50 Mint and Fry the Meat

When you've been working out together as long as my group has, you get to know each other pretty well and develop all kinds of  inside jokes that no one else would get, but that crack you up every time. It's these relationships that keep you engaged and keep you going to the gym when in other times you would have given up by now.   I can't begin to tell you about the numerous times that these people have lifted me up when I needed it and I like to think I've done the same for them.   I've blogged about the tough times, so here are some of the other things:

• Millie is the Goldilocks of the gym because she can't ever find an exercise ball that is just right.  One is too small, one is too big, one is too flat, and her quest continues.   This week she's having the same problems with gym bags: this one is too squeaky, this one is too big, etc.   It cracks me up.
• Sylvia is very reserved in nature, but if you watch her closely, she'll break out into a cute little shuffle or one of her high school step routines from time to time.
• When Jeff was explaining the slow carb diet and the fact that you could eat your fill of meat, Roy asked if you could fry the meat.  That became our new term for a workout, because believe me, the meat (aka any muscle group) gets fried. 
• The last name Minter has lent itself to my many nicknames: Mint, Minty Fresh, Mint Condition, 50 Mint (after I lost the first 50 pounds)...hopefully one day they can call me Thin Mint. 
• Frank also has a nickname: Frank the Tank Soon To Be Frank the Mini Coupe.
• At any given time one of us owes the other one a pair of socks from a previous borrowing. 
• Millie and I call each other Marisa's dobermans because we're "on point."

• It takes nothing to crack Lakshmi up and I love her beautiful smile.

There are many other things that make up our collective relationships, but what it amounts to is a one of the coolest experiences of my life.  

Fried Kool Aid and The Loser

I have heard it all now!  This morning the DJs on the radio station I was listening to were reporting about the latest thing in fair food: deep fried Kool Aid.  It's not enough that we can now have our candy bars deep fried alongside our meats and vegetables, but a favorite childhood drink is now mixed into a batter and bubbled in grease until it comes out like a fruity donut hole.  Craziness!

The other surprising thing I heard today was that one of my cousins had run into a Biggest Loser at home winner at her local swimming pool.  Turns out they're practically neighbors! My cousin doesn't watch the show so didn't know all the insider questions to ask. She did find out that on the ranch they work out around twelve hours a day!  That puts it into perspective!  I can't tell you how many weeks I've watched the show during this journey of mine and have been anxious because the contestants were dropping two to three times the weight that I did that week.  I knew logically that they were in the mode of full-time weight loss while I still had to maintain a job and family, etc.  I know in my head that I can't spend twelve hours a day working out and I don't have a chef to prepare all my meals.  There's not a camera on me 24/7 to discourage me from eating the wrong things when "no one is looking." But tell that to my heart some days.

No matter what, I stumble on along my journey and I don't stop.   I try my best to watch what I eat even though the thought of another salad or piece of grilled chicken sometimes makes me mad.  I squeeze exercise into my day no matter how busy I am or how bad my right foot throbs.   I tell myself every day not to let the scale defeat me even though the thought of weekly weigh in is the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up.  I know that eventually I will get off this plateau, but for now I just have to keep my head up and trust the process.   And stay away from fried Kool Aid.

Summer Fruit

For Father's Day my PaPa wanted a low country boil so the whole family gathered outside to feast on shrimp, corn, potatoes (I skipped those), and sausage.  We also had some lemon blueberry pie and cake (skipped those too) and good cold watermelon slices.   Lemon anything is my favorite so it was tough for me not to eat it, but I'm proud of myself for sticking with the watermelon.  Standing outside with my family, eating summer's best fruit and spitting out the seeds like we did when we were kids, it was evident that summer was here!  Well, that and the overbearing heat!   As the temp soared into the nineties, I realized something else: I can tolerate the heat a whole lot better now that I've lost weight.  And that's a good thing seeing as how it's not getting cold anytime soon!

Hard For Man or Beast

My parents' lab Loxie was told at her last vet visit that she needed to lose 15 pounds.  She only has three legs, so it's very important for her to keep her weight down, especially since she only has one front leg. That means no more scraps and a diet dog food that she is currently boycotting.

