6 months with the personal trainer (with photos)

Time sure flies when you are pushing yourself to work out every day.  And by "flies", I mean, of course, "passes predictably with the rotation of the earth around the sun". 

It has snuck up on me, but believe it or not it has been 6 full months that I have been working with the personal trainer, Mr. Fitness.  We have had 23 sessions in that time and the only missing sessions have been planned in advance around our respective holidays - - I am pleased to say that I have yet to cancel one of our workouts, no matter how little I look forward to some of them (high intensity intervals, I'm looking at you!).

My objective in working with the trainer was to help me break through that plateau that had me trapped cycling in the 200-210 pound range, and to help me to be stronger and more toned.

On a purely numerical level, we have achieved positive results.  I have lost more than 20 pounds since I began working with the trainer (although I confess to giving up some of these losses thanks to my recent trip to PEI with the Nerd).  Rather than the low 200s, the 180s are now my easy set point.  Getting lower will take still more discipline and work, but it is very achievable given the results I have seen so far.

As for my measurements, these appear to be stabilizing.  With the trainer I have lost around 12", to bring me down to a size 12-14 (in pants, skirts and dresses) and a M (in shirts and tops).  I still struggle with my own self-image as a "big girl" so I find it difficult to believe that a size medium top will actually fit me, but time and time again when I chicken out and default to the large I discover that those tops are too big for me.  Eventually I will learn to accept the reality that I am a size medium.  In the meantime this means that the Nerd and I actually wear the same size tops, so I can steal his clothes.  Tee hee.

The body shape is where I see the most difference:

My biggest frustration at this point is with my loose skin on my arms and belly.  Sadly, there are sequellae to being super-obese, and loose skin is one of them.  It is not ridiculous and obvious like some people experience - - I don't have giant flaps of skin hanging everywhere - - but there is definitely excess tissue making it impossible to tone as much as some other people.  I am very happy with the tone that I do have, though, and where I am less toned, like my belly, I like the suggestion of tone, assuming that is the best result I will see. 

Some nice changes I have noticed since I first began working out: I enjoy wearing colour more than I did before.  Although I still wear an inordinate amount of black, that's more because it's a very flexible colour for a professional wardrobe rather than the camouflage that it used to be.  I now preferentially seek colour for outfits, and this is a nice thing.  I am embracing colour as I come out of my shell with my weight loss. 

Another change: I do not dread body hugging clothing any more, and in fact I am more likely to go out of the house in yoga pants and an exercise top than ever before.  When I was heavier I believed in the magic of layers, which is poor magic at best.  Almost no one looks thinner by adding layers, but that it the delusion under which I laboured when I was heavier.  Eventually I will feel confident when I wear workout clothes out of doors, but for now I am glad to have the option. 

Another, more profound change: I am no longer automatically the biggest person in the room.  In fact, I am just as likely to be considered "average".  This by itself gives me confidence because I know that people are much less likely to be judging me by my food choices or making assumptions about my intelligence or work ethic because of my weight (sadly, this is a thing that happens, and happened to me).  Sure, there are still jerks out there, but as a more stereotypically "normal" looking person I can blend into the background in a way that I never could when I was heavier. 

A friend said last night that I am the same person I was when I was heavier, I just look different on the outside - - my essential inner core remains the same.  This is true.  But people make so many judgments on the outer package in this world that even though I am the same person, I am viewed differently.  People at the office are surprised to look at photos of me from my heavier days because they do not associate me with "a fat person".  News flash: I was just a "person" - - the weight was not the defining factor.  Now, at least, it is less of a distraction.

So six months in with Mr. Fitness and things are progressing nicely.  I am pleased with my results and don't see changing my routine anytime soon.  Our Thursday grueling workouts will continue, holidays and vacations permitting.

Here's a gratuitious photo from our holiday in PEI, taken in front of the Confederation Bridge:

Progress Pics - 5 months with trainer

It has officially been 5 months now that I have been working with Mr. Fitness, and we have completed 20 sessions (I thought it had been 22, but it turns out I can't math).

Things are happening, that's fo sho.

Since starting with the trainer I have lost more than 12 inches, especially off my waist, hips and thighs.  Sweet.  Since I first started working out more than three years ago I have lost more than 66 inches.  I know I have said it before, but that just blows my mind.

Here's the comparison of how I looked when I started working with the trainer (after I had been working out on my own for almost 3 years), and last weekend.  In each photo you can see that things are just tighter and more toned overall.

