Week 2 of the Challenge

Week 2 of the Challenge

First off, I'm sorry I didn't manage to make a post last week. I will continue to try to make a post on Saturdays. Anyway, the first week of the challenge was pretty good, but then I went back up in the second week. I don't know why I seem to hit these points where I stagnate, and one of them is around 295. It is almost as hard as getting below 300 was. Still, Lord willing I will persevere. 

It has been an interesting week. I'm taking two classes that are going to be able to help me pursue my health goals. I'm taking a Lifetime Health and Fitness class, where I'm excited to be able to get some real stats on my health. Plus a Health Determinants class where we are discussing the science behind how to change habits. Both classes should give me some real opportunities to continue to look at my health, and improve my health on many levels. More on that later. This is a great opportunity to use what I'm learning.

The great things that have happened in the last two weeks since school started: I've been planning meals and packing them, I haven't let up on going to Orange Theory, in fact I'm increasing the number of times I go a week, and I've started consistently taking the stairs at school. The bad: I had some high stress last weekend, some trouble adjusting to the sleep schedule, and a few binging  moments, mostly on sunflower seeds. During the stress I had an urge for sweets and combatted that by going to the gym, which was a great change in habit. 

Goals for the next week: Make a plan for what I'm going to do for the next, and more important weight loss challenge, continue with menu planning and meal prep, and add some extra exercise throughout the week. Finally, to make sure I do a blog post again in a week. Until then, have a blessed week, and continue to pursue your own health. 

The Challenge!

I'm sorry it has been so long since I've posted here, but the busy life of a student is my excuse. I will commit to posting once a week in the new year. Be looking for my posts on Saturdays. Today I am starting a challenge posted by a friend. It is an opportunity to win cash prizes for losing weight and getting fit. I have to admit that I went off plan over the holidays. Okay, not crazy off plan. I still went to Orange Theory on Thanksgiving, but I took a break from it for about a week and a half around Christmas. I did my first workout of the New Year on the 1st, and I'm happy that is the way my New Year has started. My weight has kind of been holding just under the 300lb mark, fluctuating between 296-299. I'm hoping the challenge helps me change that.
I've had a lot of people asking me about my blog, and I appreciate all the people who are on this journey with me. I feel like I'm constantly adjusting and shifting the plan to see what is working. In the end I will have the plan that works for me, and probably others. I almost feel like my body constantly needs to be shook up. I fall into a routine all too easy. From working out to diet, my body likes to regulate and stay where it is at. I guess that's where the scientific law of motion comes in, a body in motion stays in motion. That being said, rest was a good thing over the holiday break and I'm ready to get back at it.
A cousin of mine passed away suddenly this week, and I have to say, as with any sudden death, it has made me hyper aware of just how short a time we have here. I don't have time to waste on things that don't matter. Instead my time and energy are valuable, and I need to use them as a precious resource. I'm sure I haven't always been mindful of that, and I'm sure there will be moments when I still don't treat my life that way, but I have a goal in my sights, and I have every intention of reaching it.
Interesting, I have a definite goal, but it cannot be easily defined because I do not yet know what it looks like. My immediate goals are to get into OSU and complete my bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, and while I'm in the process of that get to a normal, healthy weight. I cannot guess what that weight is except to know what would be a normal bmi range for my height. I believe I should be around 140 lbs. A number that is fairly inconceivable to me since I haven't been that size since middle school or so. The bottom line is it isn't only a number, I'm aiming for an active, healthy, lifestyle. It is something I wish I had done sooner, but didn't have the motivation, inspiration, determination, and healing to have done sooner. All things come at the right time, and this is my time. I will be healthier at 50 than I was at 18, I know because I am not letting this go.
Finally, just a few milestones to share: I recently did a workout at Orange Theory where I only had to modify one thing! That was an amazing change. I'm getting up and down off the floor now without problems, and I can be on my knees. I still get back pain when there is a lot of rowing, but my back is getting stronger. Currently I'm eating vegan and loving it, my energy level is up and inflammation is down. How could that not make you feel better? I will likely be sharing some yummy recipes as I find ones I want to share with you. Meanwhile, I hope you are pursuing your health in this new year!
One last thing--I shared my pictures above that are for the new challenge I'm on, but I'm also sharing a "before" picture I found recently. I think in this picture I may be around 380?, I had quite a bit of time where I was too big for my scale, and that is somewhere over 350. I know at least once I went to the doctor and I was 380, so in my mind that is the heaviest I've ever been, but it is possible that it is even more than that. Anyway, it is nice to see the progress from that pic to the ones above.

