2 weeks

I have been at it for a couple weeks now - watching what I eat and restricting calories for fat loss.

I'm down 9 lbs and 1% body fat (sitting at 26%). I dig it... thinking I'd like to see 24 or below.

So far I'm doing alright with food, I eat "bad" every now and then but I try not to go overboard with portions, and I don't give in to every single solitary craving like I used to. Some days I feel more "fat" than others, but one of the coaches at the gym made a comment about how he's already noticed me getting leaner :)

This week so far it's been bootcamp, 2 mile run, and lifting this morning. We're deadlifting on Wednesdays now, today it was 3 sets of 175x5. We upped the reps by 2 and it's challenging at this weight, but next week we're moving up to 185. Also did some other back/pull exercises before heading off to a tech session at work. Tomorrow I will run another 2 miles and then do some sprints at the end.

I'm in somewhat less pain than last week. For some reason everything was acting up at the same time, but I must have slept real good last night cause today I woke up and the hamstring was much better. Feet, knee, and shoulders are ok. The right ankle and shin are a bit sore, but I think it's cause I ran yesterday and today I just felt it when jumping rope and such.

Some days it feels like I'm not progressing at all, but today's body fat results and progress pics gave me relief and showed me I am seeing some improvement. And I have to keep reminding myself that I've been through all this before and that it's a really slow process. Change comes in time :)

Resetting

It's now been a week and a half since I started restricting calories to lose some extra blub. While on vacation I realized clothes fit differently than last summer, I looked different in pictures, and when I got back I stepped on the scale and I did not like it at all...

Since the initial weigh in I have lost about 8 lbs. I think most of it is bloat but hey, it's 8 lbs. I also measured myself one week ago and then again today. I've always had a pot belly so the largest part of my belly is a measurement I'm tracking, and in a week I have lost .5 inches off there.

My diet is better now, and I've stuck to it for the most part. I'm surprisingly not as hungry as I thought I'd be, there was really only one day when I was super hungry and kinda fell off the rails a bit. But I've been down this road before and I know stuff like that is going to happen. I don't have to be perfect 100% of the time, but as long as I do the right things most of the time the change will occur.

Lifting hasn't changed a whole lot, I'm just not going crazy heavy all the time right now aside from the deadlift. I am hitting reps with 175 there and not having any problems. Yesterday in fact I felt pretty strong with it. I'm doing bootcamp twice a week and running 1-2 times a week. Certain muscles are cranky, the bad hamstring is acting up right now but I'm stretching/massaging and it helps. The calves are also angry but they will get used to running again. As far as bootcamp goes, I wore my watch the last 2 times and was a little underwhelmed at the result. It shows calories burned around 380 for both classes. I thought it would be like 500+. Oh well, that's why I got the watch... now I know not to overeat. I am going to experiment with the watch a bit though, because both times I left it running the whole time and there are parts where we rest and where the coach walks us through each station. I wonder if pausing it during rest will give a different result. We shall see.

Back from vacation, down to business

Alot's happened in my little world since I last checked in.

Last week we took a little vacation in Outer Banks. We went for like 4 days and spent most of our time fishing and hitting the pool. He is a saltwater fisher, I have done it a little but could never really get into it. Well, when we first got onto the island we hit up TW's tackle and while there he picked out a fishing rod just for me. So now after 13 years I finally have my own rod. On the second day there were a ton of Spade fish messing with my bait. I had a typical bottom rig and they just kept on stealing my bait! This meant war! So my husband made the most ridiculous rig with 4 gigantic hooks. And I caught 3 that day. The last day he taught me how to jig and I managed to catch a Spanish Mackerel and proceeded to rub it in his face (not literally) because it's his favorite thing to catch. Here's my very first fish on MY new rod

The trip was relaxing and awesome. We didn't spend any time on the beach but my husband was battling his foot pain, upset stomach, not being on his meds due to a dr. mix up, and a really bad sunburn. But of course we did tons of silly stuff like this

Booty Treats! This is an ice cream place that's been around for years and we always made fun of the name/sign that has a turd like object on it... but we finally tried it. It was alright, there are better places on the island IMO, but it's BOOTY TREATS! And of course I had to do a squat with the sign. Ice cream + Squats = BOOTY!

