20 Pounds Down with the Personal Trainer

My work with Mr. Fitness continues to pay dividends.  In all honesty, getting a personal trainer has been the second-best fitness decision I have ever made, second only to my initial decision to start exercising in the first place. 

Last month I felt a bit like I was treading water in that although I was confident that my hard work would eventually pay off and I was losing weight, it was coming off in dribs and drabs.  I suspected that I was in for a major loss after I passed that little plateau and I was right - - this month has seen some dramatic losses.

All in all I have lost 20 pounds under Mr. Fitness' tutelage since the beginning of the year, which is just amazing.  My body fat has come down as well, directionally.

Consider how far I have come - - when I started working out my BMI was a whopping 49.3.  Think about that for a moment.  It took me months of working out to lose 63 pounds which lowered my weight just enough that my BMI would even register on most charts, which typically only go up to 40 BMI.  Now my BMI is under 28, and on the way to a normal 25, eventually.

As you can see from this chart, above, this is the third time that I have reached this weight zone since I began to get fit back in 2012.  The first time was in the summer and fall of 2013, and then again in November 2014 and now again, just recently.  That zone from 193-203 has proven to be my achilles heel, time and time and time again.

This is a very dangerous place for me because I am getting close enough to my goal that it is within reach, but I am still far enough away that it will take a lot of work to get there.  In the past I have found ways to sabotage myself, mostly by giving myself permission to rest on my laurels and break discipline for a day or two...which turns into a week or two...which turns into 20 or 30 pounds.  After all, it's just so damn easy to say "I've done so well this week and lost so much, I deserve a treat day"...  Trust me when I say that as a professional binge eater* [*retired], I can undo in one day of massive eating what has taken literally weeks of work to accomplish.  Talk about demoralizing.

This week had the potential to set me off on that bad path again.  A project at work was facing some challenges that required me to devote most of my week to putting out fires, with a lot of meetings with senior management and stressful conversations.  Lots of work that completely derailed my usual load of work, in other words, so it has been a week that almost made me flashback to the days at the old law firm, when I would not leave until 9-10 pm at night on a regular basis. 

At one point on Tuesday after yet another issue popped up on this project I caught myself eyeing the candy machine in my office with malice aforethought.  I was seconds away from letting loose when I decided to look at my weight loss progress graph (the one you see above).  It was like having a bucket of cold water dumped on my head - - I immediately stopped craving chocolate because I didn't want to undo all of that progress I had worked so hard for.  This in itself was a major win.

Mr. Fitness came over to kick my ass on Tuesday as well, so it was the perfect end to a stressful day - - we lifted things and put them down and I balanced more than I previously had and I bench pressed 90 pounds (a new record for me) and I sweated out all those negative feelings.  I don't know if I got any endorphins out of my training session, but I sure as hell felt better afterwards.  And the best thing was that I was seriously looking forward to working out with Mr. Fitness, because a hard workout was exactly what I needed to help me deal with the stress of that week.  And I was right - - it was just what the doctor ordered.

Which was important, because Wednesday I found out that I was getting a new boss, someone who up to that day had been my nominal peer.  This lawyer is senior to me in the company, having joined about 4 years ago, and he is slightly senior to me in legal experience as well - - he was the year ahead of me in law school.  He is a bright and extremely competent lawyer with excellent judgment and a solid skill set, and he has earned the respect of the bottling organization with whom he does the bulk of his work.  I have no doubt that he has the ability to succeed as the new VP and General Counsel of the pop factory here in Canada.

But... I am mourning the fact that I am losing (in a way) the best boss that I have ever had.  I had such an immediate and easy rapport with my boss that it made not only my job easier, but was a large measure of why I enjoyed coming to work every day.  Suffice it to say that I do not have the same easy rapport with my new boss, who is as unlike me in every way as my old boss was similar.

To be clear, my old boss is not being fired or retiring - - he is moving back to the mother ship in Atlanta and he will still be available to counsel and mentor me from there, just as he has done here in Toronto.  That fact alone is helping to keep me positive through this transition, which will be difficult enough.

The biggest challenge is that I will need to discover, together with my new boss, how we communicate and work together as boss-direct report where previously we had been peer-peer.  There will be some changes, for sure, but lots of opportunity for me, so I am looking forward to it, in a way.

