I have been taking a little stroll down amnesia lane this week, reading the original blog posts and where we started. Some of them actually brought tears to my eyes as I think back to how overwhelming this seemed when we started. I mean to think to yourself, “I want to lose some weight”, is fairly daunting to most people. To think “I would like to lose A LOT of weight” is scary and seems impossible. BUT…to put it in writing for the world to see and hold you accountable for…I just don’t have the words to describe what that felt like.
Even as recently as May when I posted some of my goals for everyone to see, I was going out on a limb thinking “well in theory I should be able to attain these goals if I just keep doing the right things”. Honestly, those were my exact thoughts when I typed the list I have reposted below.
I have added in an update for each one…it is simply amazing what can happen when you make a plan and follow it. I have not looked at this list again since I posted it. It was in the back of my mind, and I knew I was working on it, but I followed my own thoughts and just kept doing the “right things”.
Shop on the “skinny” side of Dress Barn (when this was posted I was a size 18)
Have not been shopping for clothes in a while other than the occasional sale rack at Wal-Mart or Kmart but I will have to go soon to see how things fit.
Climb 20 flights of stairs without having an asthma attack (when this was posted the most I could do was about 3 flights without stopping for air)
I conquered this one in early July and regularly do the stairs as part of my workout with our trainer.
50 squats on the Bosu ball (when this was posted I was just learning to stand on the ball and still needed to hold something for balance)
This too was accomplished in July. I have not tried to do 50 squats without stopping, but I can easily do 30 rest for about 30 seconds and repeat without ever stepping down from the ball.
Make it to a size 14 in jeans and / or dresses (started at 22/24 originally – size 18 when I posted this goal)
I am comfortably in size 14 now and can fit size 12 pants depending on how they are made (major happy dance happened in my house when I put on my first 12s that fit)
Lose enough to have the surgery on my knee
I meet with my Dr. on the 24th to see how he thinks I am doing. I have not seen him in several months and have lost about 25 pounds since he saw me last so my hopes are high. While nobody really wants to have surgery on anything, if it means less pain and more mobility, I would do it tomorrow if I could.
Lose 6 more inches total (this would be a total of 28)
Currently I have lost a total of 35.5 inches (that is basically 3 feet – holy crap that is a scary number)
Weight goals (steps):
Make it to 50 pounds lost (212) ( I was at about 221 when this list was posted)
I achieved this on 7/1/12
Drop below 195 pounds(this seemed so far away and I randomly picked this number thinking once I hit 195 I will be firmly in “Onederland” to never ever see the 200s again)
196.2 today – so close I can feel it
175 (I can’t even imagine this right now)(this was my original goal of where I wanted to get to and then reevaluate – now my goal is 160)
I have this in my sights now, it no longer seems like an imaginary number!!!
The list for this year seemed like it was going to be so hard, and I doubted if I would be able to accomplish even some of it by the end of 2012, and yet, I pretty much did it in 5 months.
In reading back, the beginning was less than two years ago, and yet it seems like a different life time. We are so different now and our lives have changed so much. I am proud of what we have done and where we are going!! And I really want to thank all of the friends and family who support us and encourage us, and all the people who have said we inspired you in some way. Losing the weight and being healthy is a fabulous reward, but knowing someone else was encouraged by you is immeasurable.
The picture here is a before and current picture in the same “Jill” costume. Three years ago, we dressed as Jack and Jill for Halloween. Last weekend I was trying on all my old costumes to see what I could give away, and when I put it on again, Tim said he wanted to take a picture of it. I said something like “ok, fine, whatever…but hurry up because I am hot in this thing”. Little did I know he we going to do a side by side comparison for me (he is so smart). When he called me to his computer to see it, I almost screamed I was so shocked. (and I did do the happy dance for like 15 minutes) When you look at the same face and body in the mirror day after day, you can not see it so easily. You know you are losing weight, you know you wear smaller clothes, but until you can see it in front of you like this, it doesn’t really sink in.