I wore a little dress too, and this is super rare so we took an obligatory pic of that.

So we got back and slowly adjusted to reality. Tuesday was Deadlift day #4, we're picking up the weight (literally) and I moved up to 175. Think I did like 3 or 4 sets of 3 reps here. It's getting challenging, I can definitely feel the effects of the weight and my grip isn't what it used to be. Apart from being sore everything feels fine. The main things I'm working on are getting my chest up faster and trying to "push my heels through the floor". Next week I'll try a set or 2 at 185

Yesterday I went to bootcamp and it was a Daniel class. His classes are just brutal. He tends to run you outside and have you do lots of bear crawls and burpees. This time we didn't do our usual "break up into squads and rotate between stations" we were all together the whole time. It went something like this

Burpee ladder (10, 9, 8...) with a run outside in between each set. I got to 8 before time was called
**In between each thing we did an ab circuit - 20 V ups, 20 sit ups, 20 alt. toe touches**
20 Kettlebell swings, walking lunge across the turf, run outside. 2 rounds
ABS
10 Box jumps, 10 ball slams, run outside. 2 rounds
ABS
10 Wall Balls, bear crawl across turf, run outside. I think I got 3 rounds here. **Important note - My wall ball STUNK. I got one of the 2 black and red 14 pounders because most of the other women wanted the lighter ones. Someone must have spent some time hugging this thing because it was nasty. Every time I threw it I got a whiff :(
ABS
10 rope slams, 20 power jacks, run outside. 2 rounds
ABS

Then we repeated the whole thing but we just ran up and down the turf 3 times instead of going outside.

So brutal. The whole class was just whipped. I sweat alot no matter what, but the level of sweat on me after this was pretty epic.

Finally, I'm cutting some weight. Recently I've come to realize how much weight I've put back on. I look different in pictures and clothes fit differently. And it hit me how bad I've been over the past several months. Have I been active? Yes, lifting and bootcamp several times a week with occasional running. But have I been eating right and mindfully so? Have I been running enough? Have I been acting with purpose? No. I've pretty much been eating whatever I want whenever I want, lots of eating out and ordering food out of laziness. I can't justify it, and I'm starting to see the effects and even feel them in the gym. I need to drop some pudge because it will help me be more efficient in the gym, get more pull ups in, and be a faster runner. I also just want to get better at everything and getting rid of some baggage will help. This week I've been cutting calories and eating with a purpose - trying to get my macros right and cooking dinner at home. I've lost a couple pounds but I have about 23 left.

To help me out, I got a new Fitbit Blaze! It just got here yesterday and I already started tinkering with it. I'm familiar with them because I have a Charge non-HR, but I wanted to get this one because it can track workouts like weightlifting and bootcamp, and the HR feature will give me a better picture of how hard I'm actually working. It'll give me the best picture of how much to eat in accordance with what I've done that day. Actually I am about to go test it out and lift with it in a little bit. I am expecting 150-200 calories burned in a typical session.

That was a mouthful, but it's been like 2 weeks worth of stuff to catch up on. Time to get ready to smash some weight around

Enough

It's been a weird week for me. I haven't been exercising as often as normal and sleeping in instead. I attribute this to a week of non stop cloudy rainy weather and going to bed slightly later than normal.

Work's been stressful
!! But on a positive note, I finally saw Leon this week! He's a late 60's avid Spartan racer who comes into my work all the time.. but I hadn't seen him in months and I was kinda worried something had happened to him. So he finally came by the store - other than DNF'ing the NJ Beast because of hurting his knee on the rocks (I remember those rocks quite well) he is doing just fine and is going to be running up a storm this year.

Then this.... A former co worker of mine suddenly fell ill a few days ago, ended up on life support, and was taken off this morning. It's been heavy on my mind.

I went to class at the gym today since it's my day off. And I dunno what the hell happened but I just did not have energy today. I was struggling to get through it, even felt short of breath so I had to take some breaks. This I attribute to just eating like shit lately + stress. I went to the store today and bought some chicken, marinades/sauces, and veggies and did a tiny meal prep so I could have some more healthy options on hand. I'm not into meal prep because the idea of 5 of the same soggy leftovers all week isn't appealing at all. I'm a really picky eater and I need my food to have alot of flavor. I have some chicken marinating in some Tikka Masala sauce so I can just make it fresh. My diet really has been shitty and I need to at least make some improvements because I'm starting to feel the affects in the gym.

