Date: 5/1/2012
Weight: 211 lbs (Scale at trainer says 209 though!!!)
Triumph!!! Shaun and I have a friendly competition we do on a monthly basis with Kevin, at Flexible Fitness Solutions. Kevin sets an attainable amount of weight to lose over a 4 week period. The goal is obviously to work together in order to achieve the goal.....not at this house! We are a trash talking, sneaky sabotagy, psych each other out kind of couple. This may seem awful, but it's what keeps our head in the game. We wager who pays for dinner after the weigh in. It's not even who loses most, just met the goal or didn't.
The first month my aim was to lose 4lbs, I lost 5. All along listening to Shaun tell me how he's gonna mop the floor with me. He was to lose 4 also, but only lost 2! Ha! I win, I win! Truth is, Shaun felt angry at himself and mostly....old. He said this isn't as easy for him as it was when he was "my age". I gave little sympathy and kept my eye on the next month, needing to lose 3lbs. Come weigh in, I hit it right on the head...209.2! So pumped can't even wait for Shauns turn. He lost a whooping 13 lbs. Little Mother Effer! Are you freaking kidding me! He lost it like it fell out of his back pocket, just misplaced it. I wonder if I will come across it under the bed where his socks pile up?!?!?! I am positive I worked harder to lose the 3 lbs then he did for those 13.
I let myself have a little pity party before remembering I had also reached my goal! This thought hit me while I was out for a run last Friday. I have a typical route by my house that is a straight shot there and back, about 3 miles. When I got to the end of the road, I said to myself, "Self, you are feeling pretty solid right now. You can turn the corner and make the run longer or head back." I decided to go with the momentum and keep running. It felt amazing. I added almost an additional mile onto my run, no sweat. Well, yes sweat. A lot. But no problem! I was so jacked about it! I reminded myself that when I hit a goal, to not discredit the work I have done. I've hit the ground running and I'm feeling good, so let's just keeeeeeep going!
Be Happy ~ Be Well
Katie
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Play Together!
Date: 4/13/2012
Weight: 215 (ugh!....hormones)
A couple weeks ago I subbed on a tennis league at SentryWorld. I haven't played tennis since junior high gym class, so I knew this would be a sight! Initially the other 3 of the foursome seemed less than delighted to being playing with such an amateur....but to top it all off, I have a tendency of tackling new tasks with an annoying amount of enthusiam. So every missed shot, I'm apologizing and pumping myself up. I thought they we going to get dizzy from all the eye rolling I anticipated. Turns out, they warmed up to me and gave me some good tips. I have now been bitten by the bug and I want to play!
Luckily, Shaun comes from a tennis family. He grew up playing tennis with his sister, who is a tennis pro in NY. He actually said this is a sport he'll play with me, unlike other sports like golf, darts or bowling. Shaun has also played golf for a very long time, so he does not have the patience to golf with me. Today was a big step though, we got a bucket of balls and went to the driving range. He says if I get better then he'll consider letting me play along.....gee thanks bud! Apparently he is willing to test his patience with my tennis game.
After speaking with Angie, Shaun's sister, she went and gave me the go ahead to get new shoes, and a little outfit for tennis....who knows, maybe it'll help my form! :) Once Angie sends us some new tennis racquets (yay!!) we are going to take on this new hobby together! That and I'll have to keep working on that golf game! Look at us, 8 years together and we're still finding ways to play together!
Be Happy~Be Well
Katie
Weight: 215 (ugh!....hormones)
A couple weeks ago I subbed on a tennis league at SentryWorld. I haven't played tennis since junior high gym class, so I knew this would be a sight! Initially the other 3 of the foursome seemed less than delighted to being playing with such an amateur....but to top it all off, I have a tendency of tackling new tasks with an annoying amount of enthusiam. So every missed shot, I'm apologizing and pumping myself up. I thought they we going to get dizzy from all the eye rolling I anticipated. Turns out, they warmed up to me and gave me some good tips. I have now been bitten by the bug and I want to play!