On September 15th I participated in the Boselli Mud Run. I thought the best way to share my experience with you would be to do a video so check it out…
Something I have heard a lot is “getting and staying healthy is expensive!” That was the exact thought that went through my head when we brought over $20 worth of Apples, grapes and blueberries for our meals a few weeks ago. For $20 I could make spaghetti for 20 people! Instead I am getting a week of snacks for two people.
Is everyone right? Is getting and staying healthy expensive?
Food
Let’s start with food. Are the healthier things I buy now more expensive than some of the junk I brought before? YES! Fresh fruits and vegetables are pricy and they have a very short shelf life so stocking up while they are on sale is not always a good option. Lean meats like fish or seafood tend to be more expensive than ground beef or sirloin. I have noticed, however, I buy smaller quantities of food now that I am eating less than half what I used to eat. Also, because I make my lunches most of the time (or eat leftovers) I do not go out as often so I save a bunch of money there. In the long run, while some of the individual items are more expensive, the total I spend on food has not gone up very much. I would consider this a tie.
Exercise
Next is the exercise portion of the show. On one level exercise can be free. What does it cost to walk around the block or play catch with the kids? Nothing, right? However, there comes a point for most of us where walking does not burn enough calories to keep the weight coming (or staying) off. So many of us turn to other options; we buy the latest exercise DVD craze (P90x, 30 Shred, Biggest Loser, etc) or we join some sort of gym. Either way, it is money out of our pockets. Sheri and I spend about $600 a year on our gym membership. This does not include the $1080 per year we spend on our personal trainer sessions twice a month or all the money we spend on good athletic shoes or gym clothes. If you are crazy like me and participate in organized 5k walks, 5k runs, mud runs, triathlons, half marathons, marathons, etc., the cost goes even higher. Most of the 5k’s I do range anywhere between $30 and $80 to participate and a lot of them have a minimum fundraising amount which you have to cover if you do not raise enough money. In addition to this, there is the equipment. I own two pairs of cross training shoes and a pair of running shoes. Good shoes like this range from $50-$120 a pair. I am estimating I will spend somewhere close to $1000 on triathlon equipment (New Bike, helmet, padded shorts, swim trunks, goggles, etc) in the next 6 months. I am an extreme example so I would not use me as a good example of the cost for exercise but if you just looking at the gym membership, decent shoes and workout clothes, you are probably looking at about $300-$400 a year. Here, I will agree exercise will cost you more money.
Time
You have heard the saying “time is money”. I have to agree. I think your time is an expense you should take into consideration as well. Currently, Sheri and I work out 4 nights a week and average about an hour or hour and a half per night. So we are looking at 4-6 hours a week in the gym. For me you add the 30-40 minutes a day in morning workouts 4-5 days a week and another 2-3 hours a week I spend on my weight loss and fitness related internet time (reading others blogs, writing this one, keeping up on Twitter, researching things about running, triathlons, cooking, etc). Let’s not forget the meal planning and prep time. This is a huge chunk of time we had free to do other things in the past. On the weekends, we spend several hours making lunch and dinner menus and then pre portioning all of the food so we can “grab and go”. While I agree I now spend more time being healthy, what am I missing as a result? What am I really giving up? So I only sit in front of the TV for 3 hours instead of 5. So I stopped spending 40+ hours a week playing an online game. So I give up 30 minutes of sleep in the morning. Am I really worse off without all of these things? I would say no. Again, I think this is a tie.
Clothes
As you lose weight, you shrink out of your clothes and end up having to buy an all-new wardrobe. Or, if you are like me, you end up buying multiple new wardrobes. I have gone down 8 pants sizes and 3 shirt sizes so far and will probably lose at least 1-2 more shirt sizes and 3 or 4 more pants sizes before it is all over. This means more new outfits which fit for a few weeks or months before they are too big again. All these new clothes can become expensive so I can see why people consider this to be a good example of why weight loss is costly. And I would agree that as you are losing weight, you will end up spending more money on clothes. But what are you paying for the clothes? As I have mentioned before, I have gone from shopping at specialty “big and tall” stores for my clothes to being able to shop at what I consider normal store (i.e. Wal-Mart, Kmart, JC Penney, etc). The cost for jeans has gone from costing me close to $50 at the specialty stores to $10-$20 a pair. Shirts have gone from $30-$40 to $8-$20 a shirt. On top of that, I have done some shopping at the local Goodwill and Salvation Army stores to get some clothes for $4-$6 an item. Because I can now buy 5 new pairs of jeans for the price of what I used to buy a single pair before clothes will cost me considerably less in the long run. So while there is a little more “upfront” cost for clothes, in the long run, you end up paying LESS for clothes. Again, I would consider this a tie.