Tomorrow I will drag my ass out of bed to go run, and I think another class for Saturday. I'm not going to lift heavy because my body doesn't feel right, so I'm listening and will do other stuff instead. Until next week anyway.

I'm in this weird slump right now so it's time to STFU and do what I need to do. I can fix this.

Start now

I'm pretty tired and sore this morning. I took a hot bath and it helped me feel better but I'm about to go to work... and moving around all day + sore muscles = not fun.

I had this conversation with my husband as I was making dinner ... he was complaining about his weight and I told him to go to the gym. He was like "yeah I dunno... I'll start Monday" Why? If you don't feel good about yourself then start right away. Last week I was getting over a bad cold, after being snowed in for 5 days, after being injured for a month - and I said that's enough, I have got to change something. I ate way too much crap and was inactive for far too long. So last Friday I went back to eating the way I used to - not perfect, but decently healthy. I stopped eating whatever I wanted and began talking myself out of cravings and mindless eating. Eating more protein. Eating more real and home cooked foods vs convenience foods. I'm eating a couple pieces of candy at night vs gorging on sweets all day. I have been exercising with a passion. And I feel pretty damn good so far.

For me it's about being better. This is not so much a diet and more of just being mindful of what I eat. I'm trying to use my intuition and eat when I need to, not eat when I want something. I'm not gonna be perfect and that's ok, because I do love food. I just want to do better

I am taking a rest day today because I'm uncommonly sore. Done a barbell complex and a really intense upper body day this week and I'm feeling it. Tomorrow I'll be running and maybe on Sunday too.

PSA - I can now do burpees with full range of motion and no pain. I'd say at this point I'm nearly 100% over my back injury. Sometimes I still feel a twinge but it's minor and not even related to exercise.

zzzZZZzzz..

So I've been really active lately and I'm super tired because of it

Lifting Thursday... Ran 3 Saturday, did sprint intervals Sunday, lifted today...

I did the intervals and today I did a complex because both of them are good fat burning exercises. Right now I'd like to trim off some of the pudge I've accumulated lately. My calves are super tight and I know I'll have more sore muscles in the morning. That complex had me covered in sweat and shaking

I have been running on treadmills lately because there's tons of snow and ice around here. Going to the gym every day + work uniform + at home clothes = so much laundry!

I'm also trying not to eat so much crap. Protein, fruits, veggies, some bread/rice, and a couple pieces of chocolate at night. So far it's going well and I feel pretty good. I don't eat perfectly healthy but I am at least trying not to eat so much convenience/fast food, snacks, sweets... etc.

So yeah, I'm super tired. But to me this feels better than having too much energy at night, I like feeling like I have exerted myself at the end of the day.

Random updates and thoughts

I've been busy lately, used my day off to take care of car stuff, errands, and house cleaning. And a serious leg/back day at the gym

Squats!

95# x10

135# x6 (2 sets)

155# x5

I was feeling a little saucy so I upped it to 165.. but only made it 3 reps before I knew failure was coming so I stopped. 

I am chasing that PR... 175 is next!

Then more hang cleans and RDL's at #65

Pull ups, rows, bicep curls, and dual pulley pulldowns ..this guy saw I had #42.5 on each arm and he was like "The bar is over there" No, I fully intend to lift this weight just the way I have it set up. And I can. My husband commented on me having an insanely strong back. Maybe he's right... I see other chicks pulling #30 and I do #85

Finished with some kettlebell swings, jump rope, and burpees, then some ab stuff

I must have gone a little nuts in the gym cause I crashed hard later on in the day. Whoops!

I had a good trip to Virginia last weekend, saw the family and walked around lots. I realized something though.

