"Write down a list of vegetables that you like"

In February 2009, I decided to give meat up for Lent.  It was more of a challenge kind of thing and something hard to prove to people that I could do something others couldn't (yeah, sometimes the whole God thing gets lost on me, but I'm working on it!).  I did not prepare whatsoever or do any research.  Duh, no meat means you eat...uh...idk!  The first day of Lent, I had cereal for all of my meals (100% seriously).

One of my co-workers was a vegan and was VERY excited that I was going meat free (I did keep in eggs and dairy, I would not have survived vegan!).  She told me she would cook something for me if I wrote down a list of vegetables that I liked.  So I sat down with pen and paper.

"Mushrooms"

Ummmmm....potatoes?  Corn?  I kind of like those.  Oh, and lettuce.

I ended up writing a short list of veggies that I had before and could tolerate, but my list of veggies I hated were nearly as long (I'm looking at you tomatoes and cucumbers!).

I went 40 days w/o meat, but I literally day dreamed about meat every day!  And some meat substitutes were horrible while others weren't that bad.  That co-worker never did cook for me.  Perhaps it is because she asked if I liked spicy food.  I said "Uhhhh...I like salsa a little bit".  She replied  "I'll take that as a no".

And lately, I have been  buying veggies more and more when I go to the store.  Last week I decided to renew my love of squash (after I got burnt out the first time-everyday for weeks on end got to be a little too much). After review, it was DEFINITELY the veggies in this post.  That was an awful food week.  I'm not making either of those things again!  I had squash/zucchini, bell peppers, and onions slow cooked w/chicken thighs.  Love! Last week I bought a few things to make stir fry, but not enough to make the amount/type I wanted.  And then SwimSis used my chicken for dinner yesterday.  Sure she bought more, but that was rock hard in the freezer - and did me no good!  I went to the store today and bought more chicken and 1 more pack of veggies.  When I got home, I was on the interwebs too much (oh fb!) and then I got to chopping!  I was just in a mood to not to cook all of this up, so I gave into the slow cooker/crock pot - again!

I got out the 3 packs of veggies that I had purchased on separate occassions.  They are somewhat pre-chopped and were all on "manager's special".  I had 2 packs of "grilling vegetables" (zucchini, yellow squash), red onion, red and green bell peppers and one pack of stir fry veggies (bok choy, pea pods, carrots, broccoli, onions, bell peppers).  I threw in the stir fry veggies, chopped up the grilling veggies a little more finely.  Then I chopped some carrots, not peeling them though (why do we peel them?  Seems like a bit of a waste to me!  I did peel a few odd looking spots, but just chopped the rest).  Then I went into the fridge to get an extra yellow squash and zucchini when I saw the bok choy I bought last week!  Someone (SwimSis) had likely shoved it to the back of the fridge where it froze.  The leafy greens were good no more, but the stalks were pretty much okay.  I chopped that all up and the crock pot was REALLY full.  I had opted not to put the chicken in the same crock pot quite a few chops ago.

Crock O' Veggies

I went to get some teriyaki sauce from the fridge when I saw a massive mountain of mushrooms (yay mushrooms!) that I had completely forgotten about!

Lots of Fungi!

 I ended up squeezing a few more mushrooms in with the veggies and  some in with the chicken in a separate, but small slow cooker.  And the lat mushrooms SwimSis grilled up with bell peppers to have w/ tacos - yummy.

I am glad to see I have evolved as a vegetable eater.  A couple of years ago I would not have eaten onions, pea pods, bok choy, etc.  I like cucumbers now, but tomatoes will always be the worst thing ever!  I know I will overcook them in the crockpot, but I'm hoping they will still be yummy!

How has your eating evolved?

Off to "fat camp"

Well, not me.  TeenSwimSis is going to weight loss camp.  And before anyone cries foul, this chick WANTS to go.  A couple of scholarship/contest opportunities fell through and I was done trying to get her there because they are MEGA EXPENSIVE.  Well unbeknownst to us, she called about 5 different camps asking if they have scholarship opportunities.  Ha!  I could barely talk on the phone to people I didn't know at 13.  Another contest fell through, but SwimSis asked the director if a certain dollar amount for a certain timeframe would work and he said yes!

It is still a lot of money though.  Personally, I am fronted the $100 deposit and will contribute my entire paycheck this week.  My family has been very supportive as well so we got a good chunk of dough from them and we had the garage sale 2 weekends ago and the profits are going towards her camp.  And we might have more from additional items we sell (a sectional couch, dressers) if my dad freaking stops giving them away.  He "gave" a pool ladder and 2 end tables to a neighbor and said the guy is good for it.  Lord have mercy!  Sometimes that man needs to get a dose of common sense.  He really sparks me to say "That really frosts my balls!"

