but aren't outdated yet, at least not according to me!  :)  So, I'm hoping to open that bin in 2 weeks' time.  In 11 lbs, I'll be at my pre-Joshua weight.  I never thought I'd get this close - I hope I can make my pre-Joshua weight by the time this newest competition is over - if I can go one pound under that, that would be 40 lbs since October!! That would mean 2 lbs per week for the next 6 weeks... it's getting harder to take off those pounds, but I think with some extra perseverance, I can do it!

I'm excited!!!

BLAH update again. :)

I hope these posts don't bore you, but they're very much a part of what I'm investing myself in these days...

Total Lost this week: 2 lbs
Total Lost this competition: 17 lbs.
Total Lost overall: 24 lbs

What a strange week it's been. I put in some fairly respectable workouts, and even had some good "long" running sessions, so I'm pretty pleased with that.

Food, however, was a lost cause for a good part of the week. I love being a statistic/numbers junkie, and so I have this spreadsheet where I punch in my total calories eaten, my total calories burned, and my net burned... so I end up with a "theoretical" amount of calories burned and therefore a theoretical amount of weight lost. I compare that to my actual weight lost to see how accurate it all is, and I have to say, I'm pretty much on track.

However, my point is this: I ate about 3000 more calories than I normally have been over the course of a week. I did, however, burn a little bit more, too, but still... Even though it was my birthday on Saturday, I could've been a little more diligent, so while I'm happy with the 2 lb loss, I know it could've been closer to 3 lbs if I'd stayed on track.

A few final random thoughts:

• Maui in 2 days!
• I'm frozen constantly... like shivering, goosebumps, freezing cold. Constantly. Hopefully Maui will help with that.
• I hope to lose another 3 lbs by the time I return from our trip; that will put me at 20 lbs total for this journey. I'd be pretty stoked if I lost ANY weight on our trip, to be honest!
• We bought a new camera yesterday... partly for the trip, but partly because we've been wanting to upgrade our point & shoot to a DSLR for quite some time. We now own a Canon Rebel T1i with a 18-200mm zoom... it has video capabilities but we have really poor lighting in our house so we're not sure how to work around that. In proper light, the video is amazing. And the pictures are par excellence!! Graeme put in about 40 hours of research and hands-on with SLRs, much to my irritation ("just pick one, already!" was my plea by about the 20th hour...)... but yes, I got to play with it last night. My workout was far too short last night, and I'm blaming it on the camera. :)

That whole laundry and packing thing? I should go get on it.

I can't wait to post some pictures from our trip... ooooooh... maybe we'll even see some whales... (But at least *I* won't be the whale!)

Another week down, another Tuesday weigh-in

Copied & pasted from my BLAH blog, with minor changes:

Total lost this week: 1 measley pound.  :)

Total lost overall: 22 lbs since October, 15 lbs since January 12th.

I coaxed, and I coaxed, and I coaxed some more, but my scale just couldn't be convinced to go down one more pound.  That's OK, I've had some big weeks, and the last three days have been really hard with eating, so I'll take the one pound and go for a bigger number next week.  I've kept in my calorie range, but the quality of food was not so healthy... Graeme asked for home-made pizza on Friday or Saturday, Sunday was Valentine's and I made fruit-topped waffles and chocolate covered strawberries for the family, and last night we were at my brother & sister in law's for supper.  There weren't many veggies, but there was an abundance of mashed potatoes and buns.  So, like I said, although I stayed within my calorie range, I'm no doubt holding onto some excess fluid.  And I'm OK with that - I know it'll come off, so I'm not fretting.

However, can I shout it from the rooftops?  I DID IT!!!  I actually reached my 15 lb goal for this 'round'.  Never woulda thunk it.  I was hoping to smash it this week, but I'll take "meeting" my goal.  Smashing will be reserved for next week.