So I do struggle with a pretty bad sweet tooth. And I guess I always have. Now that I'm older... I don't drink soda much and I'm generally more conscious of sugar content in foods... so I find my cravings are worse because I'm not constantly consuming the stuff. It's something I struggle with on a daily basis. Now I thought I was bad... until I was around my oldest brother again.... So this guy loves cokes. That much has always been true. But it's gotten so much worse. He was bothering my mom constantly to go get cokes from the store (By the way, you are 48 years old and have a car, this is a problem you are capable of solving!) and then as a treat for the family I decided to bring home some cupcakes from Smallcakes. We had this shop in Georgia and they are really good. So I get them home and my brother is way too excited. We each take a cupcake and go hang out in the living room. About halfway through my lemon one I got that "ugghhhh" cupcake coma feeling (but it was so good!) but then 5 minutes later I see my brother come back with another cupcake. Downs that one. 5 minutes later, a third cupcake. Then he remembers my mom brought home soda so he goes to wash it all down with some more sugar. THEN he comes back in with a 20 oz bottle. 20 minutes later my mom came down and complained about how much soda he drank. 3/4 of the 2 liter was GONE. I was shocked... This guy crushed 3 cupcakes and 3/4 of a 2 liter in 15 minutes, and was about to start another 20 oz. Good lord! Now to his credit he did do a bunch of yard work that day so he definitely needed the calories and carbs, but still that is way too excessive. Later on that night I know he ate at least 1 more, so he ate 4 out of 13 cupcakes that were meant for 6 people.

I mentioned it to my mom because it's definitely a concern. Diabetes runs in my family. Addiction runs in my family, mostly in the form of alcohol. I do myself struggle with blood sugar lows and these crazy sugar cravings, so I'd be shocked if he didn't have some kind of abnormality in his ability to process sugar. And the thing is, he'll be the first one to preach healthy foods and natural medicines. So witnessing this really helped put things into perspective for me. I'm not THAT bad when it comes to sugar. But I have to be careful not to LET it get that bad.

And that's pretty much what has been happening. I didn't run this morning because I'm hella sore. But that's ok. I'm chillin out tonight, my husband has been sick for over a week and he actually feels human today so we are hanging out.

Weight Loss - 3 years later

As I'm approaching the 3 year anniversary of beginning my weight loss, I find that I have slipped backwards a bit. I'm still doing great - exercising, doing new things, getting stronger... but my eating habits are utter shit right now. Lately I've been eating whatever the hell I want, and I've succumbed to eating fast/convenience foods almost all the time because I am too lazy to cook after a long day at work. I dunno why this happened. But I need to do something to fix it. I don't feel good and I have gained fat.

I've been hovering between 163-170 depending on the day. Which isn't bad, considering I struggled to get below this weight in 2013, barely reaching my goal of 155 and maintaining that for a very short time. And I have way more muscle than I did back then. So this time I think I can get to 155.

This picture was taken last night. Yeah I'm in my underwear and I don't give a shit, no different from a sports bra or bathing suit. But really, I don't look bad. I have definitely looked worse. As you can see I continue to fight the arm fat and stomach fat - I call it my battle of the bulge. It's hard to tell but my legs are mostly muscle now.
But really this is more about trying to get back on track with eating healthy and cooking my own meals. And who knows, maybe I can lose some pudge along the way.

167 lbs of me (and a cat)

I'm gonna do just what I did before - count calories, weigh in once a week, and just try to exercise some moderation and not eat every damn thing in sight. Lifting 3x a week which I'm already there. But...

Running - We kind of took a break from each other for a little while. I dunno what it is. I know I've fallen in love with lifting a whole lot more. Maybe it's made my running kind of fall by the wayside. And don't get me wrong, I want to run. I really do feel great afterwards when I'm all sweaty and out of breath. I've just had the hardest time motivating myself to get out of bed early and go run. Well now I'm making myself do it 3x a week. This morning was a success, but it also taught me how much running fitness I've lost in the last month. Around mile 2 the soreness from yesterday's workout really kicked in, I was running out of steam, and my pace dropped to 10:22. Yuck. But I got it done in just over 30 minutes.

I am going to visit the parents in VA this weekend. I'm not going to be counting calories, but I'm also not going to go overboard and eat everything in sight because "I deserve it"

So that's my news.

(Also, benching with 40's now and PR'ed my cable row at 120lbs x1!)