I frankly expect that all the dramatic changes are done, and what I am going to see from here on out is more of the same - - more toning, more tightening, more definition overall.

I feel strong and healthy, and I am loving how my arms look - - my shoulders especially.  I love having strong shoulders - - I am going to be so good at hugging!

March Measurements

After this week's weigh-in at which I came in 20 pounds down since I started withing with my personal trainer, I suspected that my measurements this month would be interesting to see.  And as you can see from the chart above, so they are.

I lost 4 inches this month and I have lost 10.5 inches overall since I began working with the trainer.  Since I first started working out back in January of 2012 I have lost more than 64 inches, or more than 5 linear feet.  This explains why I fit into airplane seats more comfortably now.  It doesn't explain how I ever fit in an airplane seat in the first place, but that's a mystery for another time.

The photos also show the progress with the trainer:

My objectives when I began working with the trainer were to continue to lose weight to help me reach my goal of no longer being overweight, and to tone things up.  So far Mr. Fitness is delivering on both objectives, in spades.

I am stronger, more confident, and more comfortable in my body than before I began working with the trainer, and that's all to the good.  We will see what April has in store.  Hopefully I can continue to see positive results.  I don't expect to see the dramatic changes that I saw in March, but I want to keep improving over the next month.

2 month progress with the personal trainer

As you know I let myself go completely off my program, food-wise, in December.  Too many social events, too many stressful things happening at home and at work, and frankly too many excuses - - I simply gave myself permission to eat like the "old days".  The "old days" being when I ate whatever I wanted and weighed more than 300 pounds as a result.  Yeah, those days sucked.

That could not go on, and a happy confluence of receiving a small inheritance coinciding with my hearing about the husband of one of my coworkers at the pop factory being a personal trainer led me to begin working with Mr. Fitness at the end of December of last year.

I was expecting to see results.  I knew that a trainer would both push me harder than I was used to pushing myself and that he would make me do things I had never done before (deadlifts, anyone?).  The combination of these two things I was certain would yield results - - I was sure that I would be stronger and more toned as a result of working with Mr. Fitness. 

But holy cow.  There is a difference between intellectually understanding that I would see changes in my body and actually seeing those changes.  Even with a couple of weeks of unbridled emotional eating at the beginning of January (around the restructuring in our office when I Ate All The M&Ms) I have seen positive results on all fronts.

Let's look at the easy things first.  I have lost 13 pounds since I started working with the trainer (and 139.9 pounds overall), and that is net of the January M&M binge and last week's Oscar party with multiple pieces of nutella flower and cookies(!).

I know that this is well-trod ground for me because it is easily the third time I have lost this weight, but I am confident that working with Mr. Fitness I can keep the momentum going this time.  I have no choice, frankly, as he takes no pity on me and pushes me more each week.  Which is kind of the point, I suppose.

My measurements tell the same story:

Everything is toning up under the trainer's ministrations.  Since I have begun working with Mr. Fitness I have lost an inch off my bust, 2 inches off my waist, and 2 inches off my hips.  My legs and arms are also more toned. 

All well and good - let's look at the photographic evidence, shall we?

These photos show only the period from when I started working with the trainer, to now, two months later.  My core and arms and legs are much more toned than when I started working with the trainer, and although my arms are not bilaterally symmetrical (thanks to my carpal tunnel in my left hand), I am getting stronger every week.  Overall I am much stronger than before I began working with the trainer, with better balance and coordination to boot.

If anyone is considering working with a personal trainer, I recommend it.  If anyone in the GTA area is considering working with Mr. Fitness, I doubly recommend it.  He is virtually a miracle worker.

It's not all up to the trainer, of course.  I work out 6 days a week - - only one of those days with Mr. Fitness - - and I have been really working hard to control my snacking (other than on Oscar night, of course).  It takes both of us to whip me into shape - - the trainer can't do it all by himself if I'm not motivated to change.  But I have to tell you - - it feels so much easier working with the trainer, because now I have a structure to my work, and I see that there is a point to it all.  And that point, kids, is sexy arms. ;-)

I'm not ready for bikini season yet, but tank tops may make an appearance.  ;-)

Progress Pics - Holy Crap

It has been a full month now that I have been working out with my personal trainer, Mr. Fitness.  I was pretty sure that things were tightening up (in a good way) and I was noticing things like a bit more definition in my shoulders, so it was with interest that I measured myself this morning.

The results: indeed, things have been happening.

I am down more than 3 inches across my various bits and pieces compared to last month, and I am down more than 56 inches when compared to before I began working out. 