Anyway, tonight I will be loading up SwimSis' SUV, driving 2 hours to the hometown, packing up TeenSwimSis, heading out bright and early to the state where the weight loss camp is located, hanging out for the evening, and dropping her off early Sunday morning, only to turn right back around, drop my dad off in the hometown, and then back here so I can go to work on Monday.  And SwimSis has an interview on the other side of the city at 8am Monday morning, yikes! Good thing I sleep like a baby while on the road!  (On my last road trip to FL in Sept, I slept sooo much and definitely missed the entire state of NC on the way there!)

Obviously I have concerns.  teenage kids can be cruel, even at "fat camp".  Believe me I am going to be giving her a lecture on the way there about treating everyone the same and not teasing or making fun of anyone.  That's another thing that really frosts my balls.  I also have concerns about some of the camp rules.  No cameras?  I don't understand that.  Silly camp pictures are the best.  And of course, we want this to be a tool for her.  We know Weight Loss Camp is not a cure.  Home is the real test.

I joked that we were leaving my dad at weight loss camp too.  He, at most, is slightly overweight, but has super unhealthy habits.  And since my mom passed, he is the only one who can influence her on a daily basis.  No matter how many healthy meals and snacks SwimSis and I provide that house with out of our own pockets, he gets fast food and gives in her wants all of the time. I'm certain he did not picture himself a widower and thus a single parent of a pre-teen at age 58.  I acknowledge this and would do anything to make the situation different.  But the reality is that the child he is responsible for is around 100 lbs overweight.  She is heavier than SwimSis and I was not that weight until I was in college and making my own bad food decisions.  In fact, she needed tshirts for camp (that fit) and I found a box of tshirts from college that were perfect for her. 

She's really a great person.  Typical teenager w/the boy obbsessed and moodiness (Dear God, please don't make me listen to Justin Beiber for the 10 hr drive!).  Hilarious kid.  Probably just wants to fit in.  Is so freaking pretty.  Doesn't she realize jr. high kids are supposed to have awkward looks?  But I digress...

So please, any tips for healthy living for her and my dad would be appreciated.

Blogger Award :)

Oooooooh.  Blogger  Award.  So Shiny and New. haha

Thanks OverWeight in Sunny SoCal, that was very nice of you to think of me!

The rules are as follows;

* Nominate 10 fellow bloggers who are relatively new to blogging

* Let them know you have nominated them

* Share 7 random facts about yourself

* Thank the bloggers that have nominated you

* Add the versatile blogger award to your post

Seven Random Facts About EmDub:

• I have a hard time caring about what I look like too much. (hello 280lbs!).  This means I may or may not go to work with my hair unbrushed at least once a week. I'll then put it up or braid it, but really Em?
•  There's only one guy at work whom I might want to impress.  I see him so rarely, I usually don't go to the trouble.  He works closely with one of my co-workers on several projects, so I may or may not ask about her projects occassionally :)  
• Soooo...another one about work.  I've been a temp since the beginning of the year and they are considering hiring me.  I feel like I have to much to learn that if I ask them about it they will say no.  And no one wants to be rejected!  But then a temp in a different department got hired department this week, so I'm pretty much going to be forced to ask about it in the next couple of day :/
• My favorite alcoholic beverage is jack and coke :) Mmmmm!  I'm a whiskey girl!
• I would not have fallen in love whiskey if it were not for a trip to TN where I got a taste of Jack!
• If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it might just be garlic bread.  It is not something that I include or exclude from any particular meal.  But when I have it IT IS THE BEST THING EVER.  New diet of jack and cokes and garlic bread?  It could work, maybe.
• I love couponing at CVS.  I get a high from getting good deals there.  I could do this at other stores, but really only that one store is so time consuming!  I usually use the CVS forum at www.weusecoupons.com where other people look up the deals and post them.  I just clip or print the coupons needed.
• I have a thing about doing popular things. Or rather not doing them.  Popular tv shows?  I'm too cool.  Color Run - eh, everyone does that.  Select 10 bloggers to get this award?  Murh, no thanks.  But out of appreciation to OWISoCal, I did this post :)

Non-scale Victories

When I started this blog, I knew I wanted to focus on fitness levels and anything else that happened aka weight loss would be icing on the cake. 