Mistakes were made

It's long run day. And it's also a snow day. They were saying the snow would start around 1, but I wasn't taking any chances so I got to the gym for my long run hoping to beat the snow. Well I didn't, but more on that later.

I'm here today to tell you that sitting in the sauna the day before you run 7 miles in an indoor/warm environment may not be the best idea.

That run was not good. I had a pounding headache halfway through it and I was overheating like crazy. Side note - why am I the ONLY runner in the gym that turns fire truck red and sweats like a .. fire hose? Seriously. The girls on either side of me look perfect and I look like a character off Walking Dead. I'd like to think it's cause I am working harder than anyone else, but that's probably just wishful thinking!

This is what I looked like.. 15 minutes AFTER finishing my run. With some snow on the side!

But I did all 7 miles despite feeling like shit. Never again will I use the sauna on Fridays.
I'm also starting to think I need to eat more before these long runs. I used to eat a bigger breakfast but right now I'm in a fat loss cycle so I am more careful about how much I eat, especially when it comes to carbs. I eat oatmeal before all my workouts but on days when I am running long distances that just isn't gonna cut it. Bigger breakfast next time, roger that.

It started snowing before my run was even finished, and by the time I got on the road the traffic was starting to get backed up and people were sliding all over the road. It was coming down hard enough to be a whiteout at times. Quick change of plans - drop by the store really quick, then get my post run lunch to go. Traffic was terrible, took me 40 minutes to make a 5 minute drive and I had to backtrack just to get moving. I'm just glad me and my car made it home okay.

There's supposed to be a road down there somewhere.

It's been coming down heavy all day and ice is supposed to fall tonight. I go nowhere!

Ashamed!

Not gonna lie, I feel pretty guilty right now. Last week I got way way off track with my eating. I ate bad like 2-3 times in addition to my cheat day. I could blame it on anything but the truth is there wasn't really an excuse. Right now I feel fat as hell and like all my progress has gone out the window. I really need to stick to my plan throughout the week. And I realized I'm kind of going overboard on my cheat day so I'm going to tone that down as well.


I did have myself a nice leg day. Split squats are the devil though.


And I had kind of a weird but good encounter at the grocery store. A big bearded guy in his 40's or 50's asked me about my jacket. I was wearing my workout jacket as I had just come from the gym, a black Under Armor jacket that I got at the outlet in Williamsburg. It was on the sale rack for 30 bucks and it's like a 70 dollar jacket, so I picked it up and I have been living in this thing. I couldn't tell him the name of it, just that it has a silver zipper all the way up and it has a logo on the back of the neck. I moved my hair aside to show him - weird moment, he touched my hair.... to get a better look at it ... ehhh. But he was pretty much trying to find a jacket for his older daughter (he had a daughter with him too) who was into all kinds of sports but has a larger upper body build like me. Apparently hers is so bad they actually have to cut her shirts at the armpit. I have never had it that bad, but in the past I usually had to buy XL shirts just to fit my chest only to be swimming in the stomach area. It's better now that I have lost some weight, my jacket is a M and fits like a glove. I told him it's all about finding what types of clothes work for your shape, and that when his daughter is ready UA also makes a really good front zip sports bra - since I can't get the traditional sports bra over my shoulders. The guy said he has talks with her every week about her body image. I said to tell her she's not the only girl out there with broad shoulders and chest, even though sometimes it can feel that way. I know I feel like I'm the only one. I'm glad I could help them out a little, the guy was creeping me out a bit cause he was checking out my figure obviously, but he was really nice and trying to help his kid who is obviously struggling with her body image. I have never looked like any of the other girls out there, and embracing that fact can be tough at times. But that's a big part of why I do what I do, to enhance my strengths (upper body) and improve my weaknesses (lower body)

Speaking of which, my legs and butt are beginning to catch up.... but I'm definitely more top heavy.

So tired

I'm happy to say I'm back to heavier lifting again. The past 2 weeks were a fun experiment full of box jumps, burpees, snatches, and medicine ball slams. But I missed the big lifts too much. So I'm back to it. It's kind of leaving me feeling wiped out though. On my lifting days I get super tired 2-3 hours after my workout. On Monday I literally spent 5 hours at the VA hospital with my husband and I was falling asleep in my chair which called for emergency Starbucks. I chalked it up to back squatting and the boringness of waiting in the VA, but today I got sleepy again! It sucks! And it is probably because I am keeping my carbs relatively low. Female weight lifters can consume 200-300 grams of carbs per day but I have been trying not to go over 150. Today I did finally cave in to some carbs, I had bought some bagel chips for my husband to snack on and I ate like 10 of them. They are crazy good and I can't have them anywhere near me.

