That Didn't Last Long

Well, as I predicted, my lack of thing to say didn't last very long! :-) I actually wanted to blog tonight because I'm very excited. I'm starting to see results! Not just weight loss results, but results directly related to my training. And when I can see results, I know something is happening! I first noticed it the other day. I was driving in my car, short sleeve shirt, and I notice a small bulge in my arm. My first thought is that it must have been the angle of my arm resting on the door of the car. So I lifted up my arm. Sure enough, I see the small bulge again. Hot damn, it's a bicep!

The Time Has Come

I've finally come to the time of this blog that I was afraid was coming.... I have nothing to say! My training is going well.  I am kind of in the zone right now as far as eating.  I'm getting lots of cardio on my non-training days.  I haven't had any real revelations lately.  I've just kind of run out of topics.  

I guess I'm kind of happy about that.  Right now, things are just kind of rolling along.  I've shared a lot of background as far as why I have some issues that I have now.  I've also worked through those, so for the time being, they're no longer issues.  Other than a play by play of my ever exciting workouts ~ which no one wants!~ there's just not a lot going on right now.  Now, I'm sure that will change before long.  For those that know me, they know that I won't stay quiet for long.  But for now, just know that I'm "keepin' on keepin' on"!

Week In Review

This past week ended up being pretty good.  I was down a pound, so I'm very happy with that!  I made it to the gym every day last week and worked with my trainer once.  All in all, I can't complain!

Rowing Update

I'm over half way there!  I haven't posted much recently as far as rowing goes. However, after logging another 5,000 meters today, it occurred to me that I'm over halfway there!  It feels like I've been trying to finish this "Row The River" challenge forever.  In fact, it's been done for well over a month, but here I am still going.  140,000 down, 127,000 to go!

Much Better

This week is starting out (can I still say starting out since it's Wednesday!?) much better than last week ended.  The chocolate cake that haunted me has long been thrown out.  The delicious Dove ice cream is gone.  The yellow cake still sits in my refrigerator, as does the vanilla ice cream in the freezer, but no one has touched them all week.  I could probably just throw those away as well.

Workouts are going pretty good too.  I'm in my 4th week working with the trainer and I still really enjoy it. Even if I'm not losing a ton right now, I'm starting to see some subtle changes, so I'm happy.  I'm mostly seeing muscles in my arms that I don't typically see, so that's pretty exciting.  I'm really looking forward to the day when the scale and my body work together and I see big changes! :-)  I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

The Week In Review

With my birthday and all the goodies we've had in our house, the week ended with a bust!  I ended up gaining about a half a pound this week.  I suppose it's not as bad as it could have been, but I'm still not thrilled about it.  I actually was doing pretty good earlier in the week, but the cake/ice cream/no bakes killed me.   As much as I'm not thrilled that I gained a bit, I guess I'm happy that it wasn't very much.  It will be easy to lose that half pound and more this coming week.  And, the cake, ice cream, and no bakes are being thrown out, so there's nothing to get in my way!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!

House Full of Goodies

Well, in the epic battle of myself vs. the no bake cookies, the no bake cookies won.  In fact, this whole weekend has kind of gone down the toilet pretty fast.  I'm really not complaining... just stating a fact.

Yesterday was my birthday, so my wonderful husband made lots of arrangements without involving me.  These arrangements included dinner and then having family over for cake and ice cream.  Although I should have said no, I thought it was rude to turn down my own birthday cake.  And, my mother was nice enough to bring me some Dove brand, chocolately, brownie, ice cream.  Of course I had a small scoop of that too.  So my house, which normally doesn't have that many "goodies", now has a small chocolate cake, a small yellow cake, a half gallon of vanilla ice cream, and a small container of that Dove ice cream.  And those stupid no-bakes!  Lord, help me!

Well Nuts...

