Day Two in an Ace Bandage

Today was Day Two of having an ace bandage on my foot.  My Transformation Team Mates took off to 5K training and I was benched, at least for that activity.  It was kind of a bummer to miss out on training with them, but I knew not to push it and hurt myself worse.  So, once again I found myself at the gym trying to find a work around. 

Lucky for me, my friends Autumn, Sharon and Dana were down at the gym when I got there. I have worked out with them before and I always end up learning something new from them.  After doing some cardio on the treadmill (I put the speed low and the incline high in order to not stress out my healing foot), I learned how to do my first bench presses with Autumn.  We did burn out sets (among other things) that I am sure I am going to feel tomorrow.

I was so grateful to have folks to work out with today when my motivation was low, folks that will push me to try new things and challenge myself.  In exercise, as in business, it's good to diversify.  This way, you not only confuse your muscles and learn new things, but you make your network of support even greater and that's always a win/win.

Where There's A Will

Getting injured was one of my early fears on my weight loss journey.   I wasn't scared of getting hurt in the gym because I trusted my trainers, but what I feared most was the (at the time) inevitable injury or sickness that would take me out of the game. This was a fear of mine because in every other attempt at exercise and weight loss before this one, that injury or sickness would be the excuse I needed to take myself out of the game, a convenient little escape clause.

Call it bad luck, call it Murphy's law, or call it the devil, but over a year ago in my first month of working out, I came down with bronchitis, a two bugs (one respiratory, one stomach), various strained muscles, and had a terrible cut under my arm that cracked and bled every time I worked out my arms. I worked out through all of those and did whatever I could in the gym because I knew that if I let one of those things take me out at that stage of the process, I was likely to be out for good.  Now, some of those times I definitely pushed myself too hard and probably shouldn't have been working out, but just showing up to the gym and doing whatever I could do was what I needed to do for myself so that I still had that accountability.  Do I recommend it?  No. But that's just what I had to do to overcome that hurdle and change that part of my behavior.

Prior to my lifestyle change of last year, I got sick a lot.   At least every other month I had a cold or bug or virus.  Prior to that change, I had terrible balance and fell down and hurt myself, a lot.  Quite quickly, however, my weight loss, improving balance, and stronger immune system due to better nutrition caused another unforeseen change: I quit getting sick and quit getting injured. And that was even being in a gym constantly where germs run rampant.   Just goes to show that the many benefits of a healthy lifestyle change aren't just limited to what happens on the scale.

Over the weekend I managed to pull or strain something in my left foot, causing me to not be able to put much pressure on it by the time Sunday rolled around.  Confined to the couch for the day, I found myself in the old position of being hurt and laid up.  This time I didn't panic however.  This time, as I propped my wrapped foot up and caught up on the backlog of my Tivo, instead of panicking about not being able to work out, I formulated a workaround plan. "Looks like it's an upper body kind of day tomorrow," I told my husband.  "What if you can't stand?" he asked.  "Well then I'll just do it sitting down," I said.

And that's just what I did. I'm not advocating pushing yourself beyond the safety point when you're injured or sick and there are always times to throw in the towel and trust yourself to get back on the horse when you're better, but if you can find a safe workaround, where there's a will, there's a way. That's the difference in me now versus who I was fourteen months ago: the will.

The Big Secret

More often then not when people find out or remark that I've lost weight, the very next question they have is how did I do it?  And isn't that one of the biggest questions we face in this era when so many of us are struggling to lose weight and the nation is facing the obesity crisis?  Well I am here to tell you that there is no secret to how I've done it.  There is no magic pill or medical procedure or crazy eating plan. I'm not knocking other ways of weight loss because you have to do what works for you, but I knew that for me to make this work this time, I would have to fight my way through this rather than take a faster way out so that it would be a true lifestyle change that would be permanent. I'm not a professional trainer or nutritionist, but if you're interested in my weight loss process, here's the high points:

• I started by simply getting moving.  For the first week or two, I didn't change my way of eating at all and got to the gym twice a week.  Gradually I started adding on workouts until I was at the level I'm at today of working out five to six days a week.
• Next I changed what I ate. I watch my calories and try to make the majority of what I eat lean protein and vegetables and try to limit the carbs.   Carbs are my weakness and I've noticed that I lose more on the weeks that I really try to eliminate them, regardless of my calorie consumption.  I've also learned that the cleaner I eat (i.e., the less processed food), the better my weight loss and the greater my energy.
• Water is so important, but I struggle with drinking enough of it for some reason. I have noticed that I am a lot less hungry when I push the water and that I have much more energy.
• I'm still not good at going to bed early, being the night owl that I am, but they say that aids in weight loss.  I'll report back when and if I ever manage to go to bed at a decent hour.
• The true difference this time around is the friendships I've made with the people I work out with.  A lot of times when my will to work out is waning, just knowing that my buddies will be in the gym motivates me to go hang out with them. On days when I feel discouraged, they lift me up.  When I feel like I can't do something, they cheer me through it.  They provide constructive competition to push myself harder, and I hope that I do the same for them. 
• The last piece of advice that has made the difference for me this time around was that I took my safety net away. When I was getting ready to start my change, my instinct was to keep my goals to myself and let people notice my weight loss when and if it happened, but then I realized that in doing this, I was giving myself an out. So, I decided to not give myself a loophole.  I told everyone I knew what my intentions were: my friends, my family, my co-workers, random strangers in line at Subway... That's how this blog was born. I wanted to make sure that if I gave up on my goals, I would have major egg on my face. Some days, that's all the motivation I need to keep myself on target.  Take your safety new away and see what happens, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 So, no great revelations right? No new innovations or fancy tricks.  Just the basics, but as my friend and workout team mate Millie says, "This weight loss means more this time, because we've fought so hard and worked so hard for it." Well put Millie, and very true.

