21 days

The proverbial "they" say you have do something for 21 days for it to become a habit. I didn't make it.

It's day 21, and this last week has been a struggle at best, and a disaster at worst. Yesterday and today, a couple of my old (unhealthy) loves have knocked on my door ... interrupting the beautiful relationship I was building with my new, healthier self. This was further agitated by muscles and joints that refused to embrace my exercise routine.

Confession: Last night, we had Dairy Queen. No, not a "I'm on a diet and frantically scanning the menu for the best options." trip to Dairy Queen; a "Let's go get coney dogs, fries, and a blizzard!!" trip to DQ. That was the lowest point. Second only to the night I became so ravenously hungry, I sat down with a box of Cheerios from which I kept refilling my bowl. It was a sad sight--I'm sure I looked like a downtrodden drunk with a bottle of liquor and a shot glass ("Hit me again, Mack!").

I don't have an "official" weigh-in this week. I promise, it is not purposeful. As of Friday, it seemed I had lost another pound or so ... the unofficial scales telling me I'm at about an 8 pounds loss total. I'm not getting my hopes up though ... I could have very well ruined my progress the last couple of days. Hopefully the next week makes up for it.

So that this is not an entirely depressing post ... I will still list some pat-on-the-back items:

• A baby shower (yes, another one) in which I resisted the cake.
• A birthday party in which I resisted the cake & ice cream. (Not the hot dogs, chips, or dip, but we've covered the rough parts of this week, haven't we?)
• Zumba on Monday, a mile and a half walk/run Tuesday, and a 3 mile bike ride on Thursday.
• Another week without a trip to the department candy jar.

I suppose every journey has its peaks and valleys, so let's hope I'm hiking UPHILL this next week!!

Week 1: The Total Body Transformation

So this week begins what I have decided to call my Total Body Transformation: Part 1. In this first part of transforming my body I’ll be working primarily on losing body fat while increasing overall muscle mass as well as improving my cardiovascular endurance. I plan to accomplish this by spending the majority of my exercise time on cardiovascular activities and completing a total body free weight set twice weekly. Obviously, as my endurance increases I plan to adjust the time and length of each of these exercises to accommodate, but week one will look something like this:

Sunday:  1 Mile Run

Monday: 45 Minute Elliptical Training

Tuesday: Free Weights

Wednesday: 1 Mile Run

Thursday: 1 Mile Run

Friday: Free Weights

Saturday: Rest

The most substantial change from what I have been doing the past week is the addition of the free weight exercises. Last week I allowed myself to gradually ease myself into creating a routine focusing on only making sure I completed some kind of exercise each evening.

So without further ado here are my beginning measurements:

Weight – 255.6 lbs.

Neck - 17.5 in

Bicep - 14.75 in

Forearm – 12 in

Wrist – 7.5 in

Chest – 49 in

Waist – 50 in

Hip – 42 in

Thigh – 25.25 in

Calf – 18 in

Ankle – 10.5 in

Now all that’s left I suppose is to get out and make it happen.

Fat Man Chris

Teamwork!

Since I have some time at the moment, I'm gonna do the Week Two post two days prematurely.

I'll start out by saying that I'm so excited that Chris is doing this also! It's much easier to stick to something when you have some accountability and encouragement. Furthermore, I can very much identify with his perspective. I, too, have struggled my entire life with my weight.

I was an active child, involved in softball, basketball, and gymnastics. My preferred method of transportation was my bicycle. My childhood BFF and I rode around our neighboorhood daily. However, despite all of those things, around fourth grade I looked up and realized I was "the fat girl" (with a little help from classmates, of course). All pictures from fourth to eighth grade have been ceremoniously burnt (the glasses, braces, and bad perm didn't help matters), save one that someone slipped into the high school yearbook as a "flashback". They are still at the top of my hit list ;) I didn't make the 7th or 8th grade basketball team. The coach told me my skills were decent, but my size hurt me. Long story short, the summer between 7th and 8th grade I began the first of many, many rounds of dieting and lost 25 pounds.

Luckily before high school, the perm grew out, the braces came off, and I started exploring contact lenses. I gained the weight back at about the same rate as I was getting taller. Show choir and marching band kept me moving on a daily basis. I still hid under t-shirts and blue jeans, never feeling confident ... A guy I dated told me "I wasn't 'fat' just 'thick'." Very comforting.

