Friday, December 1, 2017

Day 1

Semi-success. The one thing I did accomplish was to NOT put an overflowing tablespoon of sugar in my made-at-home iced coffee. I did use the DD creamer, however, and am fully aware that there is both milk and sugar in it. Baby steps, folks. One less ginormous tablespoon of sugar is better than habitually putting the extra sugar in the iced coffee.

I had a cutie orange on my way to the laundromat. I brought some Korean BBQ beef jerky for a snack, and woefully read the label and saw that it had regular and brown sugar in it. So, fail. At home I whipped up some shrimp with riced cauliflower, so that was a decent meal. Dinner was steak, asparagus and avocado. But I did nosh on my canyon cut potato chips (cooked in avocado oil, so that = healthy. Sort of. Better than the other oils.), so maybe I was craving some carbs.

I don't plan on being obsessive about my food. I stopped using MyFitnessPal because the calorie counting was becoming unhealthy. My goal is to make better food choices, to avoid processed foods, and to educate myself.

Paleo Pinay

As I was driving my kids to speech therapy, a name popped into my head: Paleo Pinay. Suddenly I wondered if that domain name was taken and what could happen if I bought it? Something I really wanted to investigate. How about Paleo-ish Pinay? Why the Ish? Because what if someone called me out on not being strictly paleo?

Later in the day I was listening to a podcast from @livinglovingpaleo (real name: Kristen Boehmer) and her story on how she battled Crohn's Disease and a life of autoimmune sickness by ultimately changing her diet, and I was INSPIRED. I had heard her story before, but in the wee hours of Dec. 1st I decided that I would give myself three months to change my diet. I've already dabbled in a wheat-free/grain-free lifestyle and have started following paleo loosely (still do dairy and sugar), but today, I am going to flip the switch and go paleo for three months. What have I got to lose? Nothing except weight and a host of inflammation in my pinky finger, and possibly in my L5-S1. What have I got to gain? My HEALTH.

So here I go, putting it out into the universe, not hiding behind a litany of excuses. I will tell myself that I don't need to eat X, I know what it tastes like already.

This means giving up the Dunkin' Donuts iced coffees, too.

What does suck is how I'm going to drink other kinds of iced coffee. I've seen the cold brew coffee on IG stories, and maybe some coconut creamer. I'll look into those. But, no more sugar in my coffee.

Yikes.

Shut up. Just do it.

I can do it.

[note: going to blog here on FitMich until I can set up the Paleo Pinay blog. I'm kind of excited about that, honestly. Woohoo!)

Friday, December 30, 2016

End of December

My original goal was to lose 15 pounds by December 20th.

I did not reach that goal.

However, by December 20th I lost around 12-13 pounds. That's pretty friggin' awesome, don't you think? ;)

I went to the gym almost every weekday in September save 2. In Oct, Nov and Dec, I averaged 2-3 times/week going to the gym. My diet has fluctuated, and has been more sugar-laden during the holidays, but I haven't had any soda since the end of August. My after-dinner snacking is limited to chocolate covered cranberries or a liquid, that's it, if at all.

Today I tried on two dresses for Cristina's wedding. One was a pretty white and black-patterend swing dress. It was sleeveless and a crewneck collar. It didn't look right on me. The 2nd dress was a navy 3/4 sleeved swing dress, v-neck. It looks great! I feel very comfortable in it. Despite being plain, I will accessorize it with sparklies. I believe it will be the one for the wedding. It's not like I'm the star, or even standing up in it, so I can be more subdued.

My midsection is not looking bad, I do have mommy pouch, but I also look less bloated. I can fit comfortably back into size 8 jeans. The pants I bought from Costco also fit well. I may have to buy a new belt! I almost look frumpy in some of the large-sized clothes I have. So, my confidence is pretty high. I have one more month to go where I can try to lose more weight, if I so choose, but... I think I have lost some of my chest again. :( The girls are looking kinda flabby if they are not in a great bra. WAH!

Monday, October 17, 2016

Week 8

Week 8.
No Soda.
Took longer than a month, but lost five legit pounds.
147.6 on the scale tonight.
I went to the gym almost every single weekday in September. Toward the end of the month, I walked into Crunch Fitness and said I'd like to check out the squat racks since my LA Fitness membership renewal was coming up. The guy said, "What, you want to see our SEVEN squat racks?" I was hooked, and made the switch. Now I go in, put my stuff away, get on the treadmill for at least 20, and then go lift or row.

Unfortunately, in October I've only gone to the gym 3 times to date. Got busy with preparing for our long camping weekend at Mississippi Palisades State Park in IL. Then the kids had no school, Ronin was sick for a day. I think my body was actually happy that I wasn't stressing it out for five days in a row, because from October 1st to today I was losing almost two pounds. Took the entire month of September to lose three pounds. I'm glad I have realistic goals, and am forgiving if I'm not dropping weight quickly. I realize it's a process, and it's dang harder for a woman to lose weight than a man.

I feel better overall. I still have tummy hang; realistically I'll probably never lose it. But I don't feel so hatefully bloated all the time, either. I'm getting strength back. And I got my hair highlighted so now Denis calls me his "girlfriend" and Ronin says I look years younger. It's a nice confidence boost. :)

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Stepped on the scale and it hovered between 151.4 and 151.8. Of course I'll take the lower number. SO HEY, that means something is working. I have seriously not had a Coke in 1.5 weeks, and stopped late night snacking (except for Sunday night, where I was eating late at Cristina and Jo's, but mostly before 9). Doing the change in diet habits is working. Week One is down. I'm going to hit the gym Tues, Wed, Thurs and Fri this week, but bonus if I can get the weekend in as well. That's the plan.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

I went.

Got to the gym, was on the treadmill for 34 minutes, running for 3, walking for two, ran for 4, walked for 2. Intervals. Got nice and sweaty. Then, I went downstairs and saw two empty squat racks so I made a beeline for one of them. I warmed up with back and front squats with the bar, 10x for 2 sets. Then I decided to do 5 barbell complexes, only with the bar, for 10 minutes.
Deadlift
Bar to chest
Front squat
Overhead press
Back squat
End.

5 times, with a 2 minute breather between sets, and my legs are now like jelly.

Amazing how 34 minutes on the treadmill does NOT feel like 10 minutes with the bar. :P

But most important of all, I went.
Mich 3.0

So.
Cristina and Jo are getting married February 20, 2017. I'm suddenly motivated to shed weight and slim down for this wedding. Now that the kids are back in school full time, and the workload is honestly not as busy or crazy, I want to devote my time to two things: decluttering the house, and working out.

153#.

My last Coke was at Culver's on Tuesday, the last day of "summer" before the kids went back to school. I can do this. I go to the gym tomorrow. I will walk on Monday at Melas with the old walking crew. I will walk on Friday at Melas for First Fridays with the Fairview Moms. And I will commit to going to the gym or doing workouts at home in-between.

I think I can aim for 5 pounds a month, for three months. The first month might be easier, water weight and all. The 2nd and 3rd months will be harder as my body starts to fight it. 15 pounds sounds like a lot, so breaking it down over 3-4 months sounds more manageable. I have to get past Halloween. And Thanksgiving. But more importantly, I have to move. More. WAY MORE.

I can do this. I will do this.