My conclusion: the personal training thing is having the desired result.  Sure, it takes a lot of work, a lot of sweat (both on my own and with Mr. Fitness at our weekly sessions) and no small amount of swearing.  The swearing thing may be optional, but it sure makes me feel better.  I am sure there is science to support that - - someone somewhere must have studied that. 

I have lost 9 pounds since I started working with the trainer, and 135.9 pounds overall in the three years that I have been working out.  Let's see what that looks like, shall we?

I can definitely see things are firming up from the back compared to last month.  Nothing dramatic (after all, it's only been one month), but some progress nonetheless.

The profile view is more striking.  I have definitely lost some of my gut and butt compared to last month.  Please disregard the whimsical slippers, which did nothing to pull together my outfit.

Overall, I am pleased with what has happened to my body since I started working with the trainer, and this only reinforces my determination to keep up those weekly workouts with Mr. Fitness, and also to hold up my end of the bargain by doing my own workouts on days that I am not working out with the trainer (after all, he's good but he's no miracle worker, and I can't expect to see significant results without significant effort on my part - - it can't be all on him).

Because it has only been a month, although there are changes, they are not super dramatic.  Positive changes, yes, but nothing to make me go "holy crap".

Then I looked at a comparison between this morning and what I looked like back in July 2012.  I haven't looked at those photos in a while (OK, years), mostly because I am embarassed about how I looked back then.  When I looked at these old photos today I was taken completely aback - - how had I let myself get into that condition?  Now keep in mind, the July 2012 photos show what I looked like after I had been working out for 6 months and had lost 35.7 pounds:

Now prepare to say "holy crap":

If I ever doubted that my hard work was generating results, this comparison eliminates all doubt.  Suddenly, those 3 years of sweat and toil and forcing myself to work out even when I did not feel like it are worth it - - it is working.  My eating habits are much better now, too, which has been another long term learning process.

We'll see where this old girl is in another month.  For now, I feel re-energized in my efforts to eat better and to continue to push myself in my workouts.   

And yes, holy crap.  I am still shaking my head at the changes.  Thank god I was sitting down when I uploaded the photo, or else I could have been badly hurt.

132.3 pounds down - and another size

It's the beginning of a new month and you know what that means - - summary time!

As you know I have been working out and trying to eat better for about the last two months or so (coincidentally right around the time that I started my fabulous new job).  At the end of June I saw some positive results, but July was really the first full month back on the program.  The program is a bit different than before - - with the training we have been doing for the Weekend to End Women's Cancers 32 km charity walk on September 6, my workouts have shifted from mostly elliptical workouts with some weights to mostly walking outside, with weights and elliptical thrown in on non-walking days. 

I could tell I was doing a lot of walking, because I finished the month at #65 on the total list of steps taken for the Redditors who Fitbit group, out of more than 1,000 people.  That's right, yours truly was in the top 10% of all Redditors who Fitbit according to my steps taken.  Go me!  If you want to friend me on Fitbit I am user #22LQKV.

I was very curious to see the results of all that walking, and the results are now in. 

As for my weight, I lost 12 pounds in July, for a total of 132.3 pounds lost overall.  I am still chipping away at the weight that I had gained as a result of my uncontrolled emotional binge eating during my job search and job change, but I am very happy with my progress now that I have gotten back into my healthy routine.

Put simply, all of the emotional eating and slacking off put me behind by about a full year in that I was around my current weight about this time last year.  And you know what?  That's OK.  I am not in a time-limited contest to beat anyone to a healthy weight, and as long as I am making progress in either my eating habits or my workouts I am not going to beat myself up for past poor decisions.

It's not that the past is past, it's that belabouring past errors doesn't accomplish anything and it only serves to frustrate me in the here and now.  Instead of focusing on that big leap from 185 pounds to 213+ pounds and how fast I can get back down to 185, I am focusing on the steady whittling down from 213+ pounds to where I am now, at 201.6 pounds.   I am not as focused this year about how quickly I can lose the weight since I have found that for me, that leads to unhealthy obsessiveness and general discontent about how slowly the weight comes off.  Rather, I try and make better decisions each day and look to see the weight come off in its own time.  Very zen of me, I know.  I am more and less successful at this kind of laissez-faire attitude depending on the day, but overall I am better at being patient than I was last year, so I will take this as a win.