College brought the Freshman Fifteen ... each semester. My activity came to a screeching halt, paired the stress of a major life change. There were bouts of attempted weight loss: the three months I spent on the Crew team, the year my roommates and I became students of Mari Windsor Pilates ... but each effort was fleeting. I graduated college 40 pounds heavier than college. Then I got married. Then I had a baby. Then I got a divorce. Can we say Weight Gain Extravaganza??

The purpose of this story is to bring us to this quote, which I think Chris echoes:

"Live out of your imagination, not your history."

~Steven Covey

Sure, my genetic code doesn't lay the blueprint for a life of bikini summers. However, I have the power to fight it. Growing up, my father was a big, cuddly, 300 pound man. He is now 210 pound heart disease survivor and avid 5k runner. He refused to let his past behavior write the script for a life of obesity. He proves to me that this is possible.

Week two has brought the typical mixed emotions. The dieting is starting to feel like normalcy. One night, I splurged and had pizza and beer, but kept it within reason. The exercise is easier at the beginning of the week when I'm well rested. Last night's run took an internal pep talk to begin. In short, it's proving to be possible as a lifestyle.

Again, I'm not sure how much weight I have lost, however, I will be doing an "official" weigh-in tonight, which I will post the results of. This journey is so far beyond numbers, though. It's about proving to myself that I do not always have to be "the fat girl". My dad doesn't always have to come drag me over the 5k finish line. I can have self-control and confidence. I can lay the foundation for a healthy, active lifestyle for my son. In short, I can live out my imagination, not my history.

~KL

What is good for my counterpart is probably good for me as well, right?

On three separate occasions I have tried to extricate myself from the moniker of The Fat Man. At least one of those attempts was valiant. I dropped 77 pounds from my heaviest weight of 311 in late 2007 down to 234 by early 2009. Unfortunately I failed to keep all those pounds off and my current weight is 258 fatty pounds.

Lately I’ve been asking myself: What went wrong?

I have been meticulous about nutrition, spot on with routine, and consistent about creating personal goals. Unfortunately, before I’ve reached my ideal body weight I lose interest and resume the unhealthy lifestyle choices that have led me to my current weight. After seeing Kari restart (finally begin) this blog it dawned on me. My personal accountability seems to be failing me, but perhaps I can maintain the motivation I need by scaring myself into believing others are following my progress. So I’m here for the long haul, if I fail to reach my end goal now, one of you must tie my fat ass to the back of their car each morning so I’m forced to keep on exercising.

All that said Sunday will be the beginning of hopefully the end to all this excess blubber. I’ll be posting my beginning measurements and will see what happens in a year’s time.

FAT MAN CHRIS

Week One

Tonight marks one week since The Weigh-In From Hell. Yes, the one that said "hey ... you weigh as much as you did in January ... of 2007 ... when you were pregnant ... with your FOUR YEAR OLD." Yeah, that one.

Ahem, anyhow ... this has not been a perfect week, but I have made both sacrifices in the food department and strides (literally) in the exercise department.

Pat On the Back List

• Exercise included: zumba on Monday, short bike path walk on Tuesday, gym on Wednesday, and 3 miles walking/running on Friday. I don't really count Tuesday, but still ... I got three solid workouts in.
• No chips at El Toro for lunch with Dad.
• No beer at BW3s ... only naked tenders, potato wedges, and water.
• No cupcakes or candy at a baby shower with both.
• 1/4 of a Schuler's donut when they were brought in at work. My healthy buddy split a half with me just so I could stop drooling.
• No afternoon strolls to the department candy jar all week.

It looks like this effort may have shaved five pounds off! I used two different scales, so there is certainly a margin for error, but I'm gonna go with YAY! I lost some weight!

The best part? I'm armed and ready for Week 2. Went to the store today and stocked up on more fruit than I've ever had in the fridge, got a caribeaner to hook my water bottle onto my purse, and solidified plans for zumba again tomorrow.

New Goal, Same Blog

This blog was originally designed for me, Becky, and Chris to prepare for the wedding we were going to attend last September in the Florida Keys.

Long story short ... we decided not to go, for various reasons, and our blog stayed empty.

The good news ... it's still relevant!

I have been asked to be the Maid of Honor in a wedding in ... you guessed it ... the Florida Keys in six months. I've never been MOH and I've never been this heavy ... and those two things do NOT mix. So here I go ... re-approaching my goal, a year after we resolved to "slim down".

Better late than never, right?

KL