No one likes to go on a diet, whether they are man or beast.   Loxie is no exception.   Tonight at a family dinner, she picked her favorite target...my PaPa because he's notorious for slipping her scraps from his plate.  She started off by snuggling up to his leg and grinning at him shamelessly:

Don't I look cute?  Please give me a treat!

Momma had the hawk-eye on PaPa to make sure he didn't fall for Loxie's canine wiles.  When her goofy grin didn't work, she moved on to give him what he calls the "old soldier look":

Trying her best to look pitiful.

Losing weight is hard no matter if you have four legs or two, or in Loxie's case, three.  She didn't want to eat that diet dog food any more than I want to eat chicken and vegetables some days.  Whether it's a pizza or a table scrap that makes your mouth water, it can just plain put you in a bad mood to deny yourself.  

The Square Box in the Corner of the Gym

I have been losing and gaining the same three pounds for a month. It's very very frustrating.  Today before weigh in I could have put down a $100 and bet anyone that I would have lost 5 pounds.  That's how confident I felt about the work I've put in this week and the food choices I've made.   Nope. Up two pounds.   But I felt lighter, tighter, and emptier...so what was up with that? Marisa said what was likely going on was my body was holding on to the weight because of the anxiety and stress I've been experiencing this past week trying to wrap everything up with my old position at work so that I could start my new gig.

And I was okay.   I didn't get mad or emotional.  I stepped back outside of the situation and thought to myself, "what is a scale?"  It's a device that measures weight.   It's a square box that sits in the corner of my gym.  You step on it and it shows you a number.  Would I be as emotionally entangled with a magic 8 ball or a thermometer?  No I would not.  I was confident and felt great about myself 30 seconds before I stepped on that square box in the corner of my gym.   It showed me a number.  Was anything but my emotional outlook changed in those 30 seconds?  No.  

A scale is a device that weighs objects and people.  That is it and that is all.   What follows is a list of what a scale is not:

• A scale does not condemn or rejoice in me.  It does not see me as good when I lose or bad when I gain.
• A scale does not determine my happiness.   It has no vested interest in my mood.  
• A scale does not predict the future.   Just because I did not lose weight this week does not mean that I will never lose weight again.   It does not mean that I will gain weight and keep gaining until it's all back on.
• A scale cannot measure the persistence in my heart, the grit in my gut, or the iron in my spine.
• A scale cannot report on the many ways that my life is better for doing this.
• A scale cannot and will not determine my worth.

Too Fast!

I'm not gonna lie: I am a clutz for sure! Yesterday I was alternating a walk and a run on the treadmill next to Millie. My tunes were great - a J Lo/Tupac/Ozzy mix - and I could feel my feet strongly underneath me. When it came time for my run interval, I felt like I could go faster.  Confidently I pushed the speed up while flipping the track on my Ipod and chatting with Millie. The problem was that I hit the speed button too hard and suddenly the treadmill roared to life, the belt flying twice as fast as I have ever gone before.

Keeping up, but panicking, all I could manage to say was, "Too fast! Too fast! Too fast!" Luckily Jeff was right there and rescued me.  Later I almost flipped off of the exercise ball while doing crunches.  In both cases my stronger muscles helped save me from hurting myself like I would have nine months ago.  Fitness brings with it agility, balance, and strength. It's a total package that is so beneficial that even when the numbers on the scale take their time going down, still makes it totally worth it!

The Day of 220 Squats

Yay, we were back with our trainers today!   Do you wonder what happens when trainers have a whole week to reflect on what torture they are going to put you through?   It's not pretty.  Let's just put it this way: we did 220 squats and that was only part of the workout!

I know we missed Jeff and Marisa and I'm sure they missed working us out.  There was a festive air in the gym today, even though the boys kept coming over to heckle us in attempts to throw us off our game.   Make no mistake fellas, Team Reesy is going to win this competition!   Hate all you want!  :)   

I talk a good game, but I might not be able to sit down tomorrow after all of those squats.

Another good development: I switched departments at work and went up four floors. Now my desk (which on my old floor was right by the break room) is waaaayyyyy down the hall from the break room.  Cuts that easy-access snacking temptation!