Moving Induced Break in Routine

I suppose it's fair to think that I love moving house considering that I do it so frequently.  For one reason or another it just seems that I move every 2 or 3 years.  Trust me - I can explain each move.  They all make sense at the time. 

After all these moves, you would imagine that I have moving down to a system by now, and you would be correct.  That doesn't change the fact that routines get thrown out the window, bodies get injured, and nerves get frazzled.

The Nerd and I moved from our cool - but seriously overcrowded - St. Lawrence Market-area multi-storey condo unit to a rowhouse in Corktown near the river valley.  Because it's a house, the new place has 2 bedrooms plus a den plus a finished basement plus storage space plus a small back yard, all of which combine to alleviate the overcrowding issue we had in the old place.

But no matter how good your movers are (and ours, Collins & Greig, were amazing), moves are still exhausting.  Between the packing, planning, lifting, unpacking, and multiple trips up and down stairs both of us were completely knackered for weeks. 

On the good side there is, at long last, a light at the end of the tunnel.  We are virtually all unpacked (all that is left to do is organize our crawl space storage and back porch storage a bit more), and all of the main areas - living room, kitchen, bedroom, weave-ateria, and gym - are all finished, with furniture in place and pictures hanging up on the walls. 

This is the first weekend in about 3 weeks that we are no longer packing or unpacking, but merely living in our place.  We had guests over to watch the UFC fights last night and the place showed like a charm.  The Nerd and I are slowly discovering the traffic flow and process flow in the new place (for example, our desks / office space are in the basement rather than in the living room), but that's a fun discovery.

As an example of how fractured our routines were, this Thursday was the first time in three weeks that Mr. Fitness came to kick my ass.  Between his schedule and ours we had to cancel two weeks of sessions in a row.  I still worked out with weights a couple of times on my own, but it's just not the same as when he enthusiastically pushes me beyond what I thought I could achieve.  I missed that, and was frankly very nervous about getting back into our training sessions.

It turns out that the new gym space (in our upstairs den) worked just fine, although it was a little bit of a pain in the butt to move the dumbbells from the linen closet where they are stored when not in use (the new gym has less floor space than the old gym area, and there's not as much free space to leave dumbbells laying about).  As far as the workout went, however, it was just as intense as always, and I felt wonderful when it was done.  Completely done in, as well, but then that's kind of the point, isn't it?

 

With some minor adjustments there is more than enough room for one person to work out, and even enough room for me and Mr. Fitness to go through our routines.  The space is not quite as large as the old gym, but overall the new place has so many benefits that a slight reduction in gym size is worth it in the big scheme of things.

For example, now my view from the elliptical is a pleasant look into our back yard, as well as our neighbours' yards.  The old place looked out onto an alley where the garbage bins for our building were stored.  Ambiance central, not so much.

On the downside, I now have "closet weights".

So we're still working out a solution for those...

On the good side the move is essentially complete, the house is amazing, our neighbours are wonderful, and I can still walk to work in the morning (my commute is now a 15 minute walk instead of a 10 minute walk). 

On the bad side, I have managed to undo almost a year of progress with all the chinese food, burgers, and pizza we have been eating during this transition period.  I don't blame anyone - I certainly was too exhausted to even think of cooking most nights, and ordering in was just too tempting.  Add the emotional eating on top of that, and ... let's just say it's a good thing that I am back into my routine. 

I am counting today as official post-move Day 1, and the Nerd and I had a healthy day together.  We both worked out, we stuck to our delicious homemade meals, and we went for a long walk today.  The walk happened to end at an ice-cream truck, but that's kind of the point.  I tracked all the food (including the ice-cream!), as well as my exercise, and it was a good balanced day. 

That's 1 down.  13 more to go to re-establish my good patterns.  364 to go to see big improvement. 

But step 1 is done, so I've got that going for me, which is good. 

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...

Breaking new territory - - had my first session with a personal trainer

A few things combined for this new step in my fitness training. 


The first is that this month I have been systematically eating all the bad (yet delicious!) foods, like the Nerd's bourbon balls and sugar cookies, and all the baking that people have been bringing into the office.  When you combine the holiday baking with the sheer volume of social engagements - - festive lunches, dinners with friends, coffee dates, and potlucks, it's a wonder that I can still fit into any of my clothes. 


Now that I have released the Kraken, as it were, it will take about a week of eating properly without snacking to get my cravings back under control.  One day at a time will be the key. 


The second and bigger step is that I have hired a personal trainer.  I received a small inheritance from my grandmother, and rather than blowing it all on hookers and cocaine I thought I would actually turn it into a long term positive by taking the next step in my fitness and hiring a trainer. 