Sorry I've been away so long, but life is hectic.

Wow! Time has gone by so quickly. I've been very busy with school, where I'm finding chemistry challenging. My weight had been holding, and I think it was the way I was eating. Food was too good at school, and I was eating more there than I should, and it was rich food. That being said, I still eat there once in a while so I don't feel deprived. I made a big dietary decision. Since I do not have time to calculate every morsel that goes in my mouth I'm primarily eating vegan. I'm not going to be dogged about it, although I did start to drop weight right away when I changed.
My first motivation to try veganism again was that I was having lots of inflammation problems, and I knew it had to be food related. Because I was eating out a lot it was hard to calculate things like sodium and fat. I know that even though I've been indulging a bit more in things like nuts and avocado, they are healthy fats, and much better for me than some of the fats I was consuming. Don't get me wrong, there are still lots of things I was doing right, but some old habits resurfaced too. Anyway, the inflammation was nearly immediately resolved, and then my energy level went up too. I'm able to push myself harder at the gym, and I'm sure that I will be seeing that 100lbs down mark sooner than later.
Here is the most astonishing thing, I think I'm becoming a morning person. Something I thought I would never be. I've always been a night owl, finding it hard to go to sleep before 11 and get up before 10, but that is completely different now. I'm super productive in the morning, and I get up by 7 or earlier everyday. A couple of days a week I go to the gym at 5 am. Something I wouldn't have even thought of doing before.
Also, since I've started school I have been making a habit of working on going up and down stairs more. I still usually take an elevator, but I go down stairs one foot at a time and forward. It may sound silly, but that is big progress. I don't know when I started, but at some point I started going down the stairs sideways and had to put both feet on one step before I stepped down to the next. It was a rather slow agonizing process. Going down stairs is still a challenge, but I do push myself to do a few more every week. Plus, my daughter asked me if I would go up the stair with her at Market of Choice one day and I did. She was astonished and said "Mom, you could never have done that so easy in the past." So, there is still constant progress, even though I feel like I've plateaued a bit. I don't plan on letting the holidays reverse that progress, and I should have more time once I'm past finals to let you know some of the strategies I use to keep it healthy during the holidays. Until next time, I hope you are spending time pursuing your health in a new way each day!

Life Changes, Stress, and Lifestyle Management

I know, it has been a while, please excuse the distance between posts. I have been pretty busy. I wasn't planning on doing school full time when I started, I wasn't planning to have a job while in school, but my plate is delightfully full. I'm enjoying having so much time that is productive, something I couldn't have sustained before the lifestyle changes I started in March, but I do still get tired, or perhaps just too busy to think about the minute details.
The biggest change, besides being constantly on the run, and never really having a day home to just relax, is my diet. With busyness comes the problem of lack of time. Lack of time to create the foods I prefer to eat, lack of time to plan ahead. This, and the fact that the school has a culinary department that makes the food, has led me to some less than ideal eating. It is hard to schedule eating 5-6 times a day. It is hard to eat smaller meals. It is hard to prepare meals. Add in a bit of stress, and my eating has not been what it was previously. I think this may be preventing the scale from moving.
All that, but I am not slipping that far into old patterns. I still limit my starchy carbs, I still typically stop at one plate, I still try to use portion control on those things that matter. (In other words anything not vegetable.) My new healthy habits are not gone, but perhaps a bit transformed. I do still go to Orange Theory Fitness 3-5 times a week, and I'm so glad I do.
I'm not sure what the greatest praise in all of this is. My weight has stayed the same under less than ideal circumstances, that is not a bad thing. I have made some really healthy new habits. School is going well, and even though I'm busy I'm more capable of handing that than I was previously. All in all, I feel great about where I'm at. Do I still want to lose more weight? Of course. My goal is to be in a healthy BMI, but I will not condemn myself for where I am right now, and I'm sure the weight will still come off, and I'm certainly giving it no opportunity to come back!