However, I did note that it is easy to track weight, but other NSVs, as the blog world has dubbed them, are a little bit harder to notice.  Also, you have to do something semi-consistently to even remember any of what you did before (such is my case).

Pilates

I've done beginner Pilates every Monday night since the beginning of June.  I really enjoy it because it is challenging and a workout, but not high intensity.  If I am overly tired or have a headache, I like the calm challenge of Pilates, as opposed to a class where the music is so very loud and the teacher has to yell over the music.  (I do intend to do one of those classes someday!).  I like the feeling of balance and strength.  I like sitting up tall and just being more aware of my body. 

The move that we do often in class is called "the hundred".

I'll be honest, I can't get my legs straight yet!  But if you look at my post about my first Pilates class, you can see that my legs were shaking terribly during this exercise.  I noticed at last Monday's class that my legs only shook a time or two.  That made me very happy! 

We also tried something new - the mini-ball of Pilates (yeah, I don't know the actual name!) We put it behind our backs, as she does in the video.  And put our feet on it and lifted our rears off the ground.  She also asked us to put them under our rears at one point.  I didn't do this because this ball was so little and I was VERY afraid I was going to pop it!  That was like putting all my weight on it, so I just did the modified version :)  Hopefully that will be another non-scale victory someday.

I've also been doing water aerobics, which has been pretty fun!  I have only gone twice, so that will be fun to see where that takes me.  I have not swam laps in 2 weeks, but after all I ate this weekend, I decided I needed to have some major swim time!  Also, I know runners do their long runs on the weekends, so I have been toying with the idea of a long swim on the weekends. 

I find my workouts on this wonderful website.  I do the "50 swim workouts" and did Number 10 today.  I usually do the workout with the lower yardage because it is an adequate workout and any times that need to be met (like 50 yards freestyle in 1 minute) are easier for me to accomplish.  I had to adjust the times to be higher on some things, like the 8 x 125s.  Butterfly was kind of painful, in a good workout way.  Early on in the workout I thought there was NO WAY I was going to get this done, too many yards, too tired, too soon.  But I did, and I loved it!  The easier workout usually takes me between 50mins and an hour to complete, so I figured this would take me 1.5 hours.  I clocked in at 1:29.03, pretty much right on the money.  All I wanted to do then was sit in the hot tub and finish my gatorade, but of course it was closed :(

I have come to LOVE the parks in my town and specifically this one nature preserve.  Overall it has 2.25 miles of trails, which go through woods/dirt trail, gravel trails, and meadow trails.  Honestly, it is nothing special, but I really have taken a liking to it.  I started running a bit of the trails a couple of "hikes" ago, when I didn't have SwimTot with me.

Before the mudhike

during...

After!  Love that girl!

 By the way, she LOVES going on hikes!  We talk about and explore nature and I have taught her that we have to run all the uphills!  haha She adores it.  The gravel loop I ran 4 minutes, then the next time I went farther and ran 5 minutes, and this last time I decided to run a dirt trail and I ran for over 6 minutes!  Previously to this month, my longest continual run was 4 minutes.  I was ecstatic to see that progress!  And to run for such a time and feel really good about it.  My goal of running a mile straight is coming into sight!

I was getting discouraged because I wasn't consistent with weights/other training, but I shrugged it off because it is summer!  Why lift weights inside when I can be outside enjoying nature??? :)

And last but not least, some more pics!

After the storm - beautiful!

What SwimTot did on the 10 min drive to the Nature Preserve

Splashin'

Loving summer!

Left Out

Soooo, I wanted to title this post something like "Workplace Size Discrimination".  But I thought about it for a couple of days.  It is not discrimination.  I am not being treated different in concern to work matters.  I am still an equal in that regard.  I am just feeling left out and jealous. 

So anyone who stops by this blog every now and again can appreciate the fact that I've been working harder when it comes to my fitness (singing a little Fergie "i'm up in the gym, just working on my fitness").  I have done pilates every Monday for the past 6 weeks (go me!).  So, when two of the other women in my department start talking about pilates and how much they like it or want to try it (depending on which person was speaking), I felt like I had experienced enough to put in my two cents. 

What usually happens is my comments politely get skipped over.  Or get a general polite comment and then they move on.  Some people might lie or exaggerate about working out, but dangit, I don't!!!  I hear them talking sometimes about pilates or talk back and forth from their offices about working out, etc.  Basically, I think they don't believe me. 

Heck, I know I'm a good 261 pounds right now (ohhh yeah!), but that does not discount any activity or class that I do.  It does not make me lesser in conversation about pilates or workouts or losing weight.  It is quite frustrating.  I am doing well at working out and am happy with my improved fitness and subsequent weight loss.  But how do I fit in conversation about it?

