I'm such a boo-boo

I feel like such a Looser right now. 
I've neglected my blog
I've neglected my body
I've hit rock bottom, gained a few pounds and have thrown my healthy eating way off.


Over the past few months I've been dealing with a lot.  A recent lay off from my job, failing a class (yes, I failed!), finding new love and just a roller coaster of emotions... I don't know how other people have dealt with me!  There have been some serious go sit your ass in a corner moments as I've tried to dig my way out of feeling so down, sad, emotional and whatever other colorful words you can think of right about now.

But the truth is, I'm fighting, fighting for my sanity back, my health and being completely happy again. 
We all slip and stumble every once in a while and know that it's the getting back up part that really matters.  So here I am back up, my running shoes laced and a portion sized bowl in my hand.  I even went and got my ass kicked in bootcamp last night to jump back on the wagon full steam ahead.  So here we go at this .... Fat to Fit Chick... take TWO!

You ready?? I am!!

Workout Log Week of March 27, 2011

This week I'm working on raising the weight limits....
-- I'll come back and update my progress at the end of the week!


Kee's Workout Log

Updated on 3/30/11 

Got Commitment ?

For the next few days, I’d like to deal with a few issues surrounding starting a weight loss program.  Today, lets deal with commitment and dedication and draft some serious goals for ourselves…..

Commitment

- the act of committing, pledging, or engaging oneself.

- a pledge or promise; obligation

Dedicate – root word of dedication

- to devote wholly and earnestly, as to some person or purpose

- to set apart and consecrate to a deity or to a sacred purpose

There are hundreds of thousands of scams, dieting techniques, pills supplements and the like that promise weight loss.  And I won’t lie I’ve pretty much tried some of everything!  But I’ve officially jumped off of the “diet bandwagon” and decided to make some lifestyle changes.  The two most important words in any weight loss or training regimen are commitment and dedication.  It takes time and effort for successful, long-term weight loss. 

At one point in your life I’m sure you’ve made a new years resolution to loose X number of pounds.  But in that resolution I’m also pretty sure that you didn’t list out the how, by when and how will I keep it off in your resolution.  Today I’d like to provide the opportunity and suggestion that we seriously make a resolution to self concerning what we’re intending to do. 

Seriously think about your goal, why you want to reach the goal. 

Now lets get specific,    how will you achieve this goal (i.e., what exercises are you committing to, how often will you do them, what days will you make the sacrifice, etc), target dates, and very specific weight loss goals (i.e., pounds lost, inches lost, lowered cholesterol, caloric intake, etc.).  And last but not least start small at first and be realistic!

Now that your thinking, take out a piece of paper or grab your computer and draft a letter to yourself with each of the components and sign it!! Yes sign it!  Post it somewhere that you will daily glance at this letter, be it your refrigerator, bathroom mirror, the car, your desk , etc. 

For the next 30 days we will write letters of commitment and dedication to evaluate our progress and determine what adjustments need to be made in order to reach our goals.

Ready? 

Here’s mine:

Dear Me 30 days from now:

In the next 30 days you will accomplish some pretty great things, I hope you’re readily prepared for them! 

In the next 30 days we will loose 6 pounds!! Lets start with revamping and committing to eating at least 6 small meals throughout the day. We’ll set our alarm or calendar to go off every 2.5-3 hours as a friendly reminder to have a meal or snack.  At night we’ll make sure that we’ve packed our lunch back tightly which includes all snacks and meals for the day.  Lets also re-commit to working out twice per day.  3 days per week we will work out for 90 minutes each session doing 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of weight training.  For 3 days per week we will perform two 45 minute cardio sessions only.  We will have 1 day of rest, namely Saturday, which is when we’ll catch up on TV and do some relaxing! 

Hope you’re ready future me, we’re on our way!

Ciao babes

Day 1

Day 1 –

Since you’re going to be getting personal with me there are some things I’ll let you in on from time to time.  Right now it’s about my job.  I relocated to Vegas a little over 6 months ago for a great job opportunity.  I work in Health/Hospital administration, specifically dealing with grants and clinical trial management, which can be extremely hectic at any given time! With submission deadlines, month closing, grants start and ends, project changes, and well I think you get the point.  My job is demanding, but there are no complaints here, it’s great busy work and one thing for damn sure I can not complain about being bored! LOL 

The reason I’m bringing up my job and its demanding nature because this is one of the biggest reasons that I’ve constantly repeated the “I just don’t have time to exercise/cook/eat healthy” my day is filled with one fire after the next and I simply just don’t have the time.  WRONG ANSWER!  Especially when you’re attempting to loose weight, so I’ve learned the hard way!  Eating out, eating late, and some days if I even eat at all, are just not good. And so I’ve learned to make time for me, it’s quite a sacrifice I won’t lie, I like laying in my bed or on my couch but that’s been getting me no where, fast!  