But still, it rocked my world for a couple of days, and definitely set me back on my heels.  It would have been so completely easy - and understandable - for me to go out, get drunk, and eat all the food.  But I didn't.  I indulged in a little retail therapy, which in a way helped keep me on track because I bought a dress and a suit in a slightly smaller size - - I can't eat all the nachos and still fit into that nice size 12 dress, nosir!

So it's been a busy week just chock full of stress.  Next week is shaping up just as challenging, as I will be travelling to Atlanta for the first time to meet with the senior legal team down there - - people who are important to impress, in other words.  No stress there, nope!  I am totally bringing my workout clothes with me so that I can work out in the hotel gym, that's for damn sure.

Back on track Week 83: 139 pounds down (with pics)

Want to ride a roller coaster?  Follow my poor snacking decisions this past month.  With all the ups and downs on the scale I could barely keep up, and I finally had to hold an intervention for myself to kick myself in the ass and say "no more snacking!". 

This is what 4 weeks of workouts and 2 weeks of unbridled snacking look like.  The good news - - the really good news, in fact - - is that by snapping out of my destructive eating habits last week and taking control of my calories consumed, I have undone all the damage I caused by my excessive chocolate consumption, and even saw a bit of an overall loss to finish off the month.

The bad side is that I basically gave up almost a month's worth of progress, having to re-lose weight I had already lost.  I can't tell you how many times I lost and regained those 2 pounds between 197 and 199 pounds.  Too many times, at any rate.  That's a little depressing.

You can see this reflected in my overall goal tracker.  Where I was previously on track to hit my goal weight a little early, now I am right back on track for hitting it sometime in January.  That's a little depressing, but not unexpected.  I knew the last 30 pounds were going to be challenging, and eating my way through a candy store this month only increased the challenge.   Because it wasn't challenging enough...

What good things did I learn this month?  One good thing that I learned is that it is relatively easy to get back on track if the good habits in your life are fundamentally sound.  I was still eating very healthy meals thanks to the Nerd's cooking, and I never missed a workout, so once I cut out the snacking, it only took a solid week to get back on track.  I officially finished the month at 194.7 pounds, down 139.2 pounds overall, which is a tiny 1.7 pound loss in August (but a loss nonetheless, so I'll take it). 

Even though the scale was not kind to me this month, I still managed to lose more than an inch off my body (which is the whole point of measuring).  I suspect that I am nearing the end of my physical changes, so from now on in I am expecting to see my losses of inches to taper off somewhat.  I will probably lose fractional inches off various pieces of me as the year winds down, but it is unlikely that I will see another 3" loss in any given month.

This puts me into a size 12 dress depending on the style.  I got a new dress to celebrate, and have gotten a ton of compliments on it.  Photos will follow once I take them.

So how am I progressing, shape-wise?

In a fun NSV I have had to order some new workout gear, because the Old Navy XL stuff I have been wearing since February is starting to get a little too baggy. 

Let's compare to 6 months ago:

I am definitely seeing more definition in my stomach and arms, and my hips, stomach and bust are noticeably smaller compared to 6 months ago. 

My official photo for the office website is also much better:

So progress all around, despite having a somewhat trying month.  I learned that I cannot expect to lose weight if I indulge in unrestrained snacking, and although I still have to fight the food cravings every day, I know that this week will be easier than last week, with a week of healthy eating under my belt. 

It's funny that when I start to eat a lot of chocolate, I just want to keep eating it.  Whereas when I haven't had chocolate in a while, I no longer crave it.  I know that learned scientists have done studies on this, but it's interesting to see it happening to me. 

Even with a tough month I am marginally closer to my goals:

Less than 10 pounds to go to hit middleweight.  I may not do it this month, but I know I can hit it.  And I am now less than 30 pounds away from my overall target, and just over 25 pounds away from having a normal BMI for the first time in more than a decade. 

Another month down, it's measurement time! [with pictures]

So June, 2013 was a momentous month for me, workout-wise.  I began incorporating actual rest days into my workout routine this month, which, although initially a real challenge, appears to have been paying dividends.  I hate to admit it, but I feel super strong and energized the day after my rest day, which is the entire point, I suppose. 