Instead of boring you with the details of my workouts this week, I'll leave you with some other neat things I accomplished or realized this week:

• I "took up" running again on January 25th.  It's been 15 years since I've seriously/competitively run.  Thus, it's been 15 years since I've even been able to string together a mile without stopping to walk.  When I started on January 25th, running a quarter-mile nonstop was exhausting and painful.  The last two nights, however, I've done a 2-mile stretch (each night!) in under 20 minutes each time.  Not the most blistering pace, but the pace will come in time.  Within another 3 weeks, I hope to have my 2-mile pace down to about 16 minutes (and then maybe Kerry will run with me? Right now she'd kick my butt...), and add an extra mile to that (to run 3 miles in 24 minutes) within 4 or 5 weeks.  
• Going great guns on a stationary bike only burns about 2/3 the calories that going great guns on an elliptical burns.
• I can now walk my 4-mile loop in under an hour (it took me 1:05 at the beginning of January)... I believe that shaving time off is thanks mostly to shaving off 15 lbs.  In contrast, wearing my 18-lb baby for a 4-mile walk really really slows me down.
• I have to wear a belt with everything now.  
• I am looking forward to my dates with Bob & Jillian
• I feel good.  I am working h-a-r-d!!! ...and it feels great!!
• I like that my clothes are getting way too big, but I refuse to shop for "in between" clothes.
• I am seeing some muscles emerge from under the fat.

So there you have it...  :)

BLAH update

So I stepped on the scale this morning as per our weekly BLAH (Biggest Loser At Home) challenge requires...

and...

Seriously?  Another FOUR pounds this week?

Hokey dinah.  I tell ya, ladies, I never once expected this.  Not at all.  When we learned that we were changing the rules of the competition to be "greatest overall weight loss percentage" instead of "greatest percentage of goal lost", I was mortified.  I thought I was sunk.  Last time around, I lost 8 measley pounds in 15 weeks, despite working *almost* as hard as I am this time around, at least for the first few weeks.

And here I sit, only 1 lb away from my original goal for this leg of the competition (15 lbs).

Really?

I stepped on the scale several times this morning... half an hour apart... and it didn't waver.  It was very decisive in hitting that same number (which - HA!  You thought I was going to share here, didn't you?  NADA!)

So that's 14 lbs in 4 weeks... and 21 lbs since October.  

We've had a very sick household again this week... the boys have each been through two rounds of it, and now poor Meggie-bear has the worst head cold I've ever seen in a wee baby.  Poor thing.  It means very long nights for me.... and I am exhausted.  Imagine what I could do if I actually got some sleep!

I had a great week eating - some days even getting to 9 p.m. and logging my calories into my online program and realizing I'm short by 150 or so.  So I go and grab one of my yummy healthy home-made granola bars and chow down, and that puts me over.

Workouts for the week:

• Monday:  Elliptical 30 mins at level 12-14, track 21 laps (run 2, walk 1, 7 reps), Elliptical 30 mins
• Tuesday: off
• Wednesday: Elliptical 30 minutes at level 15, track 21 laps (jogged 18, walked 3), elliptical 30 mins at levels 8-15.
• Thursday: Jillian's "No More Trouble Zones" video - 40 mins - it is an amazing workout!!  Not quite so sweaty as her others, but definitely effective!  I felt this one the next day!
• Friday: rowed 10km
• Saturday: track 21 laps (jogged 19, walked 2), elliptical 20 mins at level 14, and swim 1000m
• Sunday: Kerry called me to go to the gym, so we just did a quick 45 minute elliptical at level 10-13.

Things I am noticing:

• I can now run over a mile without stopping, and my time is improving.  I used to barely be able to do 1/4 mile!!  Now I run one, walk for a lap, then run for a few more laps, take a water break, run for a few more laps, walk one, then run the rest.  
• I am starting to get stronger in the water, and actually starting to enjoy front crawl.
• Ellipticalizing anything less than a level 10 is selling myself short.
• My asthma is not as 'twitchy'.
• My swimsuit fits better.
• Some of my workout clothes are getting a little too loose for comfort... I'm going to have to do some alterations to my gym shorts or someone's gonna get a nasty surprise one day as I run around the track!

Things Graeme is noticing:

• My clothes don't fit.  I don't feel like I look any different, since I am wearing the same clothes, but Graeme says they totally don't fit me.  'Tis true, I suppose!