"Hey, did you get that memo I sent you?  Oh, by the way, I've lost 19 pounds."

"Geez, Killer Candice kicked my butt last night!...Can you help me decipher this legal briefing?"

"Can you approve this contract?  I REALLY need it done so it stops distracting me from being aware of my core"

No?  Dang. 

And these two ladies are quite small themselves.  Definitely not overweight.  And they're talking about losing 2 pounds a week, eating healthy (but REALLY hating it), and how much they work out.  They're not the type to exaggerate either.  And I kid you not, the one lady says "I figure if I can workout 70-80 minutes a day, 7 days a week, I can get to my goal weight in a couple of months".  Pardon my French, but SAY WHAT, BITCH?

Just kind of reminds me of DJ from Full House.  Sorry about the video, I think the audio track is off.  There shouldn't be laughing in serious places, but the rest is just fine.


Workout that much and you might lose the weight, but you'll probably be as tired as ever!


Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Xanax?



In other news...

I have been loving Refrigerator Oatmeal now that I picked up some chia seeds.  Some people don't like them, but I like the crunch as well as the way they taste when they have been in the oatmeal overnight or even over the weekend.

Got my nails did again:

Dark Grey with a little sparkle.

Eating a little better.  Well, at least eating some yummy stuff:

Crockpot chicken, stir fry veggies + sweet peas

Someone got certified in something, let's have something yummy at the office. (Fruit Pizza)

Post Workout eggs, spinach and cheese, plus an expired granola thin

sweet potato, sweet peppers, oregano chicken.  Not the best but when hungry, it was 5 star!

Last, but not least, the world's most awkward picture of me.  Trying to use the self-timer and back up to the wall, all while tripping over some shoes and trying to keep my balance.

Plus the flash bounced off the counter and made the pic a little blurry!

Who wouldn't want to talk workouts with this chick?

A day in the life of EmDub

(starting the night before)

10:30pm - Shower after pilates and a walk around the neighborhood

11:15pm - Fall asleep while watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix

11:30pm - SwimTot starts banging on my door, probably wanting me to get her something to eat (my room is right across from the kitchen).  I tell her to go away and hear her running to her (sleeping) parent's room crying.  Fall promptly asleep.

6:00am - Phone alarm goes off in purse.  Blindly dig around till I find it.  Text someone back.  Set alarm for 6:30.

6:30am - Alarm goes off, hit 10 min snooze.

6:40am - Alarm goes off, hit 10 min snooze.

6:50am - Alarm goes off, hit 10 min snooze, but stay awake and check Facebook.

6:54am - What?  Guy from HS is gay?  Wouldn't have guessed.  What?  Girl from college is un-engaged?  Hadn't heard about her *AMAZING* fiance in a while (rolls eyes)

7:00am - Alarm goes off.  Hit dismiss.  Decide to get up.  Remember that all of my underwear is still in the washer.

7:01am - Throw underwear in dryer, go cover up SwimTot because she has kicked off her covers in her sleep and a fan is blowing on her.

7:10am - Get stuff together for work, grab extra hair tie.  Don't bother with the straightener today.

7:18am - Retrieve slighty damp dryer stuff.  And pants.

7:19am - Go start car, put in contacts, brush teeth, grab sweater for work.

7:28am - Pull out of parking lot.

7:47am - Notice car is doing something funky, worry.

7:54am - Pull into parking lot of work.  Stay in car and listen to a conversation the DJs are having about prescription pill addiction.  Wonder if I know anyone who is addicted to "scripts".

8:00am - Get water in coffee mug for warm water and lemon.  But I keep forgetting the lemon, so it will just be warm water today.

8:15am - Deal with a few pieces of mail that were delivered to other departments before they were delivered to ours, which was just this morning.

8:17am - Make coffee for 1 other person in the office.

8:30am - Start reading some blogs

8:35am - Feel guilty about reading blogs at work and do work for a few minutes

(Intermittently) all day - repeat blog reading and feeling guilty work sequence

9:00am - Raisin bran and skim milk

11:30am - Pre-Packaged Carrots and Ranch

1:30pm - Michellina's stuffed pepper meal. 

3:00pm - Still freaking exhausted.  Nothing is helping.  Make iced coffee happen.  Bliss.

3:30pm - Get a load of work to do by 5.  Get going!

4:00pm - Boss calls (who has been out all day)  wants me to look up the location of her daughter's dance class.  Location listed is vague, so I give her phone number and she calls.