But the month was momentous also for the fact that I broke into the overweight class this week, for the first time in more than a decade.  Weight loss is like a time machine - - I have traveled back to the weight I was around 2001.  I know this is the case because a couple of weeks ago I put on my canvas jacket (last done up in 2000-2001), and not only was I able to zip up the jacket, but it was easy to do so!  To be honest, I have been carting that damn jacket from place to place hoping that I would eventually be able to wear it again, and it finally happened this month.  Just in time for a heat emergency all week in Toronto.  Ah well, no one said life would be convenient. 

Today's weigh in was going to be the big mystery - - would I be able to hold onto my loss and stay in the overweight class, or would the delicious dinner the Nerd and I enjoyed last night push me back into obesity? 

STILL OVERWEIGHT!  (again, I appreciate the irony of someone being happy to be overweight - - you have to consider the direction I am coming from here).

Today after my weigh in I checked in down slightly from yesterday at 202.7 pounds, for a total loss of 2 pounds this week, and 131.2 pounds lost overall.  This brings my BMI down to 29.9, nicely at the top of the overweight zone.

I am still on track to hit my 165 pound goal somewhere between the end of November, 2013 and the end of January, 2014. 

Being as it's the end of the month (or near enough!), it's measurement time.  I am delighted to report that I lost another 3+ inches from various bits and pieces:

This month I saw decreases across the board, as everything tightens up.  So far to date I have lost more than 4 feet of me, which just blows my mind.

So what does 58" less of me look like? 

Pardon the dampness of my appearance, as we took these photographs right after I finished 75 minutes on the elliptical this morning, and I released all the glows. 

To put this in context, here's some side-by-side photos so you can see how far I have come:

I even see a difference from March to now - - my arms are more toned, and my stomach and butt are starting to shrink up a bit.  Note to self: heather grey workout gear really shows sweat. 

I have updated my goals to reflect this morning's small loss:

 

Less than 3 pounds to go to break the 200 pound barrier.  I can't wait!  

Welcome to Overweightville, Population - Me!

Major milestone alert!  I am now overweight for the first time in more than a dozen years, rather than obese!  That's right, boys and girls, I have lost another 1.7 pounds for a total of 130.7 pounds down overall, to reach 203 pounds, for a BMI of 29.98 (I keep the trailing decimals in this instance because it works in my favour!). 

As you can see from the fuzzy screen capture at the top of the page, my weight is now in the yellow category (for overweight) rather than the orange category (for obese).  And as a nice added bonus, this morning's body fat reading was in the normal range.  Ever so slowly I am turning all the indicators in this application green - - my activity levels, blood pressure, resting pulse, steps, cholesterol and fasting blood sugar are all within normal levels (or better), and my weight and BMI are now only one step up from normal.  My waist measurement still needs to come down, but it, too, is headed in the right direction.

To say that I am happy about this understates how I feel to reach this goal.  It is something I have been working on for 17 months now, and it feels wonderful to accomplish this.  I have seen pretty consistent results throughout this process, but this was one of the important milestones, and one I am thrilled to accomplish. 

There are so many medical issues associated with being obese as compared to merely overweight, not to mention the stigma - - in the press, and in attitudes.  Being obese always made me feel like a second class citizen, and I carried myself as one.  As I have lost the weight, however, I have started to carry myself with more and more confidence, recognizing that I am worth the effort I am putting into this lifestyle change.  I am demanding respect for myself, and I receive it. 

Let's look at how far I have come to this point (which is only one point of a journey that will last, hopefully, the rest of my life):

I started using the elliptical as well as tracking my food last July.  Coincidentally, that is also when I got my Withings wifi scale and TactioHealth app (the source of the screen cap at the top of the page).  My personal tracking to that point was, although not primitive, certainly not as detailed as it is now. 

Since last July (just over a year ago), I have lost more than 95 pounds.  You can see from the lower graph that my body fat has also steadily decreased over that time.

But it's not just the weight that has gone down - - all my significant measurements have decreased, as you can see from the above chart. 

