Week 14 UPDATE

Welcome to my week 14 update. I must say that even though I didn't lose as much as I'd liked, I am still proud of my numbers because I was on vacation for 7 days and it could have been a lot worse. Also, it helps that I have now lost OVER 40 pounds.

I have officially lost 41.5 pounds to date! I have steadily decreased my Fat % and increased my Muscle %. On top of that I have lowered my BMI points by 7. I find that I am taking things a day a time and I can see myself getting closer to my goal every day. Counting my calories, fat, carbs, and protein as well as striving to go to the gym every day has really been the 2 main things that have gotten my this far. It's true what they say "To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume." It's without a doubt been a lifestyle change too, but the basic equation is simple. To see the pounds melting off week after week is what keeps me motivated to keep going.

I did another Body Pump class last night... you might remember that I threw up the last time I took the class. I am happy to report that last night I was vomit free! Actually, the class was a little too easy. I decreased my weights a lot from the last class so it seems like I need to find a median. I am stronger since taking the class over a month ago so maybe I should have stuck with the same weight again? I didn't want to kill myself again, but I want at least a challenge. Advice?

I will also note that last night I bought 2 new gym outfits. I bought 2 pairs of cute workout capri's and 2 v-neck cotton shirts. I bought 1 size smaller than I was buying a few months back, but I probably could have gone down 2 sizes. I like to be comfortable at the gym and I do not like wearing anything too constricting or tight so the size I bought (still being a little loose) is perfect. I think one of the best parts about losing weight is trying on all my old clothes that I haven't wore in a year or more and finding that they not only fit, but are now a loose! I haven't bought any new "everyday" clothes yet. I want to lose a little more and suffer with the baggy stuff before I go and buy a new wardrobe. I despise belts but those have actually been coming in handy lately.

BODY PUMP CLASS (I highly recommend it!)

(photo courtesy of: http://www.beachgym.com/)

Vacation is over...

Well, it's back to the real world (for now). Our fabulous mini-vacation has come and gone and although I was paranoid the entire week that I had gained 10 pounds, I'm VERY happy to report that I gained 1.5 pounds BUT I already lost 1.5 pounds since getting back on Sunday! Granted, I lost a whole week of weight loss but I am proud of myself for maintaining so well!

I ate VERY healthy most of the time, and counted my calories
I went swimming and did 10 laps on Monday night
I worked out at Curves on Tuesday afternoon (the 1st hotel we stayed at charged $7/day to use the gym!?!)
I walked to Curves which was about 2 miles round trip
I had fillet mignon AND dessert (gasp!) at our Anniversary Dinner on Wednesday night
I broke down and paid $10 to use the gym at our 2nd hotel on Thursday afternoon
I went swimming and did 5 laps on Thursday afternoon
I had chicken and pasta at Hard Rock Hotel on Friday night (I lost my mind for SURE on that choice!)
We did a LOT of walking, a little hiking, went kayaking even (good arm and ab workout!)

So, all in all I could have made better choices a couple times but there's a very fine line between losing weight and going on vacation. I still enjoyed myself, ate healthy 95% of the time, and even worked out a number of times. This past vacation definitely proves that I've fully embraced my new lifestyle. It's a balancing act between living your life and making healthy choices. A+ for me!

Brandi's Tips for Vacationing
1. Go to the grocery store upon arrival! I bought a $2.00 styrofoam cooler, cereal, milk, protein water packets, bottled water, apples, and fat free yogurt. My mom actually gave me this idea and not only did it save me a ton of $$$$ I was able to eat healthy foods without eating every meal at a restaurant. ***get your ice from the hotel vending room***
2. I packed protein bars for the plane rides so I wouldn't be tempted to eat the peanuts they handed out
3. Before you leave check to see if your hotel has a gym (find out if they charge!!! grrrr) Also, find out if there are other alternatives, i.e. swimming pool, hiking trails, walk to your destinations, Curves or other gyms in the area
4. Think twice before you accept the free drinks they try to give you while you're playing a slot machine. I did accept a drink on the last day, but it was a bottle of water
5. Pack workout clothes and shoes, that way you have no excuses when you want to work out
6. Buffet's!!!!!!!!!! Our very first meal in the hotel we went with a group of my husband's conference buddies to lunch at the buffet in the hotel. Buffet's are usually lost on me anyway because I'm such a picky eater, but even more so when I'm watching what I eat! How do you get around the temptation to pig out on food from 5 different continents? 2 words... salad bar.