5:00pm - Leave office, drop off mail for the courier.  Prepare to sweat on the way home.

5:02pm - 92 degrees.  Air conditioning works hard for little output.  Ignore it and keep the 2 windows down that actually roll down.  Pant legs up.  Sweat and drive home the back way.

5:35pm - Arrive home.  Chat with SwimSis, kiss a napping SwimTot.  Retreat to room.  Internet stops working.

5:55pm - Try everything to fix internet that I can think of.   Grab leftover fruit salad as a snack.

6:10pm - The internet is winning.  I decide to wait it out.  And fall asleep.

6:24pm - Wake up.  Hey! Sometimes cat naps do work!

6:30pm - Internet is fine now.  I facebook, check email, and play a facebook game.

7:15pm - Start blogging, mess with pictures, take breaks to watch Grey's Anatomy.

8:20pm - Scramble to get workout clothes on as SwimSis will be home from babysitting soon.  Get gatorade mixed and look for watch.  Must have left in hometown.  Sad.

8:45pm - Finally leave after SwimSis gets herself and SwimTot ready.

9:00pm - Arrive at park where (our first) 5K is being held this weekend.  Get SwimTot in stroller, start stopwatch on SwimSis's iphone.  Start tunes and walk in awe as the stroller has a speaker built in.  Coolest stroller ever!

9:05pm - Keep walking, hoping we can remember course from last time.  I forgot the course map!  I remember everything well, but there are signs posted that hint us in the right direction.

9:40pm - Almost curse the fact that there is no wind.  So late.  So freaking hot and humid.  Get slightly dizzy.  Walk for long than I like because of it.

9:53pm - Arrive back at car. 2 mins off from last time, but I didn't push the stroller at all either.  Wonder if I can get 50 mins on Saturday.

10:00pm - Roll through McD's drive thru to get sundae for SwimTot for impatiently sitting in the stroller.  I get a cone!

10:15pm - Arrive home.  Decide to walk around the neighborhood since I didn't get a cool down.

10:25pm - Think about showering, but find that SwimTot is about to take a bath.  Have a protein shake that body building aunt brought over.  Says "vanilla" tastes for like roasted marshmallow.

10:30pm - Grab piece of garlic bread.  Pick at the 1 teeny tiny piece of chicken and some veggies that was left for me.  SwimTot is still in the bath so I go get on facebook.

10:35pm - Read facebook posts from the online running club I belong to.  Many of them are running the 5K.  Thinking about dipping out of meeting any of them due to my introverted personality.  Post anyway about the run I did tonight.

10:50pm - Put cereal in tupperware for tomorrow.  Feeling legs start to hurt.  Shin splinty kind of aches.  Wish I didn't leave my pants with the calf/lower leg compression in hometown.  SwimSis says to use one of her BioFreeze wipes after my shower.

11:15pm - Finally shower.

11:35pm - Exit shower, take out contacts, get BioFreeze wipe.  Read directions.  Or lack of directions.  Note that only a licensed professional is supposed to give these to patients/clients.  SwimSis got them from a masseuse. 

11:45pm - Use BioFreeze wipes on legs.  Wonder what the big deal is.  Discard wipe and rinse hands.

11:46pm - Starting to feel it a little more.

11:47pm - Holy @#$^#$!!!!  Legs are truly FREEZING.  So, so cold.  Try to trap body heat with numerous blankets.  Almost shaking.  Legs are in the process of freezing off, but can't feel any pain in my muscles either.

11:48pm - Keep watching Grey's Anatomy to keep my mind off of freezing legs.  Adrenaline is in full force.  Already hoped to be asleep, but am sitting here in misery.

12:10am - Facebook a bit and decide to blog on my day as sleep is not in the near future.

1:00am - Get done blogging, check facebook, turn on Grey's Anatomy, prop legs up on suit case at the end of bed, hoping that might help potential shin splints.

Lord, I didn't mean for that to be so detailed!  But that's pretty much an honest look without going into further detail! :)

Water Aerobics - Not Just For Weenies and Older People

Like me, you might have this notion that water aerobics is for the older generations and people who can't handle "real" exercise.  As a swimmer, I pretty much stuck my nose in the air when the water aerobics people were doing their thing.  Pssshhhh, piece of cake, thought myself and SwimSis.

As I am expanding my fitness horizons, I am trying new classes/exercises.  At least 2 "new to me" things a month.  On Tuesday I had an itch to get in the water, but my lower back was still out of whack from something dumb I did at Pilates (and then proceeded to complete the rest of pilates class!).  LET'S DO WATER AEROBICS!!!  Low impact workout, here we come!

