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!)

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!

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. :)

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.

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.

Reboot

2:03 am on March 15, 2016

So.
After looking at pictures of myself from 2012, I've decided to give being fit a reboot. Mich 3.0. I've been ignoring the creeping fat on my hips for years, let the bad habits slide, excuses, excuses. I'm 43. I don't want to sit in this big body again. I'd like to slim down. I don't need to be thin; I know that at 125 pounds I was having headaches and cold sweats and the shakes. Sitting down in front of the laptop every day has slowed me down. I've become lazy with exercise, so totally lazy. It's not going to happen if I sit and wish it to happen. There has to be action.

I was looking at old pictures that I had stored in Dropbox and remembered how I felt back in 2012, sporting a shorter haircut and standing in an Old Navy dressing room wearing a white and blue shirt. I felt fat, even back then. Dissatisfied. So imagine how I feel now? Triple-y so. Ready to make a change again, a lasting one.

It won't be perfect, but it will be better than I was an hour ago. That's how change happens.

Dress size

Even though I've lost my 37 pounds, I still have the perception of a bigger body. I'm used to wearing baggy clothes. I used to wear a dress size 10, size L shirts and size 10 pants, sometimes 12. But as I went through the weight loss journey, I had to tighten my belt many notches, then buy a smaller belt altogether. My clothes looked sloppy on my frame. I've had to buy clothes that fit better.

My latest challenge is my brother Eric's wedding in two weeks. With two kids in tow, I went on a quick shopping trip to the mall with the intent of trying on a few dresses and hopefully walking out with something to wear. I went to Nordstrom and Macy's, even ducked into White House/Black Market. The size that came up consistently was: 4. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I really was. I've been having some bloated days so dress shopping is not on my favorite list right now. And I have to tackle swimsuit shopping next week--- oh JOY. Today I was really surprised that the dress size that fit the best was size 4. I tried on a shiny dress in a 6 and I could tell that it was slightly loose in the waist and hips. I might have bought it anyway, thinking I could put on some spanx and call it a day, but I could tell that if I wore a dress that FIT better, it might actually look better, and I would feel more confident instead of so-so in it.

I picked up two dresses today. One is a navy, lacy, cap-sleeved dress with a cinched waist that fits pretty well. The other is a fushia sleeveless dress with a dropped waist and a pleated, swingy "skirt" bottom. It's more plain that the blue one, but it has a mod-retro feel to it. I think the navy one looks more like formalwear. And I'm not sure if I like either dress 100%, but when pressed for time I had to make some choices. I think I'll end up with the navy one, but I sent pictures to Atz so she can give me her opinion. I'd love another chance to dress shop again, even this weekend, but it may be impossible for me to go child-less.

Back to 2000

I have a headache. I'm not sure what is causing it, but if it is related to a jump start in my weight loss, I'll take that as a good sign. After putzing around with my calories and being unsteady in what routine I wanted to follow due to my strained deltoid, I decided to again keep to eating at 2000 calories a day. Any exercise I do on top of that will be my deficit. And I want to run 2x a week, do strength training 3x and/or some HIIT for a day. That's a loose plan which is my slightly altered version of the Abs Diet workout. I had to alter it because of my stupid strained deltoid that I'm getting worked on at the chiropractor's. I'm doing resistance band exercises almost every day (it was every day but I took a rest day today because it's feeling sore and maybe not healing because I'm overworking it) and that's kind of like modified strength training.

ANYWAY, I freaked myself out after reading the Abs Diet book and put myself at 1800 calories. My weight wasn't going anywhere. So, like I promised myself at the beginning of the month, I put my calories back to 2000 even and will see how the month goes. After three days of nothing, the scale moved down by tenths. And it did it again this morning. If I get enough sleep, I'm excited to see if it will go down again tomorrow. But tonight a headache creeped up on me and I don't like it. I didn't take Tylenol since I'm going to bed soon. I wonder if I'll wake up with a headache. Then it will be Tylenol for sure.

Ten more

I have a new goal.

I want to lose ten more pounds.

I want to do this because in order for me to achieve my goal of rockin' a two-piece bathing suit this summer, I need to have a ripped midsection. In order to to that, I need to lose the fat covering my abs. That means dropping my body fat percentage. I wonder if I can do this, I mean REALLY do this. I was inspired by a book I got from the library called The Abs Diet. It's got good points, and it also is a bit contradictory because it says it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change, yet they do have some calorie restrictions. Of course they do. But after reading it, the premise makes sense. It's a cleaned-up diet, and then exercise with the intent of building muscle, which in turn burns fat. My diet has significantly improved since I first started weight loss, and I'm learning more about nutrition the more I read. I think I need more food ideas in order to become successful at this, and I'm willing to follow the recipes that the book provides. Also, I am going to do the strength training that the book recommends, pending my appointment with Dr. Tom the Chiropractor. My right shoulder injury is really impeding any progress I'm going to have with weights, so it needs to get better. I hope he doesn't rule out push ups entirely, because I don't want my shoulder muscles to atrophy. I really need to improve the range of motion. I don't know if doing rotator cuff exercises alone is going to improve it or worsen the injury, so I'll see him on Tuesday and go from there.

I think my schedule could totally accommodate the strength training. I already have two days dedicated to cardio/intervals. The program calls for strength training 3x/week + ab exercises before the circuit and one workout w/leg emphasis, 2 days of cardio, and 1 day of an interval workout. Six days, and one rest day. I might play around with 1-2 rest days instead, due to scheduling. This is how I might plan all this:

Monday - Strength training

Tuesday - cardio @ track

Wednesday - Strength training

Thursday - cardio @ track

Friday - rest day

Saturday - Strength training LEGS day

Sunday - rest day OR Interval workout/HIIT

Here we go; to-do list

I stopped making New Year's resolutions a few years ago, when I discovered that you don't have to wait until the start of a new year to begin doing something. If you want to change your life, go ahead and change it. Acknowledge, then move on.

2011 was a very big year for me, not because I had another kid (I didn't) or won an award (I didn't), but because I lost 37 pounds. I regret not blogging about that weight loss journey, and am only now beginning to write down what's going on while in maintenance mode. I've got another blog to keep up with, so why am I adding another one to the mix? Well, this one is for me. Just me. It's about me from here forward, how I want to live my life, what goals are next to achieve, and how I'm going to get there. I don't have an original name for this blog, but I'm calling it Fit Mich because this is how I'm starting, and how I want to stay.

Do I have resolutions for 2012? Again, I hate to call them resolutions, because they will be things I am constantly working on day in and day out, year after year. But here is my ongoing to-do list, encompassing a range of goals, no specific order:

1.) Keep Nikko's blog up-to-date.

2.) Get a paper organization system in place ASAP and follow it every day.

3.) File papers away.

4.) Eat cleaner. No more dark chocolate-covered acai berries. - Busted. Bought 'em.

5.) Incorporate rest days so I don't overtrain.

6.) Call the Primary Care Physician for an appointment! - DONE

7.) Call the Podiatrist for an appointment! - DONE

8.) Call the Chiropractor for an appointment! - DONE

9.) Call the Ophthalmologist for an appointment!

10.) Make losing fat a big priority. 

11.) Reshape my arms during this time of shoulder rest. 

12.) Call mom & dad once a week.