So overall, our trip was a success! The first 4 days in Reno were still fun even though Evan was at his conferences all day and I worked from our hotel room. The last 3 days in Lake Tahoe were magical, such a beautiful place!

Here's my husband and I at the observation deck, halfway up Heavenly Mountain. I can see that my hips are more narrow, my thighs smaller, my stomach flatter. I think my arms look big in this picture but I can tell they are shrinking too. My neck is getting smaller and my sister told me the other day that my collar bones in my chest or starting to show more also. Yay for protuding collar bones!

(if you click on the picture, you can see it full size)

What healthy tips do you have while you're on vacation?

UPDATE!!!!

Welcome to my Week 12 update!! Considering the fact that there's already been 2 exclamation marks and I'm only typing the 2nd sentence, then you must know that this is a really exciting update for me! That's because...

I've lost 12.2 pounds in the past 2 weeks!!

I can't exactly pinpoint what helped me lose so much weight since my last Dr. visit but I have some pretty good ideas. I have been faithful (a.k.a. obsessed) with staying within my goals from my last visit. 1. less than 1,200 calories per day 2. less than 20g fat per day 3. less than 200g carbs 4. more than 80g of protein. I have also been dealing with some "woman" issues and think my other doctors have me headed down the right path with that also. Funny how woman issues affect your weight SO much, but I digress.

Curious about my 30 Day Challenge? Today is day 21 and out of 21 days in a row I have gone to the gym 17 times. Yes, that means I've missed 4 days at the gym but you know what? 17 out of 21 days is still pretty good if you ask me! I plan to tack every day that I miss onto the end, so it will be at least a 34 day challenge at this point. Have I succeeded in my challenge? Yes and no. Obviously no because I've missed some days. But yes because going to the gym 17 days out of 21 is still pretty good.

I don't know if you noticed but I added a new ticker to my sidebar on the right. This lists how much weight I've lost to date, and as you can see the magic number is -38.4. I'm SO close to having lost 40 pounds and I know I will get there in the next couple days! Here's a few other notable numbers along my journey so far:

I have lost 4.1 percent of total body fat
I have gained 4.1 percent of total body muscle
I have lost 2 percent of total body water
I have gone down 7 points on my BMI
My blood pressure is 106/60 (it started out at 110/84)

So, in a nutshell I'm seeing some pretty amazing results. The motivation that comes from simply losing weight and getting in shape in unbelievable! I think that's why so many people (including myself in the past) fail at losing weight. The results don't come fast enough and they get discouraged or bored even before they've stuck with it long enough to see results. I am 4 days shy of being on this journey for 3 months and I've already lost 38 pounds! That's a weekly average of -3 pounds per week. I have literally transformed my life to make this happen, the weight by no means has just fallen off, but something has really clicked in me to keep going.

Making this commitment means eating right 24 hours a day, exercising as often as possible, striving for "mini-goals", holding myself accountable, and being able to keep looking forward are some of the things that have helped me so far.

My next appointment is May 28th and it should be pretty interesting. My husband and I will be in Reno/Tahoe all next week (7 days total) and I don't plan to fall off the wagon once. I have already triple checked that there is a gym at the hotel(s) we are staying at and I plan to bring a lot of protein bars, protein shakes, water, etc. Just because we'll be on vacation does not mean that my weight loss journey is.

Side note: my husband has really made a lifestyle change too! (not that he has much choice with all the healthy food I cook now). By eating right and exercising, he's lost 20 pounds! At 182 pounds and a 5'11" frame I must say my husband is looking great! Not that he wasn't before, but I can definitely see more definition in his arm muscles, and he's starting to get a six-pack!

Side note 2: my sister has ALSO made a lifestyle change!!! She has been going to the gym with us and following the WW points system. She's lost 26 pounds! She's getting SUPER skinny!

Side note 3: my mom is ALSO looking super skinny these days! Although she's still way ahead of us all, having been steadily losing for over a year now! I went to the track with her the other day, and she wanted to keep walking... while I was getting tired! She puts on her iPod and can walk for miles and miles, with a smile on her face even!

You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.
~David Viscott

Shameless Post

As you can probably tell from my last post I haven't had the best confidence lately. I've actually started feeling discouraged since I haven't been seeing the results I'd like. I haven't fallen off the wagon by any means and I still go to the gym every day but I have been very discouraged and practically forcing myself to work out and eat right. So much so that I haven't even been doing the Wii Fit regularly, which is a no-brainer 20 minute workout.