What I thought I was going to look like

{found it here}

So SwimSis and I were unfortunately late, about 5 minutes.  So things were already into full swing.  We set our stuff down and the teacher, Candice, noticed we were going to join.  I whispered/squealed/hissed "LOOK at her!" She was on the pool deck jumping up and down like a person on a crack high.  She was yelling and motivating the class.  We went to grab the obligatory armbells and SwimSis asked for the hardest ones, but I made her shut up and take the medium ones like me.

"Oh, look at me, it's my first class and I want the hardest thing you have to offer".  Show off.  Might I mention she also tried pilates the first time, but didn't want to waste her time because it was "too easy".  Yeah, then she was sore for days....anyway.  We got in and Candice was still going full throttle.  It was a shallow end class, although some people were in the deeper parts.  Let me just say I'm not the most coordinated person, so it took me a minute to catch on to every move.  I thought we were just going to bob around and move our arms slowly at the top of the water, like the ladies in the picture above.

I was wrong.  Things quickly escalated in the workout and Candice revealed that her nickname is KILLER CANDICE.  

Like hardcore water aerobics, make you hurt while it looks like you are doing something easy, kind of instructor.  My heartrate got elevated quickly as we were jogging in place, with sprints of running in place.  No stopping, no pauses, no lounging.  "It's ONLY been 9 minutes!!!" I groaned.  This lady was kicking my booty!  And instead of looking like the lady in the picture above, I nearly looked like this:

Help me!  I've underestimated this workout, and we're only 1/4 of the way thru!

{found it here}

 And those water dumb bell things?  Yeah, keeping them under the water/pushing them down is quite the arm workout.  And after my arm workout on Monday, I was taking a beating. And in case you were wondering, we survived.  The last 15 mins or so (of the hour) were abs/lower body workout.  A bit easier, heart rate down some.

Here are a few things I noticed:

-Things aren't as easy as they look sometimes.

-In water aerobics, it is you against yourself/the water.  You make your own resistance.

-You challenge yourself to the level of intensity you want to work at.  KC would routinely show us a progression of moves, 1 being the easiest, 3 being the hardest, and we were able to stay at a comfortable level, or move to more challenging moves.

- When we were supposed to be an "L" shape, using a "noodle", to do some ab work, I could not keep my lower legs up.  They kept sinking.  It kept throwing off my core work.  Frustrating.

-It kind of felt like pilates in the water.  A lot of the moves at the end focused on quality over quantity and having your core in the right position to get the maximum effect.  

-It is the opposite of the thought spectrum of swimming laps/competitive swimming.  With lap swim, you want to be long, lean, and slice through the water.  You want to, and learn how to, move through the water with the least resistance.  Streamline is the key word.  But in water aerobics, you want to push back against the water, get the most resistance, challenge your muscles to work against the water and against yourself.  That part might have been the hardest because I always slip back into wanting to figure out how to cut through the water. 

-People look at you like you are crazy, or a sad, 3 legged puppy.  Pity or hilarity.  I was there too before yesterday!

So look, any water aerobics friends that are reading this:  I'M SORRY!!!

I dismissed this exercise as for the weak and timid.  But in reality, easier on the joints does not mean less effort/less workout.  I commend you water aerobics-ers of the world!

Would I do it again:  Yes, I would like to try the deep water class as well as the mixed shallow/deep class.  Killer Candice can kick my butt any time.  It obviously doesn't rank higher than lap swimming workouts, for me, but I would love to keep it as an option when I'm feeling like I need someone to motivate me into some hardcore exercise.

Might as well wrap up June!

We are almost in July double digits anyway :) 

This is how many fitness minutes I had:  Not exactly sure. 

My numbers are skewed due to a the Father's Day/Weekend garage cleaning at my dad's. I just couldn't put down 480 minutes for that weekend, although that was the time we worked on the garage!

Here is what I did:
- 4 lap swims -  124 minutes,  5750 yards
-1 open water swim, 30 minutes
-3 Lifting sessions, totaling 26,500 pounds lifted
-4 pilates sessions, 40/45 mins each
-11 walks and/or runs, 408 minutes, 21.7 miles (3 5Ks - 1 of them a race!)
-1 ungodly terrible time on the elliptical.  dislike!  18 mins.
-2 bike rides, 56 mins
-1 pilates video, 30 mins
-1 fat burning ab attack video, 30 mins

Perhaps I should write "rest" a little smaller, they stick out!