This time around I try and celebrate the wins more and don't obsess over the minor gains if I am generally sticking to my plan.  As a result, my attitude is much more positive overall, and I feel better about myself and am generally very content with my renewed progress to date.

The measurements show the progress I have made since my May-June reboot (all measurements in inches):

I am not as focused on hitting a particular size as I am to see the positive changes in my body, however going down a size or two, as I have, is still very motivating.  Everything is coming down with the walks, except my calves.  Sheesh - - my Little Lulu cankles are destined to stay with me forever, alas. 

I am pleased to see the measurements come down to a proper size 14, which is well within the zone of being able to shop anywhere I want.  I suspect that my body is actually built to be a natural 14, even though according to my measurements I have gone down to a 12 or even a 10 in some styles (last year, before eating my way back to a 16-18).  Right now I am not going to fuss too much about the sizes and just pay attention to my body and try and wear things that are comfortable regardless of their size.  I tend to favour slightly larger size shorts, jeans and skirts, given that I have a decent badonkadonk, while I can wear smaller sweaters now that the girls are smaller.  Yes, I understand that the previous sentence is full of colourful metaphors for various parts of my anatomy - - deal with it. 

The Nerd and I went down to Columbus Ohio this weekend to visit his parents in their new home.  I spent a lot of time trying to be sensible in the face of all the delicious food - - his family has a delightful tradition of pre-dinner cocktails (complete with snacks) and it is all too easy to eat 300-400 calories just in rye and crackers and cheese and hummus and veggies before the meal even starts.  Yum!  I also tried to make a point of drinking lots of water, since I find that generally American food is higher in sodium than the Nerd and I are used to consuming in the average day.

On a side note, I discovered that I am a rye snob, because our "well" rye at home is Crown Royal, while our "nice" rye is s special edition Crown Royal.  Apparently normal people consider Crown Royal to be their upmarket rye, so it turns out that I have been very spoiled in the Canadian Whiskey department. 

Although the Nerd's mom does engage in short post-meal walks, they are nothing like the multi-mile marches that the Nerd and I have been doing as part of training for our big walk.  But at least it was some physical activity while we were visiting, which is better than sitting on my butt for the entire time.  I remember when I couldn't keep up with the Nerd's parents on their walks, and now I find them to be more of a stroll than a proper walk - - how times have changed!  All in all, it was a wonderful visit and I can't wait to go back.

Speaking of training walks, here is a map of where we have been walking so far, with the coloured lines indicating our walks:

A few points of note regarding the above map.  First, the big triangle is not where the Nerd and I discovered the power of flight, but it is where the GPS extrapolated the subway ride we took from Lawrence West subway station back downtown to finish off one of our walks. 

We also did one walk in which we drove out to the Leslie and Lawrence East area to walk through one of Toronto's many park systems.  You can see this 3.75 mile loop (for 7.5 miles total) all by itself in the top right hand side of the map.  Interestingly, we did another 5.5 mile walk up the Don Valley trail (for an 11 mile round trip) last weekend, and we almost met up with the southern end of our previous park walk.  Perhaps next weekend we will close the loop, as we have a 12.5 mile walk on the schedule for Saturday morning. 

On an personal note, I felt absolutely fine after our 11 mile walk - - a little tired, but in no obvious discomfort.  This is a big improvement over our last 12.5 mile walks and shows the benefit of doing the training plan the right way around. (!)




Finally, I am not sure if I have officially debuted my haircut, which I got just before the third interview for my current job.  I decided that growing out curly hair is just too frustrating, so I went short, as can be seen in this photo of me and my sister from her birthday in June:

I'm the one on the right

When telling each other about the dresses we were wearing we initially thought we had brought the same dress for dinner out, but we were both simply au courant with the current black and white trend.   

August has more of the same on tap - - the Nerd and I will continue our training walks, and expect to walk around 26 miles a week for the next couple of weeks, in preparation for the big charity walk at the beginning of September.  I will try and keep integrating free weights into my workouts 2-3 times a week, keeping the recent additions of reverse crunches and standing calf raises.  And of course, there's the old standby of the elliptical for those days when walks are not planned. 

What a Difference a Year Makes (with photos)

Today is New Year's Eve, which means that I have survived another full year of working out and eating well.  In the past 12 months I have missed only 2 planned workouts, but added several incremental workouts, so on balance, I am probably ahead of the game, all things considered. 

It's been a difficult Q4, so I am going to look back on all the wins that I have achieved this year. 