Medical
When I started this journey, I was on 6 different medications. I was fortunate to have most of them were on the $4 list at Wal-Mart but I was still paying around $35-$40 a month for my drugs. Because of the 110+ pounds I have lost and the change in diet and exercise, all of my medical issues are under control without medication. But it does not stop there. Not only am I saving $420-$480 a year on prescriptions, I am hopefully saving thousands of dollars on other medical issues I have avoided by getting healthier. I think this is hands down a money savings.
Emotional/Mental
If you had asked me 2 or 3 years ago if my weight took a toll on my emotional/mental state I would have told you no. I was VERY happy being a fat guy. Sure I had those days where it hurt to walk or where I was not able to do things others were but I did not focus on them. Now that I have lost weight and have a whole new outlook on life, I realize how much the weight took a toll on me. I hid behind my weight. I took the easy way out and because I did, I never challenged myself to get better. I do more now than I ever have before. I don’t have to do calculations to figure out if a chair will hold me or if I will be able to catch up with my friends. I know what it is like to push myself to the limits and be surprised what my body can do. I know what it is like to set goals and then meet or exceed them. I try new things and have A LOT of fun doing them. For me, this is another hands down winner. I am emotionally and mentally better off than I ever was before.
By my calculation, exercise is the only thing that was more expensive in my opinion. You may not agree on some of my evaluations, so I have one last item which I think solves the argument for me.
What is one more quality day with the people you love worth to you? What is the value of one more year on this earth? What would you pay to live a less limited life? Can you put a price on all of the happy memories you might miss out on if you do not lose the weight?
There is not a day that goes by where I do not wish my mother had a couple more months or years on this earth. I would give anything in the world for her to have been at the Never Quit race on my 44th birthday to see me finish my first run or to have been standing next to my father as I crossed the finish line at the Mud Run a couple weeks ago. While I celebrate every victory I achieve in this journey, part of me is saddened because she is not here to hug me and tell me how proud she is of me. Likewise, I cannot imagine not growing old with Sheri. We celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary on Friday and I plan on spending many more with her. What we have done to improve our lives and extend them is PRICELESS! If for no other reason, a longer life with a better quality of living is worth more than any gym membership, healthy food or new wardrobe will ever cost.
Back in the beginning of July, I posted about speaking at the Get in the best shape or your life seminar put on by Custom Built Personal Training. Last Month they held another Seminar and again asked Sheri and I to speak at it. When we walked in, the following picture was blown up to the size of a poster and was sitting in the front of the room.
I was smart this time and I had someone record our portion of the program so I could share it with all of you. (sorry about the audio)
Needless to say it was a VERY cool day, and once again, we have been blessed with more free sessions to help us reach our goals!
This was going to be the end of this post until I saw Sheri’s post this morning with her goal suggestion/challenge. So I guess I need to respond.
And my response is GAME ON!
I accept your challenge lovely wife of mine. The following are now my (Oh wait – OUR) goals for the month:
Exercises
Bench/chest press – 200 (50 per week)
Pull Up/Chin Up – 480 (this is 3×10 set – 2 sets twice a week)
Standing bent over rows – 240 (15 per arm, 2 sets once a week)
Dumbbell Side Delt Abduction (Stand & hold weights at sides, bring both arms up parallel to the floor) – 160 (40 per week)
Alt. Standing Shoulder Presses – 160 (40 per week)
Dips– 160 (40 per week)
Oblique Twists with Medicine Ball – 160 (20 each giving/receiving – 40 per week)
Back Extensions – 160 (40 per week)
Mix-it up a little – exercise doesn’t have to be boring (I picked more than 2)
A walk on the beach
Try a rock climbing wall
Nature trail/hike
Go dancing
Batting cages
Putt putt golf
Yard work for an hour (not mowing)
Non-exercise related – life goals
We need to create two new recipes (that we like)
Bake something yummy you would not normally include in our new lifestyle and share it with your friends
Skip the gym one night and see a movie instead
Spend 2-hours reading a book instead of blog posts you are “keeping up” with
How on earth do the days go by so fast? It seems to me it was July just last week and January about a month ago.