One of my goals is to do at least two new to me things a month.  June had me doing pilates, which I had done on a tape, but not a live class.  I like it!  The beginner classes are good, but I heard from some friends that the beginner class at the downtown Y kicks your @$$ every time!  I might have to go to that sometime!

And June was also the first time I had ridden a bike in at least 2 years.  I don't love it.  I don't know if it's an incorrect bike, or trying to get this much weight around on 2 wheels!  haha 

I lost 5 lbs in June, which I am proud of and grateful for.  That last week was hard, mentally.  I think it was my nutrition that kicked my butt.  That last week, I was eating so healthy at work.  Then I would come home and had stuff like pizza, cake, or frozen yogurt.  Baking that cake sounded like a great idea, but my brother in law, Coach only at like 4 pieces.  I definitely ate the rest that week!  And yes, it was delicious, if you were wondering!  I felt like I was actually trying to eat well at work, then sabotaged myself.  Notes on what not to do this month! :)

Oh, I also made it 6 months without getting anything from the vending machines!  Slightly insignificant, but I think if I did get something from there, that I would just want to get chocolate, chips, etc everyday.

In the end, June made me feel good that I can keep up a 20 day per month workout routine.  I am liking all of the outdoor stuff that comes along with summer!  My clothes are feeling looser, a couple of skirts fit SO much better in the stomach, it's unreal!  My towel can ALMOST wrap around me with no gaps!  This month was also when I crossed the 5% lost threshold. 

Total weight lost as of 6/30/12:  15 pounds!

The post I have been putting off

I don't like to write about my failures, downfalls, or any parts of me that are not ideal (seems silly writing that, 280lbs was not ideal!).  But this weekend was not good!  I was just fighting so hard with myself, winning some, losing some (battles that is!), and feeling somewhat depressed.

I REALLY wanted to get at least 20 days of working out in June (note; June review, and July in progress reports to come in a different post!).  That meant I would have to work out Friday and Saturday (29th and 30th).  I drug my feet all I could Friday and did a workout video on netflix.  It was taking FOREVER to load and I was hungry, so I started toward the fridge.  I pulled out a Spark People recipe leftovers and very greasy pizza.  I could not eat both (note:  I came home after babysitting last Wednesday and ate 3 greasy pieces after I had had PLENTY of dinner while babysitting, ugh!).  Right before I chose the pizza, the xbox kicked into gear and I was able to get my video up and running. 

I was happy to try a new video, all I had done previously was Pick Your Level Pilates (love that one!).  I can tell my fitness is improving because Pick Your Level Pilates seemed to go by fast and was still challenging.  And when I tried this new video it didn't end up in me sitting on the couch, unable to do what the video was asking, flipping off the instructor (Yeah, it happened to 290 pound me failing in the first round of Jillian's 30 day shred 3 years ago).

I was able to pick the Spark People recipe and felt good about that.  I slept in on Saturday morning and just bummed around watching Grey's Anatomy. I gave in to that greasy pizza, it was gross, but I ate it all. I truly just felt "blah" and didn't want to do anything.  I was watching SwimTot because her rents were out of town.  I knew we were going to an outdoor symphony event that night, and I needed to get groceries, and get my exercise in.  I saw I wasn't able to go to the Y because child watch was over.  That made me feel even more blah (because of my procrastination, I couldn't do what I had planned).  Finally, at 4pm, I had myself and SwimTot packed up to go on a walk at a local nature preserve.  I felt like such a bad aunt for not really doing anything with her until 4pm! 

At the nature reserve, it was threatening rain, but really, the radar looked like it was going to be fine!  We were walking some trails and it started to thunder a wee bit.  Then I could hear a light sprinkle, but we weren't getting wet because we were pretty well into the "forest" and the trees were shielding us.  After about 5 minutes, probably at the farthest point back, it started to POUR!  I'm glad she took it so well, we walked/ran back to a shelter for 5 mins until it stopped.  She loved the nature preserve and so did I!  We ended up being in motion for 40 minutes.  :)

The symphony was good, SwimTot's first concert.  It was symphony + rock band.  It was pretty awesome.  It was 10:45 when I got out of the parking lot.  I was fun, but in the back of my mind, my old habits kept telling me what would top this night off would be stop at the drive through.  Something yummy like the old days where I used to go out and get a whole meal before bed.  I acknowledged myself being full, and skipped the drive though.

