NSV - Wore a shirt without a jacket at the office today

... and got a ton of compliments!

The shirt in question.  No, I did not wear yoga pants to the office.

Normally I wear a suit at the office, because it's professional, and I'm a tight-ass lawyer.  That, and I have not been a huge fan of my arms over the past 10 years or so. 

Last night Mr. Fitness came over to kick my ass for our usual session (we did a "pull day", in case you were wondering), and we talked about the different things that motivate different people. 

Those of you who have read back into my earlier posts of this blog will know that I have an almost unholy love of spreadsheets and tracking apps.  I find the mere act of tracking my workouts and progress to be incredibly motivating.  After all, the more things that I track, the greater the likelihood that one metric, at least, is going to be moving in the right direction.  Since I have started working out more than 3 years ago I have, at various times, tracked my weight, body measurements, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, A1C, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, cholesterol, resting heart rate, working heart rate, and workouts within various heart rate zones.  As these metrics have become - or remained - normal I have stopped tracking everything daily or weekly as I once did.  Fasting blood sugar, for example, I only track once in a while to check to see that I am still in the normal range. 

This came up in the context of discussing the Trainerize app that I regularly use with Mr. Fitness - - it's right in my sweet spot, a combination of tracker and something to check off every day.  I love that Mr. Fitness has this tool available.

But Mr. Fitness also talked about the non-scale victories that are also an important part of working out.  Like feeling more confident. 

It's no secret that I have been loving the changes that have happened since I have started working with Mr. Fitness.  He has really kicked my workouts into high gear and his targeted approach is yielding positive results.  I know that we're both working at this - - I try and eat well every day (or at the very least, more often than not, even in a bad week), and I work out 6-7 times a week, even though Mr. Fitness and I only get together once a week.  But the whole is really greater than the sum of the parts in my case, and I have started to really feel good about what I am looking like.  Still a long way to go, but I am definitely seeing noticeable improvement. 

I was feeling so good that this morning I decided to wear a form fitting top into the office without a jacket or other cover-up (it was casual Friday, after all).  Normally I would have hidden this under a jacket or sweater or bunny hug, but today I decided "screw this - I have been working on my arms for a reason - let's show 'em off!".

It turns out that jackets, sweaters, and bunny hugs have one major effect: they contrive to hide how much my shape has changed with my workouts.  It makes sense, in a way.  Adding layers hardly ever makes anyone look lighter, after all.  Layers just hide how heavy you are.

Well today I was coming back from making myself some tea in the Company kitchen and I walked past a group of people who sit near my office.  They were surprised to see me without my usual layers of camouflage, and said all sorts of nice things, the gist of which was: "Wow!  You look great!  How much weight have you lost with the trainer?" When I told them how much (13 pounds, which now that I think about it is wrong, it is 14 pounds now), they were suitably impressed.  "We never see you without a jacket!  You look amazing" was another comment. 

These guys work with me and have heard my stories about working out with Mr. Fitness.  This only solidified his reputation as a miracle worker.  Regardless, though, it was a really great feeling to have people say such nice things about how I look.  Especially considering how much work I put into it! 

Now I will admit that for the rest of the day whenever I left my office I made a point of walking with my shoulders back and sucking in my gut as much as possible - - thank god no one stopped to try and speak to me, because it would have blown the gaffe immediately. 

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.  ;-)

Seeing some progress

I have been very disciplined this month and have been trying to adopt a more consistently zen-like approach to my workouts and weight loss.  I say "trying" because I am more zen-like on some days than others.

On the plus side, I have virtually entirely stopped unrecorded snacking, and where/when I do snack, it is generally in moderation and within plan.  That's a huge win for me after the unbridled snacking I did in December. 

I have also been very disciplined with my workouts, doing my combination of HIIT elliptical sessions with longer "straight" elliptical workouts after my weekly sessions with Mr. Fitness (the personal trainer). I have also been doing a second weight session on my own, using the workouts Mr. Fitness has set up for me.  I am sure that I don't push myself quite as hard when it is just me, but I am pushing enough that I feel it the next day, which is a good thing.

All of this hard work is gradually paying results.  I am definitely seeing some improvement to my overall tone, and I can't wait until next week when I do my month-end measurements again.  I am certain that I will have continued to lose inches, because it's visible even to me.  My shoulders, stomach and legs in particular have been noticeably more toned recently.  Yippee!

I am also seeing definite improvements in my strength and stamina as well as my balance and coordination.  The first time Mr. Fitness and I worked together I kept falling over and lurching into things when he wanted me to stand on one foot or balance a particular way.  Don't get me wrong - - I still lurch and look as coordinated as a Clydesdale on ice many times - - but I am ever so slowly seeing improvement.  I only lurch around and stumble every second time now, rather than every single time.

One thing I have really noticed recently is how dramatically weaker my left arm is than my right due to the carpal tunnel on that side.  We were doing "21s" (bicep curls in 3x7-count variations) during my last session with Mr. Fitness, and on the full bicep curls I could barely raise the dumbbell with my left arm.  The right arm - - no problem.  The left - - weak as a noodle.  This is very frustrating, but apparently not uncommon.

Although the workouts have been going well, it has been challenging to keep my positive attitude when the weight loss has come so slowly.  I saw the usual "Ladytime" gain of 3 pounds of water and bloating at the usual time of month, and it took me 2 weeks of rigid discipline and fierce determination to get those pounds off and to see even trivial net losses.  Given how disciplined I have been with my food consumption and how hard I was working out, I find it difficult to keep from getting frustrated at times when the scale resolutely sticks above where I want it - - even when I know that the scale will come down eventually. 