I'm an Overcomer

Madisa's song is reverberating in my mind, and it is inspiring me to not quit or give in. The start to school has been a bit rocky. I had my first test this week and I did not get a score I'm happy with. I know that God will walk me through this too, so I put my faith in Him. It has been a rough transition into school. I'm still doing well with going to Orange Theory at least three times a week, working towards five, but not there just yet.

Today I'm tired, and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I had an interaction with a beloved and valuable friend, and I was much less than loving, kind, and encouraging. I'm working through that with the Lord, and it brings me to other areas I need to grow in. I've been a co-dependent for so much of my life, and I believe shedding that skin is a necessary step in my walk.

I'm sort of holding steady on my weight right now, but eating right in my super busy schedule has been challenging. I've gotten almost en entirely new wardrobe since working and going to school means I need to wear decent looking clothes, and nothing I had previously seemed to fit. It is a good thing.

Lifestyle Changes

I'm seeing my life change on a daily basis. Change is the one thing we can count on in our lives, and I have always been aware of that, but in the past it seemed like change wasn't always healthy. Today, I choose healthy, and tomorrow I hope to do the same. I do not always make perfect choices, but the choices I make now are much more calculated than previously.

For example, yesterday I did my first Dry Tri at Orange Theory Fitness (OTF). A Dry Tri is a in gym triathlon that includes a 2000 meter row, 600 body weight movements, and 2.5k power walk or 5k run. I'm not a runner yet, so for me it was the power walk. I finished in roughly an hour, and I have a real sense of accomplishment just from finishing. This is not something I could have done 3 months ago when I first joined OTF. My 12 year old daughter was able to come cheer me on, and afterward I promised to take her to DelTaco. This is one of the only fast food places we ever eat at. I walked in planning on ordering my usual, 2 chicken soft tacos on soft corn tortillas without secret sauce, and then got sucked in by the Queso Blanco advertising.

Here is where it gets amazing. As we were coming out of OTF I could smell french fries, I'm not sure where the scent came from, but  I commented to my daughter that they smelled yummy. I like french fries, but for me they are not typically hard to resist. This day was no different, until we were looking at the Queso Blanco menu and they had cheese fries. In the past I might have just had them, but thanks to fast food menuing that includes the calories, I knew they were 500 calories. Some quick calculations, knowing that I actually hadn't eaten much for the day, and I realized I could indulge, a little. I asked my daughter if she would like to split an order, decided to get only one taco and no iced coffee, but unsweetened iced tea. This is a win!

Did I need fries? No, I could have gone without them. Did I allow myself a food that sounded good when I was in the mood? Yes, because I know that allowing myself an occasional day of reduced vigilance, especially in the light of so much physical activity, keeps me from feeling deprived. Feelings of deprivation can lead to binges, and I want to avoid that. The key here is knowing when to give in to a craving, and when to exercise will power. In the end, giving in to the craving is actually will power because I made a careful decision, not a decision made in a moment ruled by emotional eating. That is powerful indeed.

It is Official, I'm at 299 lbs

I know, I've been close for a while, but today the scale actually read 299. I'm so excited to be continuing to lose weight. It feels good to have lost 64lbs, and counting. I'm rediscovering my love of clothes shopping, although some things are cut strange, and sometimes my body is a strange shape.

So, I have always been honest with you about the changes happening, and I feel like I still need to be. The one that is disconcerting right now is that the extra skin on my lower belly folds and I'm lovingly calling it my second butt. My husband gets offended I call it that, but let me tell you, it is hard to dress it. Pants that fit right everywhere else don't quite fit the second butt correctly.

This is a journey, and I know it isn't always going to be great. However, the payoff is feeling better and being healthier. That is well worth every effort.