To give all our friends and family a little inside scoop to how Tim and I function as a team on this journey to a healthy life, I thought I would share some of what I do behind the scenes. You all read from post to post about the highlights and lowlights of what it is like to completely up heave your world and change who you are from the inside out. What we rarely share is the technical stuff, and how it all comes together before you read our story.
For starters, every blog post Tim has written and you have read has been proofed by his chief editor (that’s me). I am also the technical skills behind everything we eat. One of us will get some kind of weird food inspiration and we will talk out the potential outcome of what it could taste like, and then I figure out how to execute it. Tim keeps me inspired to keep pushing even when I would rather sit on my butt and be lazy. I have never known anyone as driven as he is about our new life. We work together to plan our workouts each day at the gym. Going into a workout with no plan will not only make you less productive, you will waste time at the gym getting less results.
Most importantly, we motivate each other. Yesterday Tim emailed me saying he needs to come up with a list of goals for October asking if I had any thoughts for him. Normally he comes up with his crazy hard goals all by himself. I will read them, (think to myself he has lost his mind), ask him if he is sure, and then sit back and cheer him on. This time is different. I decided it was time for me to help inspire him. Below is my response to him, and it is a list of goals for us together.
Here was my email back to him:
OK you want October Goals…here are some ideas from your wife
This month should be all about balancing your life – you have spent the last several months working mostly on your lower body and running training, with extra training already planned specifically for running this month. You focus constantly on your health and exercise goals and train very hard leaving little time to enjoy some of the regular life stuff you love.
So to balance the scales a little, maybe you should do some upper body and core exercises and some non-exercise related goals that help balance your overall health and well being.
Your first challenge is to do all of this with me this month – Go team Mosier
Exercises
Bench/chest press – 200 (50 per week)
Pull Up/Chin Up – 480 (this is 3×10 set – 2 sets twice a week)
Standing bent over rows – 240 (15 per arm, 2 sets once a week)
Dumbbell Side Delt Abduction (Stand & hold weights at sides, bring both arms up parallel to the floor) – 160 (40 per week)
Alt. Standing Shoulder Presses – 160 (40 per week)
Dips– 160 (40 per week)
Oblique Twists with Medicine Ball – 160 (20 each giving/receiving – 40 per week)
Back Extensions – 160 (40 per week)
Mix-it up a little – exercise doesn’t have to be boring (pick 2)
A walk on the beach
Play catch for 30 minutes with a football or baseball
Try a rock climbing wall
Nature trail/hike
Go dancing
Batting cages
Putt putt golf
Zumba / aerobics / yoga class
Bowling
Yard work for an hour (not mowing)
Non-exercise related – life goals
We need to create two new recipes (that we like)
Bake something yummy you would not normally include in our new lifestyle and share it with your friends
Skip the gym one night and see a movie instead
Spend 2-hours reading a book instead of blog posts you are “keeping up” with
There – that should give you lots to think about J
I love you!!!
So friends and family, since I am busy working on these goals myself this month, You need to cheer loud enough for both of us to hear you from all over the country!! Better yet…join in on the challenge and write back what you have done to mix things up in your lives.
I will avoid sounding like a broken record and just say I am back! While I have not been posting lately, I have kept on track. Let me try to catch you up on what has been going on.
August Goals
As I mentioned in my post on August 21 (The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat) I still have not learned to make realistic goals with all of the other things I have going on. I seem to be over shooting what I am able (or willing) to do. Shortly after my post I stopped keeping track of those goals so I do not have an accurate number on how I ended but I can tell you there were several goals I did not come close to completing. I planned to have goals for September but ended up never writing them. I am working on having a new goals list for October by the end of the week that will (hopefully) be more realistic.