So where does this leave me with respect to my goals?  I've checked another one off, and added a couple of new ones to fill in the space between Onederland and Normal BMI:

Just 3.1 pounds to go now until I am less than 200 pounds - - I can't wait!

Almost entering the terrible teens ... lost, that is

Another week is in the books - - week # 62 of exercising, and the 45th consecutive week without missing a single workout. The focus this week was on proper nutrition, and in particular, managing down my sodium levels.  So far, my efforts have been pretty successful.

This week I lost another 1.6 pounds, for 112.9 pounds lost in total (almost 113 down!).  I now weigh 221 pounds, about what the Nerd weighed last July (he's now down to 177 pounds). I am still on track to hit my goal of 165 pounds sometime around Jan-Feb of next year. 

For the past couple of weeks I have been monitoring my sodium consumption and actively working to bring my levels within Health Canada's guideline of 1,500 mg - 2,300 mg per day.  As you know, my numbers in the past have been higher than the recommended amount, occasionally much higher (my highest reading was more than 6,000 mg!).  Although my recent numbers were not so far off the charts that I needed to dramatically change my lifestyle (I was running around 2,400 - 2,600 mg on average in the past few months), I need to pay attention to sodium and make smarter choices - - both in purchasing and when selecting what foods to eat.

It has been a couple of weeks now, and my work is paying off:

Both my past 7 days and month to date averages are well within the recommended range, and with time (and work), I hope to keep the numbers on the lower end of that range.  Thankfully I do not have hypertension so I do not need to maintain a super strict sodium-reduced diet, but it's still good to keep sodium from getting out of hand - - which is tough to do, since the damn stuff is in everything.  Well, everything delicious, anyways. 
Even more promising, my fasting blood sugar levels have been absolutely fantastic in recent weeks.  I finished off March with a couple of normal results, dropping my average fasting blood sugar for the month to 5.6 mmol/L (where normal is 5.5 mmol/L and under), and I had 9 normal readings in the month (just less than 1 in 3).

So far for April, however, my fasting blood sugar levels have been almost entirely normal - - 4 out of 5 normal readings, in fact, bringing my average fasting blood sugar to 5.4, or in the normal range.  (!!!)

I can't tell you how happy I am with these numbers, as I have been working very hard on nutrition and exercise to bring my numbers into the normal range.  Knowing my double-barreled family history of Type II diabetes (thanks again, Matriarch and Patriarch!), I need to keep working on my lifestyle to get my fasting blood sugar levels down, and keep them down.  I am under no illusions that I will have dramatically improved numbers from this point onwards since this is really a long term objective, but each normal reading represents a positive step in the right direction. The long term trend has been steadily downwards into the normal zone, so I am hoping that my normal readings this month are not outliers, but rather, harbingers of positive trends in the future.

After this week, I am only 16 pounds away from light heavyweight, and 18 pounds away from being merely overweight.  That will be such a huge accomplishment when I get there - - I can't wait!  And Onederland is only 21 pounds away - - - sooooooo close!

To avoid the inevitable plateau, and because my workouts have felt pretty good recently, this week I am taking my workout program up a notch, and adding another 2 pounds to my ankle weights (1 per leg to 3 pounds per leg), and putting the crossramp on the elliptical machine to 7 (or about 50%), up from 6.  I am keeping the tension the same on the elliptical for now, at 5 (or 25%), because I can comfortably do my 130-145 stride rate at that tension.  I think I will also take the reps up on my free weight routine, to do 4 sets of 12 reps (instead of 10 reps) using the 8 lb weights. 

Looking back on what I was doing this time last year, I am amazed - - I was doing 12 minutes on the recumbent bike 3 days a week along with 2 minutes on the rowing machine, and then 15 minutes on the bike plus 3 minutes on the rowing machine the other 2 days a week (I only worked out 5 days a week at that point).  That's a whopping 14 or 18 minutes of cardio, and even that small amount almost killed me.  I was completely blown after getting off the rowing machine, which is perhaps to be expected of someone who at that point weighed around 313 pounds.