But come down, the weight has, bit by bit.  I really don't mind if the weight comes off slowly or even plateaus if my measurements are changing, because I know that Mr. Fitness is helping me to develop my muscle tone and strength.  But until the end of the month I will not have definitive proof, so I will just have to be patient and keep plugging away.

On a related note, Mr. Fitness was like a kid in a candy store when he saw all my new workout equipment, and he immediately began integrating it into our sessions.  Now that was motivating!  Not to mention fun - - some of the things we do don't even feel like working out (like a lot of the medicine ball work we do), but I know they're doing good things.  That is a bonus I had not anticipated.  The gym equipment and the investment in a personal trainer has been worth every dollar to me, because I am doing things I never thought possible thanks to the structured and supervised workouts with the weights.  90 pound bench press?  Never thought I would do that.  80 pound deadlift?  Not a problem, as it happens.  And I am only going to get stronger from here.  I like that.  Scratch that.  I love that. 

So the net of it is that I can't wait to measure myself this week so I can get some positive reinforcement for all my hard work.  But I like what I am seeing so far, and I can't wait to see where I will go with this. 

New Weights!

Yay!  At long last (ok, it's been a whole week) my new weights have arrived.  Some medicine balls, some kettle bells, some free weights, and a bunch of plates for my barbell.

Let me tell you something that will be glaringly obvious to anyone with an ounce of common sense: weights are HEAVY.  In that, they take a lot of effort to lift and move.  For some reason this basic fact completely escaped me.  In my mind I must have expected the weights to float into the apartment on gossamer wings or something.  In reality the Nerd did 95% of the heavy lifting and then I was left with the task of unpacking and organizing everything.  Even with that minimal contribution, however, I was working it - - my 45 pound plates weighed, well 45 pounds, and there's no getting away from the plain old mass of it all.  As Henry Rollins (my rock star boyfriend*) says, "the iron never lies". 

Here is the new equipment in all its glory, making friends with my existing gear.

I really love the look and feel of everything and how functional the space is.  That's probably a good thing considering I spend 4+ hours in this room every week (not all at the same time, of course, that would be bananas).

I can't wait to do a proper weight training workout in here, but of course I will have to wait - - it is a long overdue rest day for me tomorrow (because it's been a while and my old knees are not what they once were), and then Thursday will be here soon enough with Mr. Fitness here to kick my butt.  We shall see which of my new toys he feels like working with. 

* Not really, but give me a call the next time you're in the T-dot, Henry.  The Nerd will understand. 

Feeling Inspired

I am feeling very motivated right now following my recent positive strides and I want to strike while the iron is hot.

As a treat for myself (!) I have purchased a few more dumbbells and weight plates for my weight training as well as some medicine balls for a change of pace.  I also picked up a couple of additional kettle bells, one lighter and one heavier than my current kettle bells. 

I was going to get more plates for my barbell regardless because when I first got the barbell I only picked up a few of the lightest plates - - 2.5, 5 and 10 pounds - - because of course there was no way I was ever going to be strong enough to lift more than that.  When Mr. Fitness wanted to push me on the bench press by loading up everything I had, it was not super heavy - - 55 pounds only.  Clearly I had underestimated how much I could or would want to lift. 

The medicine balls are just to spice things up - - there are a lot of exercises that can be done with medicine balls, and I am all about variety. 

Can I just say that I never in a million years would have thought that I would be the kind of person who would purchase workout equipment as a treat.  A box of chocolates, sure.  But weights?  WTF?  You call that a reward??  Apparently, yes.  And the real sick thing is that I am really looking forward to getting the new weights and working them into my routine(s). 

Now if you will excuse me I need to go down to my workout room and rearrange some things...

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.

Another 2.5 pounds down ... again

Whoof!  Mr. Fitness kicked my butt last night.  We did a pull session and worked some muscles I have never felt before.  This morning I could really feel the workout in my back (we were working some bent over rows) and my arms (thank you, shoulder raises). 

But it is all for the good - - this morning when I hopped on the scale I was back down to 198 pounds, which is a loss of 2.5 pounds from my previous reading, and 9 pounds down since I restarted after Christmas. 

Although this is territory I have visited time and time - and time - again, I am gradually developing better habits and my work with Mr. Fitness is paying dividends.  No longer can I simply coast through workouts - - I push myself with high intensity workouts and put myself in the hands of a trainer who legitimately challenges me each week.  And with Mr. Fitness having uploaded my workout plans to Trainerize, I can push myself on my own (almost) as hard as he does.  This makes me happy.

I will measure myself tomorrow and I think I will see some changes to my body, as I am noticing some of my saddlebag action is already trimming down.  I cannot recommend having a personal trainer enough - - he has really helped me to shift gears and get some momentum behind my weight loss.

I am frustrated that this is essentially the third time that I have lost the same weight (this go-round, at least).  I first got here in the summer of 2013, then again when I was starting fresh after beginning my new job and now again, recommitting after a December debauch for the record books. 

Each time it is the eating that gets me - - I fall back into old habits, or start to get complacent and think that "I can have this handful of M&Ms" (trick: it's never just 1 handful), or "I lost weight this week so I can have a bunch of big meals tomorrow" (s sure-fire way to ensure that the loss is immediately wiped out).

My recent US trip has given me hope that I can enjoy restaurant food - - including desserts - - while still maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  The key for me seems to be to religiously log my food and to stick to the recommended portions, even if it means leaving food on the plate.  I didn't snack during the trip either, which helps immensely.

So another month is shortly to be in the books.  Today is a little bit special because this weekend marks 3 full years since I began this journey to lifestyle change.  3 years, and 135.9 pounds down, I am still learning and still seeing positive changes.   Let's see what 2015 holds in store!