Luckily, Shaun comes from a tennis family. He grew up playing tennis with his sister, who is a tennis pro in NY. He actually said this is a sport he'll play with me, unlike other sports like golf, darts or bowling. Shaun has also played golf for a very long time, so he does not have the patience to golf with me. Today was a big step though, we got a bucket of balls and went to the driving range. He says if I get better then he'll consider letting me play along.....gee thanks bud! Apparently he is willing to test his patience with my tennis game.
After speaking with Angie, Shaun's sister, she went and gave me the go ahead to get new shoes, and a little outfit for tennis....who knows, maybe it'll help my form! :) Once Angie sends us some new tennis racquets (yay!!) we are going to take on this new hobby together! That and I'll have to keep working on that golf game! Look at us, 8 years together and we're still finding ways to play together!
Be Happy~Be Well
Katie
Friday, April 6, 2012
I Challenge YOU!
Date: 4/6/2012 - (6 months to the wedding)
Weight: 213lbs (maintained, no loss - no gain)
The other day I came home from work to my usual afternoon routine...take the dog out, get the mail, promptly change out of work clothes into sweatpants, get dinner started then zone out infront of the computer. As I'm scanning through the latest, lamest and greatest of facebook, I notice someone had posted a photo and caption that said "April Plank Challenge." I am immediately intrigued. I can do a plank! It's actually one of the exercises I don't mind. So I'm looking over the challenge schedule when I realize the challenge is to be able to do a 5 minute plank by the end of the month. WTF?!?! Yes, I said it. Who can do that? I was going to just keeping scrolling down but I stopped myself and re-read the schedule. It starts off slow with 30-40 secs a day for the first week then up to 1 minute 30 secs by the end of next week. This got me thinking about challenges.
How many times have you thought: "I can't do this, can I?" I know I do a lot. For instance, a week ago at my 5 am training session, Kevin had me do box jumps. He sets a step on 5 risers, then standing flat footed infront I jump and land on top of the step....softly. Kevin always stresses that part....SOFTLY. I easily accomplish 5 risers. Next time around, he ups it to 7, a whole 6 + inches higher than I'm use to. I start whining (out loud, which does not phase Kev at all) saying I need a mouthguard and I hope I don't smash my face. He just laughs and says " Get up there." I swing my arms back and JUMP! I did it! Kevin right away says he new I could and that he has more confidence in me than I do.
This brings up a couple very key points to acheiving a healthier lifestyle. 1) Take on the challenges that you fear! Rip that band-aid off, bite you lip, suck it up, and DO IT! 1 of 2 things will happen: you'll succeed or you won't. If you don't, try again. If you do succeed....pause for a moment and feel the pride. Let it wash over you and soak in it for minute! You'll need to remember that sense of accomplishment next time you come face to face with another fear. and 2) If you don't believe you can who will? Now I think confidence and positive mental attitude is a HUGE part of accomplishing anything in your path. But we all fall victim to negative thoughts and get off track. When you are down and out, who is your support system? Are you surrounding yourself with like-mind people who have similiar goals? My entire support system is made of a mix of people. Some join me in my healthy lifestyle physically and some are sideline cheerleaders....either way, they all are very important. This is something I have to do for me, but it's nice to know even when I doubt myself, someone knows I can do it and is pushing me to do it!
Weight: 213lbs (maintained, no loss - no gain)
The other day I came home from work to my usual afternoon routine...take the dog out, get the mail, promptly change out of work clothes into sweatpants, get dinner started then zone out infront of the computer. As I'm scanning through the latest, lamest and greatest of facebook, I notice someone had posted a photo and caption that said "April Plank Challenge." I am immediately intrigued. I can do a plank! It's actually one of the exercises I don't mind. So I'm looking over the challenge schedule when I realize the challenge is to be able to do a 5 minute plank by the end of the month. WTF?!?! Yes, I said it. Who can do that? I was going to just keeping scrolling down but I stopped myself and re-read the schedule. It starts off slow with 30-40 secs a day for the first week then up to 1 minute 30 secs by the end of next week. This got me thinking about challenges.