I thought I was never going to be able to do much more than that, and now here I regularly do 60 minutes on the elliptical machine, and my only concern is not whether I can finish the workout, but whether I will get too bored.  It is so true that the healthier you get, the more you can do.  My body is simply more able to handle physical exertion now than it could last year, and I love that.  It's important to remember how far I have come on those mornings when the workout is a little tougher, and I have to celebrate that.

"You turn if you want to; the lady’s not for turning" (with thanks to Margaret Thatcher)

There's something to be said for a certain stubbornness, a refusal to take the easy road when faced with difficulty.  Sometimes a stubborn nature is all that keeps us going.

Take Friday, for example.  In my rush to leave the office Thursday night I left my iPad at the office (again!).  Those of you who are familiar with my routine know that I use the iPad not only as the source of music during my time on the elliptical machine, but I also read during my workout to help pass the time.  No iPad = no distractions during my workout.  And Friday's workout was the usual 60 minutes on the elliptical.  One full hour, with nothing but my mind and the merest sliver of a view from the window to distract me.  I realized that I had left my iPad at the office as soon as I arrived home, but by then it was after midnight, and I was uncomfortable going back to the office at that time - - the sidewalks were full of drunks and panhandlers on the stretch of road between my place and the office (lots of bars and restaurants in my neighborhood), and it only gets worse the later one walks.  No thanks.

So I gritted it out.  I knew before I started that it was going to be tough to push through 60 minutes on the elliptical without any distractions.  I would have to try and keep my stride rate in the 130-140 zone without the benefit of a good beat, and I would have to check off the full 60 minutes without anything to make the time pass faster.  The only thing keeping me going was pure cussedness - - I was damned if I was going to miss a workout for the first time in 44 weeks because I forgot one of my electronic crutches at the office.  No sir.

As it happens, I actually had one of my better workouts - - the time passed as it inevitably does (the rotation of the earth around the sun working its magic), but I actually found that my natural stride rate was more in the range of 138 - 145 than 130 - 140, so I ended up burning more calories and having more steps than normal for my Friday workout.

Let that be a lesson to you, kids - - being stubborn is a blessing.  It keeps us on track when the easy thing to do would be to stay in bed.

So it being Friday and all, another week is officially in the books.  Another week, and another 1.8 pounds down, to 228.4 pounds for a total loss of 105.5 pounds.  I was really pleased with that.  It looks like the faster stride rate and addition of the wrist/ankle weights is working, so I will keep it going.

This week I am adding another pound to each wrist/ankle weight, for a total of 2 pounds per wrist or ankle (depending on the day), or 4 pounds total.  I am also upping my free weights to the 8 pound weights, and doing 4 sets of 10 reps.  I am taking the reps down from 12 to give my arms a chance to get used to the higher weight.  Other than that, I am not mixing up my routine, as it seems to be working really well.  I will keep doing the 55 minutes on the elliptical on free weights days, and do 60 minutes on the elliptical on non-weights days.  I will likely keep this program and the 8 pound weights for another month or so, depending on how I feel.

So far, so good, as far as keeping on goal goes.  Ever since I started using the elliptical and keeping a food diary last July, I haven't really had any plateaus to speak of.  Whether it's a factor of being conscious of what I am eating and drinking, or having a more efficient cardio program, I don't know, but whatever is driving it, I am still on track to (eventually) hit 165 pounds.

This week was full of win as far as positive comments from my workmates.  I have officially made the leap and incorporated my size 18 suits into my wardrobe.  As a result, people have suddenly noticed that I have lost a significant amount of weight in part because these suits fit and do not look baggy, and in part because these suits are not black and camouflagey.  It's tough to hide your light under a bushel in a lilac coloured suit - - it's all there for people to see.  Anyways, that was all super motivating and very positive, and a great incentive to stick to my program to see where I can take this whole weight loss thing.

For now, here's where things stand in relation to my short term, near term, and long term goals:

Only 23 and a half pounds to go to make light heavyweight - - that's totally doable.  And only 25 and a half pounds away from overweight - - it's so close I can almost taste it.  It's funny that for many people being overweight would be a terrible thing, and for me, it would be something I achieved only after a year and a half of grueling effort.  I suppose it depends on where you're coming from.

In honour of another week on track, I leave you with a photo of me in my Misfits shirt taken this weekend.  The shirt is now too big for me, but the bones glow in the dark so I am reluctant to donate it.  Besides, wearing this shirt is, for now, the only way that I can have visible clavicles [grin].