Vacation
The beginning of September brought on our first real vacation of the year. This was not going to be one of our normal “white sand and blue water” kind of vacations. This year we decide to take a long overdue trip to Kansas to visit Sheri’s family. Since we were flying into Kansas City Airport, we decided to meet one of my fellow bloggers who lives just outside of Kansas City. I first heard of Carl over at www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com back in June when a family member shared a link to his It was time for a change post on FaceBook. Carl’s blog is not another weight loss blog, it is mostly about Literature. I think this was his first post where he spoke about his weight loss journey. We connected online and have kept up on email and Twitter. Sheri and I decided to meet Carl and his family for an early dinner at one of his favorite BBQ joints, Oklahoma Joes. We spent several hours there eating some really good BBQ and exchanging stories about life and our journeys. It is always a great opportunity to meet someone who has inspired and encouraged your life. Carl is also into running and I am hoping to see him take a vacation next May and come to Jacksonville to run the Never Quit race on the beach with me (Carl, I know you are reading this…no pressure J )
After our visit with Carl, we drove to Topeka and spent the rest of the week with her Father. While there we ate BBQ several more times (come on, it is Kansas! Did you really think I was not going to have BBQ?!?!). We also had some steak and fast food several times. I approached this week as I have approached this whole journey. I was going to enjoy life. Nothing was off limits. I did, however, make good decisions on quantity and food choices for the week to limit the damages of food I was eating. Honestly, by the end of the week, I was ready to get back home to the food choices I am use to. All of the things I had on vacation are great for a treat but I am not sure my body would like me very much if I went back to eating them on a full time basis.
Before we left on vacation, we made plans to work out at the hotel each morning before breakfast. Sadly, the exercise room was lacking. The only machine that worked was the treadmill, everything else was broken in one way or another. As a result we only worked out 2 of the 4 days we were in the hotel.
I weighed in when we got back and I had only gained 1.4 pounds which is not bad considering the lack of exercise and the higher calorie foods that I had.
Clothes
I, once again, have had another GREAT clothes moment. What can beat my $10 jeans moment from August? How about $7 shorts and $3 shirts while on vacation. While on vacation in Kansas we decided to look at some clothes and found they had all of their “summer” clothes on sale. After all, who wears shorts in Kansas in November? Fortunately for me, I DO wear shorts in Jacksonville FL in November (and December, and maybe even January). Not only did we find some shirts and shorts at GREAT prices, I am also now down another size pants (size 40 now) and I even bought a XL shirt! XL?!?!?!? REALLY??? The shirt fits in the shoulders and waist but the chest area is still a little “snug”. But how could I not buy a XL shirt for $3
If you watched ABC Sports in the late 70′s and early 80, you will remember this opening:
Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport!
The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat!
The human drama of athletic competition.
This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports!
So here is my version of the wide world of sports! Let’s start with the THRILL OF VICTORY!
Clothes
When I started in February 2011, I wore a size 56 pants. While big, these were not my largest pants. At one point I was in a tight pair of 58s. As you have seen in previous posts (like Week 10 & 11 update – Where have I been???) I kept a lot of my smaller sized clothes in hopes I would fit into them again. As I lost weight, I worked thru all of the clothes I had kept and finally started shopping for new clothes. My first few shopping trips were to Good Will and Salvation Army. Let’s face it, clothes are expensive, especially as a fat person. Even the most basic of clothes like jeans and t-shirts are expensive. For a good majority of my adult life, my choices for places to shop were limited. Mostly I was confined to specialty stores like King Size or Casual Male. A pair of jeans cost $40+ and we are not talking about some fancy designer pair! We are talking basic, no nonsense, blue jeans. So when I went to Good Will for the first time and found a pair of jeans for $4 or a suit for $10 I was thrilled!!! The problem with Good Will or Salvation Army is it is painful to find your size and the selection is limited based on people’s donations. One of my goals has been to be able to shop in regular stores. Eventually, as I lost weight, I could start shopping in the big and tall sections in Wal-Mart and Kmart. (It is kind of sad I had to lose weight to be able to shop in the big men’s section.) Well, even at Wal-Mart and Kmart, the prices are higher for bigger sizes. Granted, they are nowhere near the $40-$50 I paid for jeans from Casual Male but they were still $20-$30. I got to the point a few months ago where the clothes in the big men section were a little too big and the clothes in the “regular” section were too small. You see, a 46 in the big men’s section are about 1 size bigger than a 46 in a regular men’s section. The Wal-Mart and Kmart by me, the regular men’s section ends at 44, so I would have to lose 2 pants sizes before I could buy the highly coveted “regular men’s” pants. A few weeks ago I needed some motivation so I decided to go and try on the size 44 pants to see how close I was to fitting into them. Well, I was shocked when I put them on and they were TOO BIG!!!!! I texted Sheri and asked her to bring me a 42 to see how close I was to being able to fit into them. The end result of the trip was I walked out with 3 new pair of 42 jeans, and 3 pairs of size 42 shorts. The best part of this is the 3 pairs of jeans cost me a total of $30! Y’all, I own brand new $10 jeans!!!!! Oh, and they are starting to be a little loose!