How many times have you thought: "I can't do this, can I?" I know I do a lot. For instance, a week ago at my 5 am training session, Kevin had me do box jumps. He sets a step on 5 risers, then standing flat footed infront I jump and land on top of the step....softly. Kevin always stresses that part....SOFTLY. I easily accomplish 5 risers. Next time around, he ups it to 7, a whole 6 + inches higher than I'm use to. I start whining (out loud, which does not phase Kev at all) saying I need a mouthguard and I hope I don't smash my face. He just laughs and says " Get up there." I swing my arms back and JUMP! I did it! Kevin right away says he new I could and that he has more confidence in me than I do.
This brings up a couple very key points to acheiving a healthier lifestyle. 1) Take on the challenges that you fear! Rip that band-aid off, bite you lip, suck it up, and DO IT! 1 of 2 things will happen: you'll succeed or you won't. If you don't, try again. If you do succeed....pause for a moment and feel the pride. Let it wash over you and soak in it for minute! You'll need to remember that sense of accomplishment next time you come face to face with another fear. and 2) If you don't believe you can who will? Now I think confidence and positive mental attitude is a HUGE part of accomplishing anything in your path. But we all fall victim to negative thoughts and get off track. When you are down and out, who is your support system? Are you surrounding yourself with like-mind people who have similiar goals? My entire support system is made of a mix of people. Some join me in my healthy lifestyle physically and some are sideline cheerleaders....either way, they all are very important. This is something I have to do for me, but it's nice to know even when I doubt myself, someone knows I can do it and is pushing me to do it!
Here is the challenge schedule. The website is listed under the date, I have used if for other workouts too, so it's nice to reference back to it. So far I did 40 secs on Monday and 60 seconds on Thursday. I will now try to stick to the schedule for the remainder of the month. I challenge you to try something you haven't before. Start slow like this schedule and work your way up. I will let you know how this pans out at the end of the month. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can! Let me know what challenges you're trying or join me in the plank challenge!!
Be Happy ~ Be Well
Katie
Friday, March 30, 2012
Who Needs Sleep?
Date: 3/30/2012
Weight: 213lbs (insert grumpy face here:____)
Sleep is a fickle thing isn't it? Comes and goes as it pleases for some of us and never really at convenient times. When you have the time to sleep in, either you cannot or you have this absurd amount of energy that you prefer not to waste and you're running around like a crazy person. Just sitting in bed, eyes wide open or like me, watching trashy lifetime movies and browsing pinterest. When sleep comes easy to me, I almost always without fail, have to be up in 5 hours. I just get a good sleep momentum going and then beep, beeP, beEP, bEEP, BEEP! TIME TO RISE AND SHINE! So frustrating!
What I have found though, is the sleep or even just rest in genera,l is key to my weightloss and overall health. I find I need around 7 hours at least to be a very productive individual. Last week the office was closed for Spring Break and it was my turn to stay there and answer the phone. I worked shorter hours and enjoyed the extra time to get caught up and ahead on my tasks. With this lighter schedule, I found myself getting home earlier, giving me time to cook a good meal, take Piper for a walk and still be able to watch my shows. Normally I'm doing all 3 at one time at 7 or 8 o'clock at night. This way I was getting to accomplish the things I wanted and got to bed at a decent time. This made it easier to get up at 4:30 to meet Kevin at 5am for our workout. Then! I even got to get in an hour workout on my own before I had to be at work. My body was rested and my mind was rested! I made smarter choices and thought about food less.