I have been working out on my own for almost 3 years now and I have lost 144 pounds (well, at least I had before blowing my brains out on cookies and lunches this month!).  But it is too easy for me to get settled into comfortable routines, and even tools like the heart rate monitor that are intended to help me push myself only can go so far.  Plus, as a self-taught exerciser, I have all the bad technique of the amateur, and no one to correct me.


As it happens, one of the marketers here at the Company is married to a personal trainer.  I looked him up and he seemed reasonable, so I booked him to come in and meet me last week at my office.  He was just as reasonable in person, so I booked a session. 


I was terrified about the whole thing, because what if he asked me to do things I couldn't physically do?  What if he pushed me so hard I threw up?  What if we just didn't work together well?  And, most concerning for me and my dark subconscious, what if he laughed at me?


Of course those of you who have trainers will know that all of my concerns were groundless - - the trainer (aka "Mr. Fitness") listened when I was having problems with a particular exercise and changed up the routine, he worked within my limits and pushed me, but not to the point of injury or projectile vomiting, and he did not laugh even a little bit.  The Nerd laughed at my struggles to do sit-ups whilst punching Mr. Fitness' hands, but I only found out about that this morning, and anyways, the Nerd is entitled to tease me. 


Mr. Fitness and I had discussed my cardio workouts last week and he recommended that I try high intensity interval training, which I began incorporating into my routine this week.  My pattern right now is a 5 minute gentle warm up followed by 10 sets of 30 seconds at high intensity (going around 220-230 strides/minute "as if being chased by a lion") followed by 60 seconds of low intensity.  These workouts are shorter - around 20-25 minutes rather than 30-45 - so  I don't get the same calorie burn as my previous elliptical work, but they certainly get my heart rate up and push my body. 


I did a HIIT session on the elliptical right before Mr. Fitness arrived, so I was warmed up and ready to go when he got there.  While that worked pretty well as far as a warm up, my legs did get wobbly later in my session so I might not go full HIIT on my personal trainer days in the future, just to make sure I have legs left for the actual training bit. 


We did pushing work last night, with bench presses, nose crushers, and shoulder raises alternated with swinging a kettle bell between my legs and up to chest height along with some squats.  We finished with some core work on the Swiss ball, sit-ups where I hit Mr. Trainer's hands as I came up, and then some jab/cross/duck routines (my favourite part of the whole night) with the boxing gloves and target pads. 


I was well and truly thrashed after my workout and I learned a lot about technique (especially on the squats and shoulder raises which I have apparently been doing completely wrong for years), and overall I had a good time so I consider it money well spent.  With the holidays we won't be able to meet again until the 30th, but that may be the interval I need to recover from last night's ass kicking!

New Job, Getting Back into Routine

Last week was incredibly stressful.  I had my last 3 days at the law firm, and my first 2 days at the new company.  And along the way I had 3 nights of working until 4 am, 1.30 am, and 10 pm to wrap up the old job, just in case there was a remote chance that I would have the tiniest bit of energy to start my new job. 

And yes, I was the last person out of the office Wednesday night, as usual.  I had previously made arrangements to hide my laptop with the tech team and left my calling card and security pass under the door of my associate manager so there was nothing left in my office.  Nothing, that is, other than a dotted outline on my desk where my candy machine used to be.  The candy machine may be mourned more than me at the end of the day - I hear that people have been "crabbypants" since I left, and I suspect it's a result of chocolate withdrawal.

The transition was literally hellish and after pushing to complete as much as I did before I left I am completely ready to leave that place and never look back.  Every time I think about the work I was doing I thank god that I am gone.  Perhaps I was just burned out, which is not surprising, all things considered.

The new job is good, so far.  It is of course incredibly stressful to start in a new place where I don't know any of the people or processes or traditions or unwritten rules, and no one knows me or what I can do.  In some ways that's good - no baggage.  But in other ways it's not good, because I have no goodwill on which I can trade.

There is also the issue of not having any of my old tools or routines - - I don't know how to access servers, my iPad is not hooked up to the system, I don't have a way to remotely access my email, my laptop internet connection is hinky from home, and I have no connection to printers yet.  All of these are just fussy system things that will get resolved over the next week or so, but for now, these are irritations that make it harder for me to do my job.

  

This week I need to try and learn as much as I can in the next 2 days before my predecessor leaves for Atlanta again, and I need to try and integrate myself into the department and the system.  And most importantly, as Col. Hadfield notes in his book An Astronaut's Life, I need to try and be a zero in the immediate short term - - not try to make my mark too soon, and try not to screw anything up.  Just float in the middle there with my eyes and ears open until I can get my bearings.  