The next morning, I was desperate to see 265.  My first attempt at losing weight, where I had a complete lifestyle change via changing jobs, I lost most of 35 pounds in 4 months.  When I would go to weigh in, I would step on the scale and if it wasn't where I would like it to be, I would go back to my room and wait a while, hop back on and see what it said.  I liked to see the lowest weight possible, so that meant morning, no liquids, no food yet, and no clothes.  I would sometimes wait until 1 or 2 pm until I saw that number that I wanted so badly.  I acknowledge that this is an unhealthy behavior and try not to do this, mostly based on the fact that the only scale is in SwimSis' bathroom.  Sunday I wanted to see 265 so i could put that I was officially 15 pounds down at the end of June.  I waited till 11:45 until I saw the right number.  I even made SwimTot breakfast and unknowingly took a bite of toast and spit it out before it could add to my weight.  Wow, that is so shameful for me to write!  I can see progress in my thoughts and habits during this period of weight loss, but I am not immune from those old habits, unfortunately. 

I had pea soup and chicken for lunch (by the way, I had pea soup for lunch every day last week.  It was delicious, but I noticed my pee was almost a neon green!)  I consulted my doctor aka the internet (I'm uninsured!) and it told me that I was either a) dying b) had a terrible vaginal infection or c) had an excess of certain vitamins, brought on by eating a lot of veggies, their example was asparagus.  I had no symptoms of dying or vaginal terribleness, so I chalked it up to the pea soup, and sure enough, when I stopped eating it everyday, the pee went back to normal).  Then eventually I just went back to my slump and Grey's Anatomy.  I was thinking that my level of physical fitness was nothing.  Still terrible, nothing to be proud of.  This may or may not have coincided with a girl I graduated with from the hometown winning her track and field event in the Olympic Trials and is freaking going to the Olympics.  I'm very happy for her though!

Monday wasn't much better.  I mean, it started off with me not being able to go to sleep the night before (hmmm...caffeine from dark chocolate or that bit of Easter chocolate I found?  gross, I know.  but I didn't care) and slept through my alarm, shooting out of bed at 7:23am!  I was so out of it, I was just gathering recycling to take to work (we don't have recycling at home), weird!  I was unshowered and out of the door in 12 minutes and at work by 7:59am!  I had a headache that grew all day and almost did not go to pilates (I am starting to love pilates, even with the talkative instructor!  She really kills it with hard moves these days!).  I went and there were 2 students in the class (including myself!).  Afterwards, I did 1.06 miles in 24 mins, on 1.5 incline.  I still felt terrible, but told myself not to go to fast and if I felt terrible, I would leave.  I'm pretty sure I went to sleep right at 10 that night! 

I was blah all the next day until I had a revelation.  Someone's blog had on their "goal" page to lose 5% of their original body weight.  I had always had 10% in my mind as a goal, but 5% is significant too.  I did the math and I had lost 5%!  I did something!  Accomplishment!  And then the rest of the day was just this huge pep talk where I noted all of the freaking awesome things I had done!  A whole chocolate bar (dark choc with dried blueberries) had lasted me OVER A WEEK.  2-3 small pieces a day.  I still can't believe it!  I just bought dark choc with cranberries and almonds tonight.  I thought about not working out, but I decided to go back to the nature preserve.  I was hustling because it was getting dark (about 8:30 when I started) and the woods always get darker first.  I explored several trails at a good pace for the first 15 minutes.  Then I ended up on a gravel path that looped.  I thought, "hey, i bet I could run part of this".  So i started running, I thought about stopping at some points to walk, but honestly didn't feel like it.  I ran the whole loop, back to where I started.  I looked at my watch and discovered I had run 4mins 40 seconds - longest continual running time!  I honestly could have gone longer, but it was getting a little dark and I saw a guy walking by himself ahead of me, my stranger danger alert kicked in and I was holding my metal water bottle in a manner where I was ready whack someone with it.  But no worries, I had nothing to worry about that day.  After that, i was on top of the world!  Kinda felt like I got my mojo back.  Made me wonder if I really felt all those bad things about myself before, like did that really happen?  I'm glad and encouraged to have this community where I can let out stuff that I have been going through :)


Today I bummed around like normal, went swimming (first time in a gazillion days) for 52 mins at the Y, at a big thing of froyo, almost bought a Ryan Lochte t-shirt at Dick's Sporting Goods:

Sadly, it didn't have a picture of him on it, or I totally would have!  While I'm at it, here's another swimming hottie that I love, although he doesn't rep the US.  I give you, the Tunisian:  Ous Mellouli!

And if you're not drooling by now, I went to see this with a few friends this evening:

It was wildly inappropriate.  And fantastic.  The storyline, not so much.  The most naked men - definitely!


Sweet dreams blogsphere!