This week, on the other hand, was a slap in the face. Back to the hustle and bustle of a full office and schedule. I found myself staying up later to get everything in, still getting up early but being dead tired. Then throughout the day, I am grabbing at straws trying to find something, ANYTHING to get me going. I drank less water, thought about food all the time and made poorer choices....obviously it shows on the scale. When the alarm went off on Thursday morning, I texted Kevin to let him know that this morning I was opting for rest. 1 hour of sleep vs. stressing myself out by trying to do everything. I never cancel a training session, so having the thought even cross my mind that I may need rest, probably meant I needed it. I do not condone giving into your desire to sleep every time you think I'm too tired to exercise, but if you have been giving it hell all week and you find yourself completely exhausted and wondering what day it is....allow yourself the break, just this once and rest a little. It does wonders.
Piper is clearing reaping the benefits of rest on a daily basis. She eats well, drinks a lot of water, exercises (and loves it) daily and sleeps all the time. She is one of the happiest creatures I know......hmmmm maybe she's on to something.
Be Happy ~ Be Well
Katie
Weight: 213lbs (insert grumpy face here:____)
Sleep is a fickle thing isn't it? Comes and goes as it pleases for some of us and never really at convenient times. When you have the time to sleep in, either you cannot or you have this absurd amount of energy that you prefer not to waste and you're running around like a crazy person. Just sitting in bed, eyes wide open or like me, watching trashy lifetime movies and browsing pinterest. When sleep comes easy to me, I almost always without fail, have to be up in 5 hours. I just get a good sleep momentum going and then beep, beeP, beEP, bEEP, BEEP! TIME TO RISE AND SHINE! So frustrating!
What I have found though, is the sleep or even just rest in genera,l is key to my weightloss and overall health. I find I need around 7 hours at least to be a very productive individual. Last week the office was closed for Spring Break and it was my turn to stay there and answer the phone. I worked shorter hours and enjoyed the extra time to get caught up and ahead on my tasks. With this lighter schedule, I found myself getting home earlier, giving me time to cook a good meal, take Piper for a walk and still be able to watch my shows. Normally I'm doing all 3 at one time at 7 or 8 o'clock at night. This way I was getting to accomplish the things I wanted and got to bed at a decent time. This made it easier to get up at 4:30 to meet Kevin at 5am for our workout. Then! I even got to get in an hour workout on my own before I had to be at work. My body was rested and my mind was rested! I made smarter choices and thought about food less.
This week, on the other hand, was a slap in the face. Back to the hustle and bustle of a full office and schedule. I found myself staying up later to get everything in, still getting up early but being dead tired. Then throughout the day, I am grabbing at straws trying to find something, ANYTHING to get me going. I drank less water, thought about food all the time and made poorer choices....obviously it shows on the scale. When the alarm went off on Thursday morning, I texted Kevin to let him know that this morning I was opting for rest. 1 hour of sleep vs. stressing myself out by trying to do everything. I never cancel a training session, so having the thought even cross my mind that I may need rest, probably meant I needed it. I do not condone giving into your desire to sleep every time you think I'm too tired to exercise, but if you have been giving it hell all week and you find yourself completely exhausted and wondering what day it is....allow yourself the break, just this once and rest a little. It does wonders.
Be Happy ~ Be Well
Katie
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Helllllooooo, I'm still here!
Good golly! I am not so great at keeping up at this blogging thing! A friend of mine had started her blog years ago and hadn't posted for almost 2 years then, jumped back into it....this inspired me to get back at it. I'm not going to bore you with every detail since I last posted 6 months ago. I will briefly tell you where I'm at....these are the facts:
1) As of today I weigh 211 - yep I said it, right out there for everyone to see.
- this is about 20 lbs down from this time last year, but only 13 lbs down since I started training with Kevin.
2) I am disappointed in my progress.
- Now now, I'm not discrediting the progress I have made. I just haven't had the dedication and drive to follow through to get the results I expected.
3) Shaun and I have had to cut back slightly on training due to finances.
- This was to help save extra dough for the wedding, I have increased my workouts on my own.....Shaun has not....but informs me he's "working on it" :)
4) I am no longer eating gluten free - fell off the band wagon hard during the holidays. I am continually working on healthy choices though.