First and most motivating, I have lost 51.5 pounds over the last year.  Although this is less than I had hoped in the summer, considering how badly things fell off the rails in Q4, I will take this result, thank you very much.  About a pound a week is nothing to sneeze at. 

Let's look at the measurements, shall we?

I am down more than 2.5 feet in girthiness compared to last year at this time, and more than 5' in lost inches since I have started working out.  That means a change from a size 26 when I started, down to a size 20 last year, and now down to a size 12. 

In the past year I have really settled into my elliptical routine, but I have added more weights and, recently, a treadmill for running training.  Today I had my 5th C25K session, and although I still don't think I am actually running, I am shuffling much faster than I ever would have thought. 

I an creeping ever closer to my goals:

Still recouping past losses, but I finished the year strong.  Let's hope I can keep these positive trends going. 

Circling the wagons

It has been a while since I last posted.  To be honest, I have had a month full of disruptions to my routine that when combined with work stress, have really thrown me off my game.

I have come so far since I first began working out and I am so close to my ultimate goal, but yet am still so far away, that it has been difficult to stay motivated.  I felt like my workouts were not as effective as they had been, which is frustrating when I was working as hard as I was every day. 

So I decided to withdraw and circle the wagons a bit and evaluate what I have been doing and change things up a bit with an eye to sustainability.  I couldn't possibly keep working out at the amount that I had been doing without completely burning out.  I caught myself getting competitive about my workouts and trying for huge calorie burns just for the sake of getting huge burns, rather than trying to achieve specific results (other than weight loss, of course).  There's just no way that I was able to keep doing 90-minute elliptical workouts or 2.5 hour workouts with weights + elliptical, without either going in to work late every morning, or getting up at 4 am.  Working the hours I have been working recently (crazy hours), 4 am just is not feasible.  Neither is going into the office late.

On top of all this I have been teaching a college class at a Southern Ontario law school this month.  This is a great opportunity and I am really enjoying it, but as any teacher or professor will tell you, there is a TON of prep required to teach a class, and for every 3 hour class I have had to spend 9-10 hours in preparation reviewing the cases, writing my notes, and preparing my slides.  Then there's the drive to the college - - 2.5 hours each way from my home in Toronto.  On days I was teaching I was getting back home only around 10 pm.  On weeks when I taught twice it was particularly brutal, with only one day between classes in which to try and catch up on work (impossible!) and prep for the next class.  Thank god I am done teaching for the next two weeks, and I only have two more classes to teach and the final exam to supervise. 

But this month has not been all bad.  I have had some nice wins.

I tested my A1C (glycated hemoglobin) this month, and my values were in the normal range.  A1C is a test of how well one has been controlling fasting blood sugar over the previous 3 months.  I has pre-diabetic when I first started testing my blood sugar last July, and I waited until this month to test my A1C because I only had my first average normal month as recently as May of this year.  It looks like my weight loss and overall health improvements have been reflected in my blood sugar values, which is very gratifying.  And hugely important, given my family history.

All of my cholesterol values were also normal this month, which was nice to see. 

My measurements at the beginning of the month have continued to decrease, to the point where I am now officially a size 12, down from 26 when I first started working out - - that's 7 full sizes down:

The party dress (see previous post) at the IPIC Annual General Meeting was an absolute triumph. I looked great and felt amazing and got a ton of compliments.  I will post a photo once I get to a different computer. 

I also did my charity 5K walk this month.  Overall I raised more than $850 for breast cancer research, and was able to shave a minute off my best 5K walking pace.  Even though it was drizzly, cold and miserable out, I had a fabulous time walking with people from my office, and all for a good cause.

I have decided to shake up my routine in an attempt to re-energize and to kick start my system.  With this in mind, I am going to start working Stage 1 of the New Rules of Lifting for Women.  I will be focusing primarily on the exercise program rather than the diet, as my diet - - when I am not binging on chocolate, that is - - is very good, and it doesn't need that much tweaking.  I will incorporate some elements of the diet into my routine, but I don't need to completely change how I eat, which is good, because I love the Nerd's delicious cooking too much to give it up! 

As for the workouts, the first stage of 6-8 weeks will involve 2 alternating workouts with escalating weight/difficulty.  The first workout involves barbell squats, push-ups, bent over rows, step ups, and prone jackknifes (using the Swiss ball).  The second workout includes deadlifts, dumbbell shoulder presses, the dumbbell replacement for a lat pulldown, lunges, and Swiss ball crunches.  The plan involves fewer exercises and fewer sets than I have been doing in my weight program to date, but higher weights, and more challenge.  Today we went out and got some heavier dumbbells, a barbell and some plates, and of course, a Swiss ball.