WELL, I was nervous to do the Wii Fit tonight since I hadn't been on since Monday. I even made my husband leave the room while I weighed because I was sure I'd gained weight. 20 seconds later and I screamed. I've lost 5.6 pounds since Monday!! He ran in after he heard my scream and I made him look at the TV so I knew I wasn't seeing things. Sure enough almost 6 pounds in 3 days... I guess I finally broke through my plateau!

This is not my normal status update, I don't even go see my doctor again until next Thursday. However, I needed to post an update in order to give myself encouragement. I think this is the kick in the pants that I needed this week. I've been forgetting how far I've come and instead only seeing how much further I have to go. My mom, and sister, and husband tell me all the time that they can tell how much weight I'm losing but I feel like they're obligated to. Now, breaking through my plateau I think I might actually believe them!

I have 7 more days until my next doctors appointment. I am going to push myself even further to knock the socks off my doc. I want to go to the gym right now even though I went trampolining tonight at Skymania and even though it's almost 9:30 at night.

Sorry about writing this shameless post. Even if nobody reads it, at least I can come back from time to time and read about my excitement again.

Week 10

Well, I have been delaying the inevitable all week. I tried to pretend that week 10 never happened but then I wouldn't be holding myself accountable for week 10 and I wouldn't be able to learn from my mistakes. So I am going to post my stats from the past 2 weeks for all the world to see, and maybe the embarrassment of seeing it on the net will help get me back on track.

Drum roll please...



I added week 6 in too, so I can see that I am still better off than I was in week 6, meaning I didn't completely blow 2 whole weeks. Also, my BMI didn't go back up BUT gaining 4.1 pounds between Week 8 and Week 10 in inexcusable. I have been having some woman issues and that may be part of it but believe me when I say this, I was crushed when I saw the number on the scale. I was crying in front of my doctor and very upset. We had a long talk about what caused it and she gave me some pointers to get back on track.

She set some clear goals for me and they are working because so far, I have lost 3.2 pounds since Tuesday. I am a numbers person. I am one of those people who get excited to reconcile our bank accounts to the penny on the 1st of the month. I like graphs, and charts, and pivot tables (that's another post for another day when I show you all my beautiful "Body Composition" charts that I've been maintaining for the past 3 months). ANYWAY, when my doctor gave me some clear cut nutrition numbers to stay over and under you know that I've been obsessed with Nutridiary and have stuck to her numbers all week.

Doc says I should consume less than 1,200 calories
Doc says I should consume less than 20g of fat
Doc says I should consume less than 200g of carbs
Doc says I should consume more than 80g Protein/day (I have been close every day, average about 75g)

I went to the grocery store with a mission on Tuesday night and surprisingly enough I found A LOT of food with little or no fat while still managing the calories and carbs. It's exciting! Basically eating less than 20g of fat per day is difficult but do-able. I have just been planning my meals better and staying on track all day long. Did you know that 1 Port of Subs turkey sandwich (no cheese, no oil, no vinegar, no salt, no pepper) has 16g of fat? That's practically my whole day with 1 delicious sandwich!

I found some yummy "Yoplait Light" Fat Free yogurts... you know the commercial where the lady goes on and on about the Boston Cream Pie and Strawberry Shortcake she's been eating? They're good! I also stocked up on more of my SuperWhey Protein shots, 0 fat, only 110 calories, 0 sugar, 26g of protein, YUM! I found a delicious Cashew Chicken Meal from "Eating Right" (Vons brand). It's only 5g of fat, 270 calories, and 14g of protein.

In other news... my 30 Day Challenge to go to the gym every day is going strong! Today is my 8th day of going to the gym and I have loved every minute of it. Wednesday night I did 20 minutes of ab weight machines then 1 hour and 10 minutes on the elliptical, it felt awesome. Last night I did 20 minutes of leg weight machines and would you know I was sweating like crazy, just from doing the machines. I usually sweat a little with the machines but I think I kicked it up a notch last night with the weight. Then I did 45 minutes on the treadclimber. *TIP* to kick the treadclimber up a notch, do NOT hold on to the HR handles. It's noticeably harder when you don't hold on and takes more coordination since the "stairs" are moving. BONUS: the people next to you look at you not holding on, see themselves holding on for dear life, and then they look at you like you're a treadclimber Goddess.

Well, have a fabulous weekend all! I was super disappointed in myself all day Tuesday, but then I picked myself up and started to work towards the next 2 weeks. What good is living life if we can't learn from our mistakes and keep marching forward right?