I love the fact that my gym has this

I added this to my back workout today. The second to the last rung got me, it goes from a low bar to the highest bar and I swear it's like a foot in height difference. By the time I get to it I don't have the strength left to reach that high. One day it will be mine.

My gym also has a sauna and today I decided to sit in there for awhile. During which time the power in the entire gym went out. Is it weird that I kind of liked sitting in the sauna in the dark?

Lazy on the blog, hard in the gym

Whoops. I kinda stopped blogging for awhile.

I haven't been on here but I have been working very hard. 

About a month ago it occurred to me that while I have lost alot of fat since that fateful day in 2012 when I began my weight loss, it seems the fat loss has stalled and it's even been creeping back on in certain areas. I'll admit my focus in 2014 was not even on fat loss - it was on racing, running trails, and more recently lifting in the gym. But lately I've been feeling like I want to try and get rid of some of the last bastions of fat left on me. I want to LOOK like I do all the crazy shit I do. 

Medically I need this to happen too. I still struggle with PCOS, and as a result I am trying to manage my blood sugar and blood pressure. Having abdominal fat, an "apple" shape, whatever you wanna call it is not healthy. Therefore I need to minimize the pot belly that genetics has given me. 

The solution - I'm in a cutting phase. Started it 2 weeks ago, already seeing some results...

Start - 

173 lbs

26.8% body fat

Last monday (1 week in) - 

172 lbs

25.2% body fat

Goal? Maybe 165 lbs, but what I am really looking to hit is 23-22% body fat. Minimize my belly fat, also get rid of my arm/upper back fat that's hiding all my muscles. I have alot of muscle and I am looking to lose fat while trying to avoid muscle loss, or at least minimize it.

Here's what I am doing ...

Diet - around 1500 calories a day, back to using Lose It again for tracking purposes

• Aiming for 170g protein a day, however that is a HARD number to hit, so I'm just trying to get the most I can. 
• 40-50g of fat
• Carbs ... my nemesis... trying to keep them under 150g a day, it's freaking HARD!!! Y'all know I love my carbs, but I've been good about reducing my carb intake and resisting SWEETS! My main sources of carbs are oatmeal or fruit an hour before my workout, half of an english muffin with eggs and cheese, a Chobani yogurt (searching for something with less sugar), then the rest comes from veggies and fruits, with the occasional small serving of rice or pasta with my dinner
• Saturday I'll have a cheat lunch after my long run and a cheat dinner :)
• Supplements are simply BCAA and protein. If I'm about to have a crazy day at the gym I might pop some pre workout.

One of the benefits of this cut is that it will retrain me to eat healthier as a whole. I have really fallen far over the past year and was eating so much crap. 

Exercise

• 3 strength training sessions a week
• For the next 3 weeks I am focusing on HIIT/power strength sessions because I rarely train that way. They are 20 minutes, 5 heart pounding high intensity exercises back to back, then with a couple minutes of rest before repeating the circuit 2-3 more times. 
• After my strength training I am walking for 30 minutes - trail, treadmill, elliptical, or treadmill on an incline. Anything low intensity. This helps burn some extra fat
• Running 3 times a week. 2 runs are HIIT - all out sprint for 30 seconds, then walk/jog to recover for 2 minutes. Repeat this circuit for 20 minutes. HIIT is best for fat burning. Then my long run is Saturday which is currently 5 miles, looking to increase this to 8 or 10 over time to get ready for racing season

I have been so consistent for the past 2 weeks and it's been pretty easy to maintain. It's all about having a set routine that can easily become a habit, and of course having will power. 

I am going to start posting here consistently again. I missed having an outlet for all my fitness crap that my normal friends don't want to hear about. Right now it's time for me to go to my new doctor to get refills on my meds, and maybe talk some PCOS concerns with her.