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:

Walking in Prince Edward Island (with photos)

The Nerd and I are on holidays this week visiting family in Prince Edward Island.  We drove out with our looms over a couple of days (it turns out PEI is quite a hike from Toronto), and arrived Sunday morning on the Island.  It was a Very Long Drive.

I always find holidays to be somewhat stressful in part because my routine gets shot all to hell - - staying with family means no gym full of equipment near to hand and lots of meals out.  A fun time is had by all - - and don't get me wrong, the Nerd and I are having a fabulous time - - but the lack of routines can be challenging.  For example, 2 days of road food and all the Tim Hortons cookies we can eat (which is a lot) can really mess up good eating habits. 

Nature's awesome majesty

But we are here safe and sound on the Island and after a Sunday afternoon of more poor food choices we have gotten back into the swing of things with a modified healthy plan of activity.  We are trying to replace our usual workouts with nice walks through the area.  We are paying attention to what we are eating and drinking.  We are volunteering to cook our usual repertoire of healthy balanced meals rather than eating out for every meal.  Every little bit helps.

Confederation Trail map

One of the fun things we did today was walk part of the Confederation Trail.  The Confederation Trail is not unlike Toronto's Beltline Trail in that it is a multi-use trail installed where a railway once passed.   Used as a walking and cycling trail in the summer, the 410 km of crushed gravel path is used as a snowmobile trail in the winter.   The Trail extends from one end of Prince Edward Island to the other and makes for a simply wonderful walk.  The Nerd and I spent more than an hour exploring part of the Trail this morning for our morning constitutional and the entire time we saw two people - - in stark contrast to the Beltline with its traffic jams of runners, walkers, and people walking dogs and pushing strollers. 

View on the Trail.  Notice the complete absence of people.

We ended up walking 4.92 miles or 7 km this morning, which means we really walked about 3.5 km along the Trail (out and back), leaving a mere 406.5 km of Trail left to explore.  We're probably not going to finish walking the entire Trail on this visit (!).   

Aside from the legions of mosquitoes which made walking almost unbearable at times, the walk was peaceful and lovely.  The Nerd and I really enjoyed the walk and are definitely going to walk more portions of the Trail tomorrow...after bringing more bug spray with us for safety. 

We did a lot of sightseeing today including visiting a couple of local Island distilleries (that make Shine as well as a variety of spirits) and stopping for ice cream in downtown Souris (the local small town).

I can imagine you saying to yourself: "Ice cream?  Again?  But what about eating healthy?".  My response is my usual "It's all part of my balanced day that includes an hour of hiking to ensure that we have burned enough calories to let us have ice cream, silly".  Because hey, ice cream makes a long walk in the woods surrounded by mosquitoes totally worth it. I regret nothing.  Ice cream is delicious.

Clawing my way back...one day at a time

I had a major breakthrough at the end of April finally breaking past my previous low weight of 185.4 to reach 184.9 pounds.  It took months and months and months of work to undo the impact of poor eating habits over the period before I started work at my new job last year, and the holidays at the turn of this year.

My personal trainer, Mr. Fitness, was a major part of this turnaround.  Another part - - a very big part, as it happens - - was my disciplined eating habits.  Reducing snacking and keeping my calories within a reasonable range helped me drop the weight slowly but steadily.  The workouts helped me improve my overall fitness and get me toned.  Together the eating habits and my workouts combine to improve my fitness level every week.

At the end of April, right after hitting this milestone, I went home to Edmonton for a holiday.  Healthy eating habits went out the window with numerous dinners out combined with unhealthy-ish food at the Patriarch's house.  After I got back from Edmonton I had a few moderately good weeks, then it was back on a plane to New York and all the food and drink that one finds there.  More eating out, and more street food.  It turns out that I am very good at finding food in New York.  Hey, a girl's gotta have a skill. 

After this veritable smörgåsbord of eating and drinking I knew it would take a few weeks of highly disciplined eating and intense workouts to get me back into shouting distance of my previous low.