The people at the new place are very nice, and everyone is working in the same direction, which is a pleasant change.  The offices (shown in the photos) are pretty new and clean and uniform, which means that a lot of my tchotchkes and photos and diplomas from the old office are not going into my new office - - I can't have anything on the walls other than 1 piece of approved corporate art.  My office carpet is another casualty to the new design esthetic, and it will need to stay at home for the foreseeable future.  Thankfully, the candy machine is more than welcome in the new office.

The new company really values wellness and health and has lockers and showers in the office for people who want to bike to work - - fantastic.  There is a super duper pop machine that dispenses water, ice, and juices for free.  It is great, and it has really bumped up my water consumption during the day.  And let's not forget bathroom breaks as a result - - another source of steps during the day, because the washroom is at the other end of the floor.  As a final innovation, my office has a standing desk, so I can work standing up and reduce some of the sitting I do in a day.  There's even a cushy rubber floor pad to help reduce leg fatigue.  The rubber mat is great, but I have picked up a couple of pairs of comfortable loafers to replace my stylish but painful heels just in case.

This past week has been a virtual dead loss from a workout routine point of view.  Between the mother of all colds and 3 ridiculously late nights at the old firm and 2 welcome lunches at the new firm, I have been eating out far more than usual and exercising less than usual.  I was still able to lose a pound and a half, though, which gives me hope for this week. 

Today was a holiday so the Nerd and I were able to sleep in slightly while still doing full workouts.  I am still fighting the lingering effects of this damn cold so it was not easy to do my weights today (I feel weak as a kitten), but I was really glad to get back to a solid 90+ minute workout like I used to do.  Tomorrow will be all-elliptical, all the time, so I need to brace myself for a nice long cardio session.  I should be even better tomorrow, though, so it should not be too difficult.  I am starting to feel better (ever so slowly), and last night was the first truly good night's sleep I have had in almost a week - - I needed that!

The Nerd and I also took a little walk to the new office today to bring more binders into my office.  It's a nice 12-15 minute walk each way, and when we went there it was nice and sunny.  I wanted my office to be as ready as possible so that I could hit the ground running tomorrow when the fun and games really begin.

The balance of today will be homework - a packaging opinion as well as basic research into advertising and packaging law as a refresher.  No time like the present to try and make it easier to get up to speed.  

Coming back online, slowly

Photo by drinks machine, licensed CC-BY-NC-ND

Long time, no write.

For the past few months my workouts have been inconsistent (especially for me), and I have been using work stress and emotional stress as excuses to Eat All The Things.  Some days I couldn't even bring myself to log my food - - who can tell how many calories I was getting from a restaurant poutine, after all? 

That shit stops now.  Well, to be more accurate, that shit stopped this week.  I took myself in hand and started back with the intensive workouts and getting back to my healthy eating routine. 

I still need to lose weight, so adopting an easier workout routine that is more of a maintenance program (which I had rationalized as more sustainable than the hard workouts I had previously done) just doesn't make sense.  So now I am back to 90 minutes of kicking my own ass on the weights, treadmill, and elliptical, 6 days a week.  It's only day 4 of the new-and-improved world order, but it's amazing how easy it is to slip back into a healthy routine after having been so diligent at it for more than 2 years, even after a break.  In a strange way my healthy lifestyle is starting to feel more comfortable to me than the lazy ass binge eating lifestyle I used to adopt.  And only 2 and a half years later! 

Of course my complete abandonment of healthy eating has had its sequellae - - I gained back weight, and a lot of it.  Not that I look like Jabba the Hut or anything, but I have noticed that my clothing is tight, and that is just Not On.  I didn't go out and get all these new clothes just to eat my way out of them after a month, no sir. 

So how did I get here?  Simple - I gave myself permission to indulge myself, using my stress and depression about work as excuses.  Frankly, I feel much better about myself and my life when I eat well and do a hard workout, so abandoning those good habits only contributed to my feelings of depression.  And once you start feeling bad because you're eating like crap, it's ever so easy to eat more to try and feel better ... except, of course, that this never works.  The only thing that works is to fix the thing that isn't working and to stick to the good habits that I know make me healthier.

So I took control of the work situation, and I will have more news on that score in 2-4 weeks or so.  I've still got a ton of work to do on that front, but I recently received some very good news that has given me hope for the future with respect to work, which is wonderful.  I'm not out of the woods yet, but soon, hopefully. 

The Nerd and I are also working at fixing up the apartment to make it more livable.  We are both clearing out a lot of deadwood (I mean, do I really need to keep 30 years of old cards from strangers?) and we have donated a bunch of unwanted furniture to charity.  This gives us more room to move, and more room for books, to be perfectly honest.  Since "books" is kind of the decorating theme for the Palatial Estate, this works well.  As the place shapes up, my mood improves even more.  I hate living in disarray, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this side project as well. 