Spin Class
As you saw in my goals for this month, I set a goal to take a spin class. Monday of last week, I went to my first spin class after work. I was warned by several people how brutal and overwhelming the first spin class could be and was advised to take it slow. I will admit I was a little nervous going into the class. I was not worried about the biking speed because I am able to bike 11 miles in 30 minutes. I was more worried about peddling while I was standing. I am not used to this and can be unbalanced at times (especially after working my legs out for a while). I had visions of me losing my balance and falling into the next person, knocking them into the next person and eventually knocking the whole row over like a well-designed domino line. When I got in to the class, I picked a bike in the back row, close to the exit in case I had to make a quick (and quiet) get away. I also did this because the only lights on were black lights so it could be hard to see. The instructor got there and helped me setup the bike and explained the basic information I would need. The last thing she said to me was this class was about me, not anyone else and so I should listen to my body. I should push myself but if I need to, lower the resistance or sit down while peddling. The key was to not stop peddling, to be in constant motion. Let’s not kid ourselves; I had no intention of trying to be as good at spin as some of the people in the class. My goal was to finish the class, so I already planned to do what the instructor told me to. The class started with us seated. After about 3 minutes of peddling, I thought to myself “I got this”. THEN she had us stand up for the first time and I wanted to run. I resisted the urge and plugged along. For the most part, I was able to keep up with the class. There were a few times I had to put the resistance lower or sit down but as I got close to the end of the class, I was getting into the hang of things. By the end of the hour, I was exhausted, but in good way. It was a FANTASTIC workout! I may go back someday and take more classes, time will tell.
Zumba
I also had a Zumba Class on my goals list for this month. On Saturday, Sheri and I went to the gym to give Zumba a try. We are fortunate to have tried it on Saturday morning, which has a small attendance as compared to the Thursday night class which is always packed. If you have never seen Zumba before, I would describe it as Country Line dancing meets Latin dancing meets kick boxing. Our goal here was to be able to finish the class. We were not trying to be the best one there so if I had to stop for a breath or a drink of water while no one else did, we were ok with that. We found it humorous that a few of the people in the class were commenting it was a little chilly in the room before the class began but 5 minutes in, the complaints went away quickly. The music made you forget you were working out and the fun was infectious. The most difficult thing for us was we did not know any of the moves so we lagged behind (or got totally lost) at points but quickly got back on track. By the end of the hour, we were both very excited about the fact we did not keel over from exhaustion! A year ago, there is no way either of us would have been able to do an hour of Zumba. Now we can! We had so much fun we are talking about going to some of the Saturday classes to get better at the steps.