Things that I’ve started to change, I wake up early in the morning to get a workout in, painful at first but actually leads to a very productive and alert day.  I’ve started cooking several meals at a time during the week on Sunday and then I cook again on Wednesday, between time I freeze foods, so I don’t have an excuse to stop by somebody’s drive through!  I’ve also started to bring my lunch.  And then in the evenings my “tv and/or reading time” is cardio hour.  I have vowed to myself to only watch 1 hour of tv a day (unless it’s Thursday night when Grey’s and Private Practice are on) …but within that hour I must be doing cardio and watching my shows!

Here’s a bit of a look into my daily routine and specifically how my day today has actually gone:

4:20 am  - Alarm goes off

4:30 am  - Getting dressed and hitting the gym, eating a banana on the way (“snack” #1)

4:50 am –  Weight training

Today’s regimen: each set repeated 3 times :

ð       Bench Press, Flat 10 reps w/ 15lbs each hand

ð       Bench Press Declined 10 reps w/ 15lbs each hand

ð       Dips 10 reps

ð       Incline Flyes w/ a twist 10 reps w/ 15lbs each hand

ð       Push ups on exercise ball 15

ð       Tricep kickbacks, 10 reps 20lbs each hand

ð       Tricep rope pushdowns, 10 reps 40lbs

This mornings routine took about 40 minutes to complete and was followed by 45 minutes on the elliptical. Total calories burned according to Daily Burn app calculations 663

6:20 Back home and a ½ mile trial walk with the dog

7:00am Breakfast (boiled egg and 2 slices of bacon) I’m really not big on eating breakfast foods so I’m struggling with creativity for this meal

8:10am I’m finally at work

9:30am Snack #2 – protein shake w/ water

1pm lunch later than usual but today was just one of those days! Homemade chef salad w/ ranch dressing.

3pm Snack #3 – banana (this is funny because I don’t even like banana’s but they’ve become a staple in my day as you can see!)

Right now it’s only 4:30 pm where I am but here’s the way the rest of my night is scheduled to go:

6:15pm ½ mile trail walk with the dog

6:45 dinner  - leftovers, green beans, baked sweet potato, corn on the cob and 2 chicken tenders (I’ve been on a veggie kick lately)

7:30pm cardio hour

9pm Snack #4 popsicle – hey they are low in calories and make me feel like I’ve had something sweet….LOL

10pm bedtime – momma needs her beauty sleep!

I’ll update tomorrow to see if what was planned actually happened!

Ciao for now folks!  

And so it begins!

Writing is therapeutic for me, always has been and probably always will be! So what other way to make myself accountable for my weight loss journey than to sit and write about it!

Where shall I start? I’ve been overweight (according to national standards) since I learned how to spell, being pretty tall for a woman (5’7”) has allowed me to disguise my weight very often in life. There are times when I could definitely get away with saying that I was 170 when I was really 190 or sometimes even higher. About 3 ½ years ago right after my 30^th birthday I saw a picture of myself, and for the first time in my life I think I had a true look at me, and boy was I disgusted! I couldn’t believe I’d allowed myself to gain so much weight, and convince myself that I was happy being a “heavy duty cutie”. I decided that day that I had to do something. It all became very serious to me shortly after I met with an endocrinologist for the first time and was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome (PCOS). When the doctor and I discussed all of the symptoms I had, especially the rapid weight gain, it all made since…but his only solution was to loose weight or else you’re going to have diabetes. That word scared the ish out of me, and then started the journey….

Now I’m not going to tell you where I started in weight back then. I guess I’m still hung up on numbers but I will tell you that in 2.5 years I have lost over 40 lbs ….I’ve gone up and down in weight in this journey because of my lack of commitment (there are pictures below of my starting point, some progress and my current body size).  Though I’ve lost  I still have quite a bit more to get to where I’m healthy and comfortable with myself. What’s my goal? To loose another 40-50 pounds, but more importantly to take a boudoir picture that would make my future husband extremely proud one day. (Don’t laugh ‘cause I’m serious!) 

I know what it takes to do this, balanced diet, exercise & dedication! I’ve got all three in check but that doesn’t mean this is a piece of cake. If you’ve ever attempted to loose 5 pounds you know this is a major struggle and journey to complete. But still I’m ready! I’m ready to not only loose the weight, be able to shop in a regular darn store for good (no more “plus” sizes, x’s or w’s in my clothes dammit!). But I’m also ready for a lifestyle commitment that will guarantee maintaining a healthy lifestyle not just today but for the rest of my life.

Pic 1 My fed-up/starting point, November 2008, size 22, Age 30

Pic 2 Feburary 2010, after jumping on and off the weight loss wagon for 2.5 years, size 16 Age 31

Pic 3 Feburary 2011, 40 lbs later and truly committed, size 14/16 Age 32

Aspiration: Size 10/12 & ability to run a ½ marathon, to be nutritionally educated and establish a true passion for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  And don’t forget my boudoir pic…LOL