So the workouts - what's new and different and what have I learned?  I learned that 46 year old knees do not take kindly to running when I have never run before, and I have had to dial back on the C25K training I was doing.  I sort of wrecked my right knee and aggravated an old groin injury, and in the interests of my health I have changed up the running to merely walking on the treadmill at a reasonable pace.

The weights are effective, so I have not changed anything up there, other than to kick things up a notch with an additional set.  I am currently doing 4 sets of 10 for 9 different exercises, and I will likely keep things at this level for another week or so.

The elliptical is still my best calorie burner and step driver, so I now do 90 minutes on the elliptical on non-weight days.  It kicks my ass every time, but it's totally worth it.  On weight days I do 10 minutes on the treadmill and 35 minutes on the elliptical for a total workout of about 90 minutes, and it feels good. 

No more light workouts for the time being - - they are fine for maintenance, which will be wonderful when I reach my goal.  That's a loooonnnngggg way in the future, however.  For now I need to suck it up, buttercup, and focus on bringing on the sweat 6 days a week for 90 minutes each morning.  So that's what I will do.

As for the food, it's back to first principles.  No more illicit snacking.  No more donuts, unlogged chocolate or cupcakes, no more poutine or grilled cheese, no more nachos or rice krispie square bars.  What do I eat?  The Nerd's delicious cooking, of course, with his balanced and nutritious meals.  I am trying to keep my daily calories under 1,700-1,800, and although I don't succeed every day, it's something to shoot for.  I know that this calorie target gives me enough room to eat enough delicious food to be satisfied, but not so much food that I risk going over the edge again.

I know that eating sensibly, working out to challenge myself, and avoiding snacking results in weight loss, and soon I will be back in my old weight neighbourhood.  I have lost some ground, but I will be back again.  I'm stubborn that way. 

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!  



 

Finally starting to see some progress...!

It was a good week, workout wise.  To avoid plateauing, I took up the intensity again this week, adding wrist/ankle weights (1 lb per arm/leg) to my elliptical routine, and adding some 140 bpm songs to my 130 bpm playlist to increase my stride rate and calories burned.  Otherwise, I left my free weight routine the same (8 exercises for 4 sets of 12 reps at 6 pounds), and left the time the same on the elliptical (55 minutes on weights days, and 60 minutes on non-weights days).

And it worked great!  I saw my calories burned increase from last week's numbers, and I felt fine after my workouts - - challenged, sure, but not completely blown.  I was really pleased with how I felt - - strong and energized.  I may have even experienced an endorphin, but I don't like to rush to judgment on these things - - I will wait and see if I can repeat the feeling. 

Adding intensity worked well in another direction, too - - I lost another 2.4 pounds this week, down to 230.2 pounds, which is an overall loss of 103.7 pounds.  People keep asking me how to lose 100 pounds, and I tell them they need to start off by having to lose 168 pounds, then it's easy. 

I love seeing my BMI at 34 - - well down from Obese Class II land, and well on my way to being merely overweight.  I have less than 30 pounds to go to hit that milestone, and I know if I keep consistently working my plan of trying to eat well every day and exercise every day, it will happen.  I am almost letting myself think of my end goal, as well - I only have 65 pounds left to lose, overall, to reach my final goal.  Every pound I lose chips away at that total.  It's only a matter of time.

For a while back last summer and fall I would take progress photos of me each week, from the front and side (and later, from the back as well).  I eventually stopped taking these photos because I just couldn't see a difference.  I know that I have lost a lot of weight and many, many inches, but I just couldn't see it on the photos.

Last week I decided that it being the end of the month and all, I might as well take another progress photo, and this time I was surprised to see that I have made progress.  Yay! 

 

Looking at these pictures, I am struck by a couple of things.  First, I can definitely see progress - - my butt is shrinking, as is my belly, my back fat, and, alas, my boobs.  The second thing I notice is that I look taller - - no photoshop trickery here - - I am carrying myself taller and more confidently in the second photos.  That is amazing to me, especially considering that in the first set of photos I had already lost 62 pounds, and I was feeling good about my progress, and proud to have accomplished so much to that point.  Little was I to know that it was merely the beginning.

I do wish that I would get some ankles out of this whole arduous process, rather than the cankles that I have.  I would especially love to get a better looking foot out of this, rather than something that is so eerily reminiscent of the Monty Python Flying Circus opening credits:

However, we have to focus on fighting the fights we can win, right?  Ankles will have to wait.  My clavicles are still playing hide and seek but they can't stay hidden forever, and it will be a huge win when those suckers come out of their protective fat cocoon. I can't wait.