So that's what I did.  I kicked the workouts up a notch and I stopped snacking at the office.  After the usual 3 or 4 day withdrawal period this was no longer a major struggle and I found it relatively easy to stay on track with my eating plan.  Now after a couple of "clean" eating weeks I have virtually no desire to snack and it is much easier for me to manage my food consumption every day.

I am now back down to 186 pounds and change, a mere whisper away from my previous low milestone of 184.9 pounds.  I feel toned and strong and am noticing that my clothes are fitting better than before. 

On the one hand it is easy to get despondent about putting myself through what is essentially a 2-month plateau.  One week of really bad eating requires at least 6 weeks of good behaviour to undo - - yikes!  That math really sucks.

On the other hand it is wonderful to know what works and to have the confidence to apply what works knowing that it will pay dividends sooner or later. 

On the "sooner or later" front, one comparatively recent innovation is that I no longer set time limits on myself to lose "x" pounds/week or to reach my goal weight by a specific date.  As long as I am making positive strides in controlling my eating or pushing my exercising or I see that I am losing something (no matter how little), I remain positive.  I know that the way my body behaves it will lose a little, or none at all and then suddenly lose pound after pound in its own good time - - as long as I stick to my program.  Although I would like to control when the weight comes off I am apparently not the boss of this and so have gradually learned how to accept the uncertainty (although admittedly with more zen-like calm some weeks than others). 

All in all, then, it has been a good couple of weeks.  I am sticking to my program and I continue to see progress.  That makes me very happy.  

NSV: Best experience at airport security ever

So last weekend I took a "girls' weekend" trip to NYC.  We stayed in my friend's apartment on the Upper East Side, half a block from Central Park, on the fifth floor of a walkup building.  You want stair training?  Try walking up 5 flights of stairs every time you come home - that will boost your numbers precipitously. While simultaneously crushing your will to live.  So there's that.

We did a lot of walking around Manhattan, and a lot of eating and drinking - - Mexican food for lunch, Chinese food for dinner, and street food (arepas, fried Oreo cookies, mini doughnuts, whoopie pies, salted caramels, bruffins, maccarons, and twistie cones) for snacks, and wine - so much wine.  All that eating (and drinking!) combined with all that walking and the post-vacation weight gain is not as extreme as I had feared.  I probably have all those damn stairs to thank, so "thank you, never-ending staircase".

On the way home we had to get in line for security screening at the airport, first to be screened by a TSA agent who checked our boarding passes and ID, and then to be screened by the x-ray and metal detector.

The TSA guy who was checking ID and boarding passes looked almost asleep - - he was slumped over in his chair and if he was awake, he was doing a fine job hiding it.  But he was the first person who did this: he looked at my passport (photo taken in September 2011, when I was near my heaviest), and he looked at me, then he looked back at my passport, then back at me, and then he said: "You got skinny", as he handed my ID and boarding pass back to me with a grin.  I tell you, it made my entire day.  He is the first person to comment on the noticeable change in my appearance between the passport photo and how I look live and in person, in all of my recent trips.  Photo comparison of my September 2011 passport photo and a photo taken from last weekend are at the top of this post. 

It's not that customs officials, TSA agents and gate agents don't notice - they do, I can tell from the quick double takes that they do when they look at my ID - it's just that no one says anything out loud.  The etiquette on mentioning someone's weight loss is a tricky thing - - many people worry that I am ill, and they are relieved to hear that my weight loss is intentional.  People seldom lose as much weight as I have lost without being sick.  I get that.  But it's also really nice to have my progress called out.  It made my entire day, I tell you!

Before and After...the Purple Dress (photos)

Those of you who are regular readers of my blog may remember wayyyy back at the end of 2012 when I had lost about 74 pounds (to get down to around 260 pounds) and had gone down 3 dress sizes from a 26 to a 20.  I was very excited to finally have the courage to wear a boldly coloured dress to our annual firm holiday party, and I chose a bright purple number. 

Today we were cleaning out the closet for clothes to donate to charity and I stumbled across a bunch of my old "big girl" dresses, including the purple dress.  I remember what a big deal it had been for me to even try this dress on, let alone wear it to the party. 