You might remember that I posted a little while back about making No Bake Cookies.  Well, my husband's co-workers went nuts for them and asked if I'd make them again.  (They were pretty yummy if I do say so myself!)  Anyway, I thought that yesterday would be a good day to make them and send them with him to work today. However, they didn't work.  For some reason, they're not hardening like they should.  So, despite how good they taste (yes, I did have one or two), I can't send them because they're not setting right.  So, now I'm stuck with 2 1/2 dozen not quite firm, but still yummy, No Bakes.  Nuts...
Wish me luck!

Another Good Sign

For those that don't know, the main reason I decided to go to a personal trainer was because of a bridesmaid dress.  I was blessed to be asked to stand up in my sister-in-law's wedding in October.  We were given the chance to pick out our own dress and the one I chose was strapless.  So, needless to say, I wanted to do some serious work on my arms!

A few weeks ago I had my first fitting with a seamstress.  The dress zipped up, which was great.  However, I guess I wasn't wearing it right.  The seamstress kept pulling it down.  And down.  Eventually, the portion of the dress that was just under my chest was now down close to my hips.  You can imagine that the lower the dress got, the tighter it got.  The way she had it, breathing was optional!

Anyway, I had my second and final fitting today.  My weight has gone down and up a little since then, so I was extremely nervous when I tried it on.  To my excitement, it fit.  It didn't just fit, it fit well!  In fact, itt fit better today than it did when she first fit me.  Very happy to see that even though the scale seems to not be in my corner right now, changes are still happening!

More Than Words

I don't think I can stress enough just how far a compliment can go.  I was working with my trainer this morning when I friend of mine came over to say hi.  I was taking a little breather in between sets, so we chatted for just a minute.
She ended our conversation by telling me that she could see that my hard work was paying off.

I really needed to hear that this morning.  The scale isn't being my friend right now.  The wedding ring is still spinning, so I know I'm still alright.  But, it's always nice to hear from someone else that your efforts are noticeable.  If you have the opportunity to commend someone for their efforts, please take it.  If you notice that they're looking better, say something.  You just might make their day!

The Week In Review

I'm not really sure what to think of this week.  I had a small gain, which I really can't account for.  I suppose it's probably due to my crazy week.  I fell short on my water, so I'm hoping that's the majority of the problem.  I guess time will tell... Due to some things going on in my life, my gym time was not what it usually is either.  I met with the trainer on Wednesday, but didn't get back to the gym again until Saturday.  Hopefully I can "right the ship" this week and get back
to losing!

Just One Of Those Days...

Yesterday was one of those days where eating fast food was unavoidable.  I was on the road the majority of the day, and on a pretty tight schedule, so fast food was really my only option.  I can normally do pretty well with my choices and, for the most part I did.  But, there are SO many calories in fast food!  Even skipping fries and not drinking pop, I still managed to go over my allotted calories for the day.

Now, if I would have been thinking ahead of time, I would have packed food and taken it with me.  But, when you are day before pay day and have no groceries in the house, that's not exactly an option.  I probably could have had bottles of water with me instead of having to get coffee twice.  But, when I'm driving across the state, by myself, I need something with a little kick to keep me awake!

So, it is what it is.  I hardly drank any water yesterday, I didn't work out, and I filled my day with Wendy's, Taco Bell and Tim Horton's.

There is good news though!  I'm over it!  It was one day.  I didn't go nuts at any time, it's just that the numbers added up quickly to throw me over my limit.  I can drink water to my heart's content today.  I'm not discouraged in the least and I'm looking forward to making today a much better day!

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Today was my second hour long session with my trainer, and my arms are jell-o.  In fact, they're more than jell-o.  I don't think I even possess the words to describe how they feel right now.  But, I'll try.

We started with squats and hamstring exercises, which went very well.  Next we went on to arms.  (Now, I should mention that I have the privilege of being a bridesmaid for my sister-in-law in October and the dress I chose was strapless.  So, I need some serious help on my arms and my trainer knows this.)  Anyway, we start with good old fashioned push-ups.  I do 3 sets of theses.  I then go to the pull-up type things that I've mentioned before.  Two sets of those was all I had in me this morning.  It's important to note that this is the point when my arms start to shake.