From what I have seen of others' results after Stage 1 of the program, my shape will not change that much, but I will see some minor improvement in tone and some noticeable strength improvement.  I used to be much stronger the first time I lost weight when I was using my universal weight machine, and it has been a long road coming back to strength after so many years of being out of shape.  The Nerd got me some heavier dumbbells for my birthday, which is another step in the right direction and very much appreciated.

Oh yeah, I had a birthday last week.  I turned 46 on (Canadian, and the correct) thanksgiving, and it hit me harder than I expected.  Just entering "46" on the elliptical each morning was jarring.  Of course, the alternative to aging really sucks, so I will take having another birthday with as much grace and dignity as I can muster.  After all, I am much, much healthier than I was last year at this time - - I weighed about 265-270 pounds a year ago, and now I weigh 188-195 pounds (depending on whether I measure pre- or post-chocolate binge). 

I am stronger, with better stamina, and am better able to do physical things than last year.  On almost every measurable criteria - - blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, measurements - - I am healthier than a year ago.  Overall, all of my hard work has really paid off, and I need to simply take a deep breath and gather my energy for the final push to hit my weight loss goal. 

Now I just need to dust myself off, regroup, and charge back into my program.  Wish me luck!  



 

Achievement unlocked - it's normal stores for me (aka size 14 at last!)

Another month down, and another milestone reached.  I am officially a size 14 for the first time in 13 years, so I have basically traveled back in time to 2000.What is significant about this loss is that it means that I can officially shop anywhere - - - most straight stores stock up to size 14 (nowadays, in fact, most stock up to 16 or even 18), so I can actually go browsing in "normal people" stores like my girlfriends.  Not only that, I can reasonably expect to find something in my size.  Put another way, I no longer have to go to specialty "big girl" stores, or shop only in stores that feature a plus size section.  I can shop anywhere.  Well, except for Abercrombie, but their CEO is a doofus for ignoring the reality of the demographic change to his target market. 

This month I lost another 3 inches, going down half an inch on my bust, an inch and a half off my waist and another inch on my hips.  Biceps, calves and thighs remained the same this month.

All combined I have lost more than 61 inches off my body since I started working out at the beginning of 2012, which is more than 5 feet of stuff, gone.  It certainly explains why parts of me look so deflated.  I expect that my measurements should start to stabilize soon, and I should only go down another size or two at most by the time I reach my goal.  My top half actually is already a size 12, but my prodigious hips keep me safely in the size 14 range. 

I remember the first time I had to shop in a plus-size specialty store.  It was heartbreaking.  The staff were very friendly and helpful, and the clothes were actually quite nice, but it felt terrible to know that I could no longer shop in the same stores as my friends.  When we went to Banana Republic or Club Monaco or the Gap I knew that there would be no point in browsing, because those stores did not stock plus sizes - - I knew there was nothing in store for me.   If my normal friends complimented my outfits and asked where I got them, I was ashamed to tell them, because they would never shop in a plus size store.  I would pretend that I had forgotten where I got the outfit, which as we all know, is impossible.  Women generally know the provenance of every single item in their closet - - I know I do, and I refer to things by their source (e.g. my "Lands End twinset" or my "Talbots jacket").  It is only the clothes in my archive for which I can no longer remember the source, but they are the exception (since it has been more than a decade since I last wore these clothes, and a lot has happened since then).

Even more humiliating was receiving gifts from friends or family that were woefully undersized.  It was nice that my friends and family thought I was much smaller than I actually was, but it made me feel even more ashamed to know how big I had let myself get.  I remember one year my mother gave me a beautiful cashmere sweater from Holt Renfrew in XL.  At the time I was 2X, creeping up on 3X, and the sweater did not even come close to fitting me.  It was the largest sweater they had, though, and it was a lovely gesture -- I did not have the heart to tell her that there was no chance that I would ever wear the sweater.  I tried it on when I got home, and looked like a soft and luxurious sausage.  It was not a good look.  Nor can I wear it now - - it's too large (!).

So another month is in the books, and I am still seeing progress on both weight loss and inches lost.  I am not in my final form yet, although it is getting close - - only around 4 months left to reach my goal!  Put that way, and it sounds terrifyingly close. 

For the record, I still don't recommend getting people clothing as gifts - - get the size too small, and you make the recipient feel fat, and get the size too big, and you are saying that you think they are fat.  And god forbid it does not fit.  It's just not worth the bother - - that's why my sister gets so many purses and wallets from me as presents - - fine leather goods are always the right size!