Welcome to Obese Class I. Population: Me

Yes, the title says it all - - today I reached Obese Class I, with a BMI of 34.9.  For some people, that would be a terrible thing, full of tears, recriminations, and a high risk of developing health problems.  I, too, have a high risk of developing health problems, but this is a huge improvement from where I used to be - - Obese Class III, with its "extremely high" risk of developing health problems.

Yep, it's true.  My 2.5 pound weight loss this week puts me at a BMI of 34.9, which is the lowest category of obesity there is.  Another 30-ish pounds down from here, and I will only be overweight. 

I have to confess that I am sooooo close to hitting the 100 pounds lost mark that I upped my program this week to try and keep the weight loss going.  I took the elliptical up to 55 minutes and a crossramp of 6 (up from 5) with a tension of 5 (down from 8), and a stride rate of 130+ strides per minute (up from 100-120).  The new workout music mix, combined with the lower resistance, makes it much easier for me to hit the 130+ strides per minute rate, and I can certainly see my calorie burn has increased.

My steps per day have also increased with the new workouts:

Looking at the steps taken as recorded by my Fitbit over time, you can see that I started off averaging around 2,000 steps per day.  The steps started to increase in the summer when I got the elliptical to around 5,000 - 6,000 steps per day.  Now that I have increased my stride rate and lengthened my workouts, I am regularly exceeding 10,000 steps per day on weekdays.  I call that progress for someone who still has essentially a sedentary desk job.

I also took the free weights up to 4 sets of 12 reps at 6 pounds for the various dumbbell exercises that I do 3x per week.  I am definitely feeling it in my arms, so that's probably doing good things.

I noticed an ever-so-slight hint of clavicles this week, which makes me very happy.  Eventually I will have actual visible clavicles, and I will jump for joy.  It's still a long way away yet, but I am prepared to be patient and keep plugging away.

So far I have lost 97.5 pounds, which is almost 100, no matter how you count it.  I have to be prepared not to be disappointed if I do not hit 100 pounds down next week, because it's not reasonable to expect to keep these 2+ pound losses every week.  Overall I am averaging about 1.5-1.7 pounds down per week, which means that I should hit 100 pounds down in a couple of weeks.  Assuming that I stay on plan.

Fingers crossed! 

Mini Milestone Reached...

Today I reached 246.6 pounds on my weigh-in, a loss of 2.3 versus last week (or 3.3, depending on which value you choose), for a total loss of 87.3 pounds, and a BMI of 36.4.  As you can see from the chart, below, this keeps me on track for hitting my overall weight loss goal sometime early 2014:

I have not missed a workout in 32 weeks now, out of the 50 weeks that I have been exercising, and the consistency is sure paying off.

But the weight loss in itself is not the big news.  The bigger news is that 246.6 pounds, where I stand now, is how much the Nerd weighed before he started cooking and eating healthy meals, back around this time last year. This blows my mind, because I never thought of the Nerd as obese, and yet that's what he was (and what I currently am).  In my mind he was padded, sure, but he was not obese.  Certainly not Obese Class II. 

So why do the same numbers add up to "padded" for him, and Obese Class II for me?  Is it my self-perception as a "fat girl" that causes me to see myself as heavy, while discounting others' weight?  I don't know.  The Nerd is the only person in my direct circle of friends who has ever weighed anything close to my weight, so this is the first time I have encountered this situation.  It just blows my mind. 

What I do know is that this is incredibly motivating - - this morning the Nerd weighed in at 188.9, his lowest weight in years.  He looks amazing, and feels great.  If he can do it, I can do it.  He is a living, breathing example of what success can look like, and it's very empowering.

It's empowering because the Nerd and I are basically doing the exact same things - - we generally eat the same meals, we each work out on the elliptical 6 days a week (although he goes for 60+ minutes every day, the mere thought of which makes me exhausted), and we do the little extras together, like going for walks or doing a bit of boxing. 

Because he is much closer to his weight loss target, the Nerd does not lose as much weight as I do each week.  But he is showing steady progress towards his goal, which is fantastic.  If he can do it, I can do it.  