Running
I have moved on to Week 5 of the Couch to 5k program which looks like this:
I first started the 9 week Couch to 5k program sometime in April. I have re-started the course 4 or 5 times now and even redone the same day for 3 or 4 days in a row. I wanted to be able to successfully complete week 4 before moving to week 5. As you can see from the picture above the last day of week 5 has NO WALKING so the more I am able to do the earlier weeks the better chance I will have to complete Day 3 of week 5 (a 20 minute jog). I went into Monday’s run rested and ready to go. My first 5 minute run seemed effortless, which did not surprise me as I was still fresh. The second 5 minute run was a bit of a struggle for the last 2 minutes but I managed to complete it. By the time I got to the last 5 minute run, I was exhausted! I was able to run about 3 non-consecutive minutes of the 5 minutes which was a good thing. Instead of the last 5 minute walk, I continued to run/walk to the end of my 5.25k course. All in all, I ran more than the 15 minutes for the week but was not able to finish all three 5 minute runs. Tomorrow is two 8 minute runs with a 5 min walk in between. I have high hopes of running the entire first 8 minute run. The victories here are that I can run two 5 minute runs and my breathing is getting better, which was a big hindrance to running for longer periods of time.
BOSU Ball
Early on in my time at the gym, I saw one of the trainers doing squats on the BOSU Ball and I thought, how cool would it be to be able to do that! Eventually, I got up the nerve to try it and after a few times, I was able to do 20 squats on the BOSU ball. Last month, BOSU ball squats were a goal and I was able to do 630 squats in July. There are so many more things you can do on a BOSU ball to work on your strength and coordination that I wanted to get one for myself. Sadly, they cost anywhere from $140 and up. A couple of weeks ago, one of my co-workers mentioned she was getting rid of hers (which she had only used once) and I could have it for $30! SCORE!
Now for the AGONY OF DEFEAT. I will clarify I do not mean actual defeat. To me, the following are only speed bumps which have slowed me. The have not and WILL NOT defeat me.
My Leg
As I mentioned, I did Spin class last Monday, which was also a run day so I also did a 5k run in the morning. Tuesday morning, I went to the gym to work on my goals (lunges, elliptical, pull ups, etc) and Tuesday night we had our trainer session with Tyrie, which focused on legs. So I did legs, legs, legs and then more legs. About halfway thru our trainer session I had a sharp pain at the top of my thigh where it meets my groin. I marked it up to some of the crazy stuff Tyrie was having us do and kept working through the pain. When I got up home, it was hurting more and iced it. I ended up missing workouts on Wednesday and Thursdays as a result of the pain. The good news is I was able to get back into the flow of things and have worked out regularly (including my zumba class on Saturday).
Last week’s weigh in
As you know, I had a GREAT week 2 weeks ago with a 4.4 pound loss. When I gingerly stepped on to the scale last Wednesday, the scale showed a 4.2 pound GAIN! I stepped off and then got back on to see if it was a mistake. This time I sucked it up and stood normally in case that is what gave the false reading of the weight. Sadly, no, still a 4.2 pound gain. UGH! Now you know my mentality on this. There are only 2 things you can control and what the scale says is not one of them. I will be honest it was hard for me to listen to my own words last Wednesday. I CRUSHED it for the whole week, even to the point of hurting my leg Tuesday night. I ate very well and I should have had a loss. To make matters worse, I was injured for, at that point, an undetermined amount of time, so I was not going to be able to crank up the workout to offset the gain. I got back on track on Friday and have worked hard all week and I am anticipating a loss tomorrow.
Goals
“In theory”, I learned from my July goals, that I did not take into consideration how some of the exercises would impact other ones on the list or how the goals would impact my regular workouts. I say “in theory” because I made the same mistake this month. I cranked up my trainer sessions and work outs to prepare me for my upcoming mud run. I have realized I over estimated what I would be able to do in addition to my other training.
Let’s start things a little different today. Let’s start with my Week 76 weight update:
Current weight – 8/1/12 – 280.6 pounds
Last week’s weight – 7/18/12– 282.4 pounds
Starting weight – 2/13/11 – 384.8 pounds
Weight loss for this week - 1.8 pounds
Total Weight loss - 104.2 pounds
Last month, I decided to start making a goal list. I tried to make the hard enough to push me but easy enough to be able to finish them. Here is how I did:
1000 crunches - 1000 done – GOAL MET
1000 penguins - 1020 done – GOAL MET
1000 push-ups (Knees on ground) - 1030 done – GOAL MET
1000 squats - 1005 done – GOAL MET
600 BOSU ball squats - 630 done – GOAL MET
60 minutes of planks - 60.1 minutes – GOAL MET
12 Couch to 5k runs - 11 runs
Run 48 kilometers - 49.63 km – GOAL MET
75 miles biked - 94.63 miles – GOAL MET
10 pounds lost - 6.2 pounds
Write 6 more blog posts this month – including this one, 7 blog posts – GOAL MET
I learned a few things from this month’s goals that I will apply to future months goals.