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!  

120 Pounds Down! (with pics)

I know I keep harping on this point, but there sure as hell is something to be said for consistency.  I keep working out every day and striving to eat well every day, and the weight keeps coming off.  Huh.  It would be nice if there were a magic pill that would transform me overnight into a sylph-like goddess, but failing that, my brute force method and donkey like stubbornness appears to be working just fine.  Not quite "overnight" results, but nothing too shabby, either.

Last week I lost weight, right on track, but this week I lost still more and finally passed the 120 pounds lost mark with my loss of 1.4 pounds.  I am now down 120.1 pounds, or 71% of my target, representing 36% of my starting weight.  71% of the way there - - that makes achieving my goal sound almost close  (while simultaneously still being at least 3/4 of a year away, like a cruel optical illusion).

You know me and charts and graphs - - let's bring on the numbers...!

 

 

 I lost 7.5 pounds overall in April, which still keeps me in losing 1.8 pounds each week on average since I first began working out 66 weeks ago.  Speaking of workouts, I haven't missed a workout in 49 weeks - - almost a full year of working out at least 5 days a week (and since last August, 6 days a week).  That is the real key to my success - - regular workouts.  I love food too damn much to be able to lose weight by eating sensibly alone.  So far I am still on track to hit my 165 pound weight goal around the end of January, but I would love to hit that milestone sooner, if I could. 

Another month down, another set of measurements:

This past month I lost another 5" on various bits and bobs of me, for a total of more than 50" lost altogether.  That's more than 4 feet of person, gone.

I am officially a size 18 based on my measurements (my hips and waist still have a couple of inches to go to properly fit into a size 16), and my size 18 suits that I took out of the clothing archive are looking great.

The Nerd and I are cleaning out some closets and rearranging some things, and I finally went through some old duffel bags I had stored away.  I thought one of them, at least, was full of lingerie, but apparently my memory is not so good - - they were full of jeans from sizes 12 to 24W, as well as shorts, chino skirts, and a couple of sweaters my mom knit for me back when I was 18 and 19 (the sweaters totally fit, by the way!!!).

Just for shits and giggles I tried on the size 16 jeans I found in the bags.  I could totally put them both on!  It is not the most elegant look, and I am definitely embracing the muffin top in those jeans, but I have at least 2 pairs of jeans that I will be able to fit into soon - - likely within this month.  I haven't been a 16 in forever, so you can imagine my excitement.  I kept running into the Nerd's office to show off how I looked in size 18 chino shorts, size 16 jeans, and my mom's sweaters.  He made all the right appreciative noises, because his mother didn't raise no dummy.

Seeing as I was in the spirit of reviewing my clothing on hand, I took the opportunity to clean out some of the old 3X and 2X clothes that were taking up room in my closet.  They were more a security blanket than anything else, and I have to admit that I definitely look frumpy in those baggy clothes - - there is such a difference between the size 20 suits that are now dangerously loose, and the size 16 suit I found in the archive (which totally fits and is going into the rotation next week!).  I still found it hard to donate those clothes, because they were my camouflage for so long.

I was thrilled to have found this portable jean archive, because it was not only full of those size 16 jeans, but it was also full of 3 pairs of size 14 jeans and even some size 12 chino skirts.  I had been dreading the thought of having to go out and try on some jeans when my 18s got too laughably loose, and now I don't have to!  Even better, the Nerd and I are travelling down to South Carolina for his family reunion this July, and now I will have shorts that fit, as I found 3 pairs of 18s in the archive (and shorts can be worn even a size big, if necessary).  All in all a good day for clothes.

The Nerd brought 2 large bags of clothes to the donation bin this afternoon, and with the new things I have just pulled out of the closet, he has two more than can go.  Hopefully someone will get some use out of the clothes - - some of them are in amazing condition, barely worn.

The changes from last July are amazing:

 

This is what weights and cardio will do for a person.  That, and cutting out the long island iced teas.  I love how I stand more vertically now that I don't have the same amount of ballast dragging me down in front - - it's like I suddenly discovered posture after a year and a quarter of working out.   I am loving the changes, and the Matriarch was positively thrilled with these pictures.

I am still a work in progress, but every week and every month brings me that much closer to my goal.  Here are the current numbers:

It's a little amazing to think that I will have lost more than half my starting body weight when I hit my final goal - - I am horrified to think that when I started working out, I weighed more than twice as much as I should.  Not a figure of speech - - literally twice as much.  Gack!