Reaching this little mini-milestone shows me the possibilities in my weight loss adventure.  I have a glimpse into where I can be in another 7 or 8 months, with work.  Bring it on!

2012 Review - 84 pounds down (with pics)

2012 has been a very eventful year for me. 

Looking back, I could barely walk a block at the beginning of the year.  My asthma was a constant problem, and my wheezing was known to keep me up at night.  I even broke a chair in January in front of a roomful of my friends (to be fair, it was a cheap chair, poorly assembled, but it was still my gigantic butt that was in the chair at the time that it broke, so it's my bad). 

The chair in question.  Yes, the incident scarred me for life.

My back was constantly sore - I could not stand for more than a minute or walk any distance without severe pain in my back.  I skipped breakfast and lunch, then ate minimal dinners, and was not losing weight in any significant way.  I was depressed and sore and constantly exhausted, and my family feared for my health. 

Since those dark days, and since breaking that chair (!) I started exercising, started paying attention to what I was consuming, began drinking water instead of diet Pepsi, stopped drinking quite so much alcohol, and began tracking my food.  Somewhere during the summer, working out became a daily habit with me (I haven't missed a workout in 31 weeks).  Sometime around then my food cravings stopped, as well (I still enjoy food, but I no longer binge or crave the same things I used to).

I went from working out on the recumbent bike for 7 minutes a day 5 times per week in January to 50 minutes on the elliptical machine, 6 days a week, plus free weights 3 times per week by December.  I have gone from not being able to walk a block without pain to being able to walk 5 km in a stretch with ease.  On Labour Day this fall the Nerd and I even went for a 6 mile walk.  Sure, we were both exhausted by the end and we might have had sunstroke and I was burned red as a lobster, but we did it.  And we could do it again. 

And I have lost weight along the way. 

My official end of the week check has me down 84 pounds from this time last year, for a weight of 249.9 pounds.  That's 25% of my original body weight, and 50% of my weight loss target - - gone.  From this week onwards, I have officially lost more weight than I still have left to lose.  To put these numbers into perspective, Dominique Moceanu weighed less than 84 pounds when she competed at the Olympics in 1996 - - I have officially lost a person's worth of weight (sure, a tiny person, but a person nonetheless). 

My immediate short term goal now is to get down to 237 pounds, for a BMI of 35.  This would put me into Obese Class I (according to the Government of Canada), which is a huge improvement from Obese Class III where I started.  With luck, I should be able to hit this target in about a month or so.  My next major goal will be to reach the 100 pounds lost mark, which should happen in another couple of months.  If things continue to go well, my next objective would be to reach a BMI of 30 (at around 203 pounds), which puts me at merely overweight (instead of obese).  This particular milestone would be a huge one, as I have been obese for about a decade now.  From there, it is a mere hop, skip and a jump to Onederland, or 199 pounds.  This could happen as early as July or August, depending on how well I stick to my program.

So much for the short term and mid term goals.  What are my numbers so far?

I lost 4.5" off my various bits and pieces this month, despite attending 9 (!) social events.  In addition to Christmas dinner with the Nerd's family, there was my firm's festive non-denominational holiday party, lunch out with my assistant, and dinners with friends (3) as well as a wedding, a family get-together, and a Boxing Day party.  Thank god for the elliptical machine, is all I say.  So far I have lost almost 34" off my body compared to when I started, more than the bustline of the average working model.  These inches translate to 3 full dress sizes lost.

 My fasting blood sugars this month have been fantastic.  Well, fantastic for me, anyways.  Not normal, but lower than last month, with 9 normal readings, and 4 normal readings in a row at the beginning of the month:

 The above chart shows my daily fasting blood sugar readings for the past 3 months.  Yellow readings indicate slightly elevated blood sugar (5.6 - 6.9 mmol/L), while green readings are normal (below 5.5 mmol/L).  I don't know what happened in October, but you can see November had some normal readings while December was my best month yet - - my fasting blood sugar average for the month was 5.7 (only slightly elevated), down from 5.8 last month.  Not normal yet, but certainly trending in the right direction. 