Learn to count! I ran every couch to 5k run I had planned to, which was 3 per week for a total of 11 runs. How I came up with 12 runs for a goal, I have no clue. Going forward, I need to make sure I count correctly.
Planks are HARD!!!! While they got a little easier as the weeks went on, I was not able to do them for as long as I had planned in the beginning. As a result, I had to do 13 1/2 minutes of planks in the last two days to meet my goal. The good news is that on Monday, I did a 2 minute plank, which is the longest plank I have ever done.
When making this list, I did not take into consideration how some of the exercises would impact other ones on the list or how the goals would impact my regular workouts. For example, on Monday I ran 4-5km in the morning, and in the evening did 120 squats, rode 5 miles on the bike and then worked out my arms. Tuesday, I rode 10-11 miles on the bike in the morning, and in the evening did 120 squats, worked my legs out with our trainer and then rode 2-5 more miles on the bike. By Wednesday when I had to run another 4-5 km, do 120 more squats and ride 5 more miles, my thighs were KILLING ME!!! For this month, I have tried to think out the total picture of all my exercise and not just what I think I can do for each item.
While there will be a few return items on this month’s list, most of it will be new. I have increased my running distance and I will be doubling my trainer sessions each week to prepare me for the Boselli mud run in September.
In my Rewards post at the end of June, I discussed my philosophy on rewards for the goals I have set. In the post, I announced my reward for losing the 100 pound mark would be getting my PADI scuba certification. I hit my 100 pound goal so it is time to start scuba training, right? Ummm….no. I actually changed my mind on what my reward will be.
The more I thought about the Scuba certification, the more I rethought the timing of it. If I decided to go forward with my training, I would probably not get my certification until October. At which point, I am not sure how many opportunities I would have left before it got too cold to dive this year, much less if I would have the money to go. So it would probably be May of next year before I could actually go. Since I like to make my rewards things which support my efforts, maybe the $600+ it would cost me to get certified would be better spent on something that would benefit me now. Before I go any further, let me make this clear. I am still going to get PADI certified. It is a lifelong dream to scuba dive so, while I am not doing it now, I will be coming back to do it at another time.
As you saw in my Change post earlier this week, the majority of my new goals are running oriented. So I decided to come up with a reward that would help me attain some of those goals. The first half of the reward is a new pair of running shoes. I have had my eye on these shoes since before I ran the Never Quit race. I had a running analysis done at 1st Place Sports and they analyzed how I stood, walked and ran and then made recommendations on shoes that were appropriate for me. I found a pair of Nike shoes that fit perfectly and supported my feet and ankles better but decided at that time to hold off on getting them. Once I decided to use these as part of my reward, I didn’t waste any time. I hit my goal last Wednesday, got the new shoes on Thursday night and ran in them on Friday morning.
For the second half of my reward, I am going to be training with Paul McRae with Personal Running Solutions to improve my running form, distance and time. I will be starting with 4 weeks of sessions and may go back later and do some more sessions with him. It is my hope that Paul will give me the tools I need to put me on the path of running a 5k in under 30 minutes and increasing my running distance to 15k for my run in March.
Now for the progress on my goals and my weight.
For my goals:
1000 crunches - 780 done
1000 penguins - 780 done
1000 push-ups (Knees on ground) - 810 done
1000 squats - 845 done
600 BOSU ball squats - 630 done – GOAL MET
60 minutes of planks - 45.1 minutes
12 Couch to 5k runs - 9 runs
Run 48 kilometers - 39.96 km
75 miles biked - 94.63 miles – GOAL MET
10 pounds lost - 4.4 pounds
Write 6 more blog posts this month – including this one, 7 blog posts – GOAL MET