Right now my eye is on the 11 or so pounds I need to lose to become overweight.  I am so close, I really want to get there within the next two months.  Fingers crossed!

With this objective in mind, I stepped up my workout again.  I have added weights to a backpack for my elliptical sessions to bring me back up to 230 pounds to increase my calories burned, and I increased the resistance up to 6 (out of 20).  I kept the stride rate the same as before, because my workout this morning was quite challenging enough, thank you very much!  We'll see how it feels to get into this new workout - - I have a huge sense of accomplishment for having done it, but I recall that during the workout I was having lots of second thoughts.

February 2013 - I love it when a plan comes together

Another month is in the books.  This makes a full 13 months of working out for me, or 57 weeks.  Once again I am a boring ol' consistency monster doing all of my workouts this month (40 weeks now without missing one!). 

And the results...some wins, some reverses, but mostly more wins.  All in all, my routine appears to be working, and the bullheaded consistency with which I am approaching this healthy lifestyle thing appears to be paying off. 

You know I love numbers and pretty charts.  And graphs.  OK, I'll admit it, I love quantifying the various changes to my body, because it permits me to see progress on many different metrics.  After all, the more you track, the more possibility there is that at least something will show improvement.  There is a method to my madness. Plus, how do you know you've won if you don't know what the goal looks like? 

As you can see, this month had rather more up and down than I like, driven by: i) a charming Italian man visiting and cooking; and ii) scale recalibration issues.  Essentially the week I gained was like 2 weeks lost, one for the part where I went up, and one for the part where I got back down to the place I had been.  But no one said this weight loss thing was going to be easy (well, no one who is not a complete charlatan, anyways).  Still, I consider it a moral victory if nothing else, because even when I went up I stuck to my plan.  Perhaps with a few more expletives thrown in there, but on plan nonetheless. 

And you can see from the year to date graph that this gain was just a small blip on the road, so I am not fussing about it too much:

... and overall, I am still on track to hit my weight goal on the original timing (early 2014):

For the month I ended up 6.3 pounds down, which is a little lower than I would have wished, but as it is still a loss, is a completely fine number.

Speaking of completely fine numbers, my body is doing some ridiculous changes this month:

Big inches lost everywhere except my puny Tyrannosaurus Rex arms this month, for more than 6 inches lost, or more than 42 inches lost overall.  I suspect it averages out over time, because last month I had only a small loss of inches.  But still - - 10 and a half inches gone off my bust?  That explains why my lingerie is fitting so differently. 

What's very nice about these numbers is the fact that they put me well in normal-size 20 territory, and halfway into size 18.  My lilac suit jacket that was tight last month now fits, so it's only a matter of time before all of my size 18 suits are back in rotation. 

The other nice thing about these numbers is that the smaller waist measurement leads to reduced health risks, now that it is under 38".  Sure, I am still in an elevated risk category with this result, but not the "condition critical" risk that I had been. 

This month also had the big milestone of weight goal #5 being met, as I broke the 100 pounds lost barrier.  Whoo hoo!  Better yet, it wasn't a one time fluke, as I was able to improve on the loss for the usual end of the week "official" weigh in - I am now down 101.3 pounds.  My weight of 232.6 pounds puts me in the 85th percentile, down from the 95th.  Just another way of tracking improvement. 

But not everything is unicorns and sprinkles this month.  For some reason my fasting blood sugars were higher than usual, and I had only 7 normal readings (26.9% of total readings) as compared to 9 normal readings (35.5% of readings) last month.  With the fewer normal readings, my average fasting blood sugar reading went up to 5.8 mmol/L compared to 5.6 mmol/L last month.  I have no idea why the numbers were so high this month, comparatively speaking.  With the exception of the week that our Italian visitor was here, my diet was pretty much the same as usual.  It's a puzzler, that's for sure.  But I finished the month strong, with 3 normal readings in a row, so hopefully March will be a better month, blood sugar wise.

I am not going to be too down on myself, because even though these numbers are slightly worse than January's figures, they are still way, way better than last July's numbers when I first started tracking.  I averaged around 6.3 mmol/L back then, with zero normal readings.  For me, every normal reading is a triumph.  As I continue to lose weight, these figures will, I hope, continue to improve. 

So all in all, it was a good month.  I have a whole bunch of new workout gear, just ready for my next session with the elliptical. 

"Bring it on!"