I can definitely see changes in my face over time as the weight has come off, as shown in the photographs, above.  While there may not be too much to distinguish between two photos taken one month apart, I can really see changes when comparing this month to last year at this time:

 The only constant between the two photographs is the unruly hair: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.  

Whatever I am doing seems to be working, so I my plan is to keep on doing it, consistently, in the coming year.  The Nerd and I are going to add some boxing to our routines, for interest and variety, and I am sure I will have a lot to say about that as I start trying it out.

In summary:

Pounds lost this month: 9.1
Total pounds lost: 84
Pounds still to lose: 82.8
Inches lost this month: 4.5" (33.9" total)
Clothing size: US/Can 20 (plus size 20)
Average fasting blood sugar: 5.7 (down 0.1)
Number of ankles: 0
Number of cankles: 2 (sigh)
Number of clavicles seen: 0 (I remain optimistic that these will appear one day ...)

Week 45 - 10 months down - I'm melting...! (with photos)

Another month is in the books.  I have been able to successfully keep eating healthy meals, thanks to the Nerd, and I have been able to keep my streak of workouts intact, thanks to my stubborn nature.  This consistency is paying off, big time.

This week I lost a further 2 pounds, for a total of 77 pounds lost overall. That means for the month of November I lost 9.9 pounds, to reach 256.9 pounds and a BMI of 37.9.

November 1 - December 1, 2012

June 30 - December 1, 2012

I am extremely happy with those numbers, as losing almost 10 pounds in a month is fantastic, especially for Miss Slow and Steady here.  Since I have started tracking my food intake and using the elliptical machine as my primary cardio tool in July, I have lost more than 40 pounds.  (!)

As for my fasting blood sugars, the last two months have been challenging.  As you recall, I am not diabetic, but I have a terrible family history of diabetes.  It is just rampant in my mom's side of the family.  With that in mind, I test my fasting blood sugars daily (except when I am travelling), hoping to see my numbers creep down from the slightly elevated pre-diabetic range to the normal range.

In the above graph the green lines indicate normal sugars, while the yellow lines indicate elevated fasting blood sugars in the pre-diabetic range (between 5.6 mmol/L and 6.9 mmol/L).  In October for some reason my sugars were consistently higher than the previous month, averaging 6.03 mmoL (rather than 5.8 mmoL in September), and I did not have a single normal reading.  The only positive I can take from October's readings is that the standard deviation of the readings remained 0.3, meaning that although the numbers were somewhat high, they were all pretty close to one another, without huge swings.

November, thankfully, was a different story.  I returned to having 5 normal readings in the month, and although I was not able to string two consecutive normal results together like I did in September, I was able to bring my average fasting blood sugar reading back down to 5.8 mmoL. I was optimistically hoping that I was getting the knack of lowering the blood sugar levels after September, but it looks like this is still a work in progress.  Hopefully December will see further average blood sugar reductions.

My measurements continue to change, as well.  This month I lost a further half inch on my bust and hips, as well as a quarter inch on my thighs.  The 1.25" I lost this month contribute to my more than 29" lost overall since January.  I am very pleased to have lost 7 inches or more on each of my bust, waist and hips, especially since the loss is pretty symmetrical.  I am also pleased with how much I have lost on my thighs.  The really nice thing is that these inches lost are all fat that is gone from my body - - and good riddance!

So what does this look like?

Here are photos from my firm's annual festive holiday party.  Last year's party, from the beginning of December, is on the left, and this year's party, from last Friday, is on the right (in the infamous purple dress).  I can definitely see that my face is leaner than last year.

But let's look even more recently.  Here is a photo from just this past summer, when I weighed 289.9 pounds, and from yesterday, when I weighed 256.9 pounds - - 33 pounds less:

I see more definition in my chin area, and just the hint of cheekbones in my most recent photo.  Definitely making progress!

In summary:

Pounds lost this month: 9.9 (!)
Total pounds lost: 77 (!)
Pounds still to lose: 91.9  (meh)
Inches lost this month: 1.25"
Clothing size: US/Can 20 (plus size 20)
Average fasting blood sugar: 5.8
Number of ankles: 0
Number of cankles: 2 (sigh)
Number of clavicles seen: 0 (but they can't hide forever...!)