Next week, I am going to bid goodbye to this particular "decade" FOREVER - I am very close to seeing that 2nd digit drop again!!!!!!

BLAH update

Here is my latest post from yesterday (with a couple of slight changes) for my Biggest Loser at Home challenge:

This has been a productive week for me!

Workouts:

• Monday - walked 4 miles, elliptical 45 minutes, swim 1000m
• Tuesday - off - I have been exhausted from sick children!
• Wednesday - elliptical 30 minutes, track (run 2 laps, walk 1, 7 reps)
• Thursday - track (run 3 laps, walk 1, x 4, then ran 6 at the end), elliptical 20 minutes
• Friday - 3--day Shred levels 1 & 2, then 10,000m row.
• Saturday - outdoors run/walk 5.23 miles (I love my Garmin!) - I actually ran over 3 of those miles, 1.5 of those in one stretch - it's been about 14 years since I could do that!
• Sunday - was going to be my day off, but my friend Kerry invited me to go to the gym with her - so we just did elliptical 37 minutes.

I've eaten well, although went quite over on my calories a couple of days (1900 one day, 1700 the next), but I also compensated with heavy workouts.  Normally I stick around 1200-1300 calories.

The scale has been kind to me, and I am down another 3 lbs, for a total of 10 lbs since the beginning of this challenge (3 weeks), and 17 lbs since October.   I actually threw on some jeans this morning that I laundered last week, and I couldn't wear them; they kept falling down!

*happy dance*

My week with BLAH

Whew - another week down in this newest installment!!

Workouts:

• Monday - swim 1000m
• Tuesday - Cardiomax & Powersculpt level 1, Step class in the p.m.
• Wednesday - leisurely skating 1 hr with kidlets, Elliptical 1 hour 
• Thursday - Step class (strength based) 1 hr
• Friday - I was exhausted from having a sick baby all week (up 5-8 times a night for several days already), so I settled for a 4-mile power-walk outdoors.
• Saturday - exhaustion had set in, so I took today off instead of my normal Sunday.
• Sunday - Elliptical 30 min, Track (run 2 laps, walk 1 lap, x 6 reps), Elliptical 30 min again.

I ate pretty well - stayed (again) between 1200 & 1500 calories, and even indulged in a little ice-cream banana split last night at small group (that put me over 1500 calories, but I did a monster-workout last night to compensate... but since my 'workout week' is Monday-Sunday, I'll record that workout next week).

But... the good news is that I'm down another 2 lbs.  This is exciting - I hope the momentum can keep going!  Having Graeme home really helps my efforts.  Admittedly, I am really tired today and would really rather sleep than think about another workout tonight.

My total weight loss since the very beginning of the first installment of The Biggest Loser back at the beginning of October (roughly) - 14 lbs.  *happy dance*  Total weight loss this round (in two weeks) - 7 lbs.  I'll take it!

Round two

Yup.

Me.

Biggest Loser Competition.

Again.

Hopefully I'll do better this time around.  Last time, I only lost 1/4 of my goal.  This time, with stress reduced and a little more time on my husband's hands (i.e. he can watch the kiddoes so I can exercise more diligently), I hope to do MUCH better.  I also have a doctor's appointment in a couple of weeks, which could help clear up some things.

And, it looks like the rules might change - instead of "highest percentage of GOAL lost", it may end up being "highest percentage of OVERALL weight lost".  Totally fair, I think, although given my dumb hormonal rebellion, I will have a MUCH harder time of it.  I set my 'goal' at a lower overall percentage than most women, but that's because I know the challenges my body has.  So, we'll see how the aforementioned changes make things shift for me.

I did CardioMax and Power Sculpt last night - I always used to think exercise videos were totally hokey, but not any more.  Not if you meet Bob & Jillian.  I am sore, I sweated like I've never sweated to a workout DVD before, and it was awesome.  I'm exhausted tonight, though.

Must put Meggie-bear to bed, then clean the kitchen (the boys rolled 70 meatballs for me tonight for supper!!), and then attempt to exercise.

G'night!