Winning!

Earlier this year Charlie Sheen's bizarre ramblings on the Today show sparked several popular catch phrases, including the most quotable, "Winning!" The phrase quickly went viral and made Sheen even more newsworthy, to the point where his likeness was even one of the most sought after Halloween costumes this year.

So what constitutes "winning"? Charlie Sheen's perspective is all over You Tube, but for those of us who fight the weight loss battle every day, we don't always feel like we're winning.  It's easy to feel like a winner when the numbers on the scale drop, but if you've hit a plateau or feel frustration, it's hard to keep your head up sometimes.   I am seven pounds away from the milestone of losing 100, and I've hit a plateau.  It happens from time to time, but it still sucks when you fight the good fight every day.  The natural tendency is to be hard on yourself, but after several plateaus and pitfalls, I'm starting to learn to step back and look at winning in a different way:

• If you show up at the gym on a regular basis and do anything for any amount of time, that's winning. 
• If you mess up on your eating plan, but get back on it, that's winning.
• If you have the guts to step up on the scale, that's winning. 
• If you show up for class and stay till the end, no matter how many moves you mess up, or how many times you have to stop and catch your breathe, that's winning.
• If you can't do an exercise like everyone else, but you modify it and keep going, that's winning.
• If you've fallen off the path, but got back on it, no matter if it's the second or the twenty-second time you've made a fresh start, that's winning. 
• If your muscles are sore and your will is weak but you push through anyway, that's winning.
• If you know you're the underdog, but set out to prove everyone wrong, that's winning.
• If you've ever resolved to "go down swinging," that's winning.
• If you draw strength from others and pour that back into those fighting along side you, that's winning.
• If you keep fighting, keep moving, keep caring about your goal, keep showing up, that's winning...no matter what the scale says.

Things That Are Scary

Things That Are Scary

• The price of a good pair of running shoes.
• That you have to walk two miles to burn off a Snickers bar.
• Flying off the back of a treadmill (done it twice).
• The amount of calories in an Olive Garden breadstick.
• 5K training...starts tomorrow.
• Carb cravings at 10pm.
• Facing the scale after eating Chinese buffet.
• The gleam in a trainer's eye when they say, "This is gonna be fun."
• Working out thirty minutes after eating chili (I have tested this theory and it is not a good idea).
• The birds out on the Riverwalk where we walk at lunch sometimes.  Okay, maybe they're just scary to me, but still. 
• Doing the treadmill at a 10 incline; I tried to explain to our trainers that I am not in fact a mountain goat, but up the treadmill went anyway.
• The sign outside KFC that says "everything is better with bacon."
• The dessert table at my church's homecoming.
• Any table at my church's homecoming (so much delicious Southern food).
• Paula Deen's new butter-flavored lip gloss. 
• All of this Halloween candy.
• The thought of what my abs are going to feel like tomorrow after Sculpt class today.

 Happy Halloween!

Beach 2 Battleship

It's amazing what can happen in a year!  Now that I am a year plus into my journey, it's becoming fun to look back and see how things have changed; it spurs me forward and keeps me going.   Last year this time, I was about a month into my weight loss program.  I had lost almost twenty pounds and was starting to feel a lot better. Even so, I was a little nervous then about volunteering for the Beach 2 Battleship Iron Man Triathalon, because it meant over three hours on my feet, something that I had not been able to do in a long, long time.  Last year I made it through my first triathalon volunteering, learned all about Heed versus water, managed to get myself covered in electrolyte gel and thus attracted the attention of nearby bees, and accomplished making it through those hours on my feet, though at the time it was very hard for me.

Fast forward a year to today when I headed out to volunteer again at the aid station for the Beach 2 Battleship Triathalon.   This year my table was at the top of the hill and I found myself with the job of making sure the cups stayed full of Heed and water and that we had an ample supply of electrolyte gel and pills.  Not only was I on my feet for over three hours, but I made countless trips up and down the hill with jugs of water, sleeves of cups, and several trips with a 5 gallon cooler full of Heed.  At one point I was heading up the hill with some water and Jeff jogged up next to me saying, "Let's run." So I ran because as I've said before, I do everything my trainers tell me to do.

It was inspirational to see all of those athletes who, if they were doing the full Iron Man, had swam two miles, biked over a hundred, and now were running a twenty-six mile marathon. There were people of all shapes and sizes, as well as all age ranges, including some senior citizens.  Just goes to show you that with determination, you can do anything. Whether it's completing an Iron Man or sticking with a diet and workout plan for over a year, if you keep plodding away, you can cross the finish line, and it feels amazing.

2011 Beach 2 Battleship with my friend Kim, sporting our pink for breast cancer awareness.

Me and my friend Heather, who is a champ and a fighter herself!

It Was a Dark And Stormy Night

It was a dark and stormy night.  Wind whistled outside the window like the desolate and foreboding wail of a banshee.  Inside the house even the roar of a crackling fire couldn't warm the bones or shake away the dread that was descending like a heavy cloak.  Lightning crashed and thunder shook the walls.  Fear caused the stomach to clench and the chest to feel like an iron belt was steadily tightening and tightening as the heart thump, thump, thumped a rhythm of terror.  It was coming.  There was no escape, there was no release, there was no where to run.  Sooner or later...we all must face...the scale.  Ah ha ha ha.  Scary but true.

Something else that was scary today, Tabata class. To find out what Tabata is, click here.  Freddy Krueger and Michael Meyers having nothin' on side plank Tabata intervals.  It's probably going to be scarier in the morning when I'm stiff and sore, but I felt amazing afterwards.

Happy early Halloween y'all!

Last Halloween, about a month into my program.

This Halloween.  Boo y'all!