We then go to another pull-up machine.  I've never done this one before, so that was kind of exciting.  But, needless to say, after those three exercises, my arms were shot.  However, he had one more thing up his sleeve.

We head to the mat for what I assumed would be abs of some kind.  Right and wrong.  Yes, my abs were worked, but not in the crunch-type way.  More in the ~ balance all your weight on your arms and your toes and do the plank position ~  way.  The arms were visibly shaking that this point, but I could continue.  I do a plank on each side, all the while my arms are still shaking.  I finally end up on hands and knees.  My left leg kicked back while my right arm was straight out in front of me.  At this point, my entire body was visibly shaking.  The exercise itself wasn't overly difficult.  I've done it before.  But there was something about today. I have never, in my life, ever shaken like that.  Visibly shaking.  I was pushed harder today than I have ever pushed myself before.  I kept shaking my head in amazement.  Amazed because that had never happened.  Amazed because that means that my body is engaging muscles that aren't usually used.  But mostly, amazed because that shaking meant that I was working harder than I had ever worked before.

Wedding Ring

As I sit here typing this, my wedding ring is spinning around my finger.  It's highly annoying because it bumps up against my pinky and then continues on until the diamond is underneath my hand.  But as annoying as it is, it's also a very good sign!  Not that my ring finger is the first place I want to lose weight, but the fact that it's spinning means that the weight is really coming off!

Don't get me wrong, I know that it's slowly coming off because I see it on the scale.  However, so far this week, I haven't done much.  That's why these other factors ~ such as a spinning wedding ring ~ are so important.  Even if the scale isn't co-operating, it doesn't mean that I'm not having a successful week.  The scale won't always tell the whole story.  But a spinning wedding ring, a pair of jeans in a smaller size, a sincere compliment from a friend... those are the other chapters that complete the weight loss book.

The Week In Review ~And Being Pushed Off the Wagon!

This has been a really good week.  I ended up losing .6 pounds for the week.  I also logged another 7,000 or so meters in rowing.  I'm almost half way down the river!  I managed to hit the gym every day this week and yesterday was my only day where my food choices weren't that great.  I feel like things are really clicking right now and I'm very excited!

On to being pushed off the wagon...  My family and I ended up having lunch at Subway yesterday afternoon.  I ordered one of the new Oven Crisp Chicken subs (which I absolutely would NOT recommend.  Blech!)  Anyway, I ordered it in a combo with (baked) chips and a drink.  I fully intended on getting an iced tea with my lunch.  Every Subway I've ever been to has fresh brewed iced tea.  Every one but this one.  So, I had a choice to make.  I could grab some Diet Coke, I could get some water from the fountain, or I could drink nothing.  After my first bite of the sandwich, I knew I couldn't drink nothing!  My husband's thought was water from the fountain.  A good idea, but I had a small issue with it.  I'd already paid for a drink!  I'm a little cheap that way and if I'm paying for a drink, I'm getting a REAL drink, not water.  So, Diet Coke it was.  And I have to say, after not having pop for over a year, Diet Coke wasn't as good as I remembered!  I think I drank about 1/3 of it and that was it.  Next time I check the drink options before I order!  I hope you all had a wonderful week and enjoy your Labor Day Weekend!

Day 2

Today was day 2 with my trainer and I'm starting to see a trend already.  Lots of push-ups and reverse rows.  Those 2 movements work muscles that I didn't even know I had!  I am seriously sore in places that I didn't even know were muscles.  I can already see that I'm going to have a love/hate relationship with these reverse rows.  I'm going to hate them because they're difficult.  They make me pull up a portion of my body weight.  But, I'm going to love them because I definitely feel like my arms are getting a great workout.  Also, I feel strong when I do them, so I know that the stronger I get, the more I'll be able to do and the more I'll benefit from them!

And, as I thought, I'm not eating nearly the calories that I was before.  I work so hard at the gym now that I just don't want to mess that up with poor food choices. Things are really starting to click now.  I know it's early in the weight training, so the results won't show up quite yet.  But, when they do, I can't wait to see how quickly the scale changes too!