This is what I looked like back at the end of 2012, compared to today:

Holy crap.  Bear in mind I was looking super glamourous today because Mr. Fitness was about to come over and kick my ass so I was dolled up in yoga pants and tank top for my workout.  But still - - wow, what a difference!  Looking at today's photos I feel like I melted somehow, or maybe deflated, because there's so much room in the dress (even over my workout clothes).  Bearing in mind that I currently wear a size 12-14 (depending on the style), I am down a further 3-4 dress sizes from that first photo, and another 70+ pounds lower than I was then. 

Now let's please have a moment of silence for the boobs that I used to have, because there was no way the present state of the girls comes even remotely close to filling out that dress.  It would be frankly indecent for me to wear this dress without a top under it.  And I'm okay with that. 

PS: Mr. Fitness well and truly kicked my ass tonight - - I am still weak from our workout.  I should be feeling the sweet sweet burn of DOMS tomorrow...

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!

New Equipment: Water Rower

Well, it has been a whole 3 months since I last purchased new toys for my home gym, and that clearly is far too long.  Last month I finally snapped and got a piece of equipment that I have had my eye on for years - - a Water Rower.

Now regular readers of my blog will be saying to themselves "But Magniloquent, didn't you own a perfectly adequate magnetic rower years ago?  Didn't you in fact sell your rowing machine to make room for the elliptical machine of awesomeness?".  Yes, dear reader, I did in fact have a rowing machine. 

But cast your mind back to the summer of 2012 when I last used that piece of equipment.  I was about 120 pounds heavier than I am now, with all the attendant issues with mobility (bad back, bad knees, reduced mobility and flexibility) that come with being morbidly obese.  Add in the fact that I was not the cardio machine that I am now (!) and you can see how that machine did not get the love that it perhaps deserved.  I could barely get on and off the machine at all, and at my best I could only row for 2-3 minutes at a time before I simply had to stop.  My back hurt and my knees hurt after using the machine for added negative reinforcement, just in case the shortness of breath and dizziness were not enough.

Rowing is an excellent all-over workout, working legs, arms and core. A rower will help make you fit, but ironically it helps to be at least somewhat fit before you row; at least that has been my experience.  I had been mulling over the idea of picking up a Water Rower for some time, delayed for that magical time in the future when I was fit enough to see some benefits. 

Well the time for rowing is now, gentle readers.  So I took the plunge and picked up a Water Rower (or more accurately, had a Water Rower delivered).  And holy moly does it give me a workout!

Fifteen minutes on the rower gives me a burn of more than 120 calories even at the relatively slow pace that I can currently maintain (25 or 26 strokes per minute) - - that's 480 calories per hour, which is a pretty significant burn for me.  Not that I can sustain 60 minutes on the rowing machine - yet.

I am delighted at how much easier it is for me to row now that I have lost so much weight.  My knees, although by no means pain-free or strong, do not hurt when I row (as they used to).  I have no trouble getting down onto the rower, nor do I have any trouble getting up off the rower.  I think I have Mr. Fitness and the work we have done on balance and flexibility to thank for this.  And 15 minutes on the rower - about 5 times my previous personal best time - is only the beginning.  I can certainly go longer - only boredom (I can't read on the rower like I can on the elliptical) - keeps me from staying on the rowing machine for an hour. 

All in all, I am loving the new rowing machine.  My only complaint is that because it is a water rower it is not so good if you have a full bladder - - listening to the gentle swoosh swoosh of the water will increase your need to pee beyond belief, turning a normal workout in the longest workout of all time.

The machine fits perfectly into my (increasingly crowded) workout room because it stands up out of the way when not in use.  I have it next to the closet, between the elliptical and my barbell rack. 

The pretty product photos on the manufacturer's website show the rower standing up out of the way with the seat facing out (so that the bottom of the machine is against the wall).  This is not really practical because it requires that I completely rotate the machine before each use.  Because I know myself and know exactly how lazy I am I simply stand it up in its natural orientation so that when I lower the machine it is immediately ready to use.  This means that the bottom of the machine (the not-so-pretty side) is facing out when the machine is standing up, but I don't mind that given that I am the only person (other than the Nerd) who sees it.

I don't row every day, but when I do I get one hell of a workout.  Love it.