Other than that, it's just business as usual. Eat well, rest well and exercise. I don't have a goal weight in mind, just want to work on the problem areas - belly, arms, legs....ok ok everything! I have it set in my head that once I am 199lbs, I will allow myself to visit my wedding dress. It's only 12 lbs away........I better get to it!
I will be posting every week, but you'll notice my posts may be shorter and more organized. I will focus on a single topic or theme that relates to my journey. If there are any topics you would like me to look into and report back on, feel free to let me know!
Be Happy ~ Be Well
Katie
1) As of today I weigh 211 - yep I said it, right out there for everyone to see.
- this is about 20 lbs down from this time last year, but only 13 lbs down since I started training with Kevin.
2) I am disappointed in my progress.
- Now now, I'm not discrediting the progress I have made. I just haven't had the dedication and drive to follow through to get the results I expected.
3) Shaun and I have had to cut back slightly on training due to finances.
- This was to help save extra dough for the wedding, I have increased my workouts on my own.....Shaun has not....but informs me he's "working on it" :)
4) I am no longer eating gluten free - fell off the band wagon hard during the holidays. I am continually working on healthy choices though.
Other than that, it's just business as usual. Eat well, rest well and exercise. I don't have a goal weight in mind, just want to work on the problem areas - belly, arms, legs....ok ok everything! I have it set in my head that once I am 199lbs, I will allow myself to visit my wedding dress. It's only 12 lbs away........I better get to it!
I will be posting every week, but you'll notice my posts may be shorter and more organized. I will focus on a single topic or theme that relates to my journey. If there are any topics you would like me to look into and report back on, feel free to let me know!
Be Happy ~ Be Well
Katie
Friday, October 21, 2011
Falling into a Routine
Fall has come quickly and feels like it's out the door quicker than it came. Engagement pictures went awesome. Vicki Weaver of Image Weaver Family Photography did an amazing job! I've posted a few for your enjoyment, along with other pictures of inspiration, fun and support. Since my last post I went to Dallas for a friend's wedding and had a fabulous time. The next weekend Shaun and I had our engagement party bonfire at his Aunt Pat's house. I had a really good time with all my friends, it was such a nice way to kick off the year countdown to our wedding! The morning of the party, I got together with my bridesmaids to try on dresses and to try on my dress!!! The girls' experience was chaotic, and since then I've decided to go with David's Bridal for their dresses because it will be much less stressful if I go with one color from one designer. When I tried my dress on it fit...of course. I felt great in it, I noticed areas that have been toned since I bought it in June and also noticed a couple areas (aka back bulge and wiggly jiggly arms) I wanted to work on and promptly reported that to Kevin. He took note and I've been paying for it ever since. I have continued on the supplements and gluten free diet and am noticing some changes. My cycle was on time last month, so that is an exciting thought that maybe my hormones are leveling out already. My sleep pattern is better at night but I am still suffering from mid-day fatigue. Shaun says I look less "bloated" since I cut gluten out. The scale hasn't moved much but I am not concerned. With the end of summer and work picking back up, I have found that it will be much easier for me to get into a good, healthy habits routine. I switched my training sessions with Kevin to before work so I can take Piper for a walk after work and eat dinner around the same time every night. I also started running again, which feels surprisingly good! I plan on running at least one race before the end of the year, that way I will have something to train for to keep my cardio up. I feel like I'm on the right track to becoming less stressed and healthier so I'm staying calm about the scale for now, but that doesn't mean I've given up. I have only begun. :)
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Questions and Answers....
Oh my goodness, fall is upon us! This time of year is my favorite! I realized the other day that it has been awhile since my last post and I feel like so much has happened since then. Shaun and I took our engagement photos last weekend, SO FUN! Once the pictures are processed by Vicki I'll link some in, along with the photos of zumba and Piper's bike basket because I noticed I didn't follow through on that after my last post.
Late in August I visited Dr. Wally, the chiropractor at Adventure 212 fitness to discuss some concerns. I apologize in advance if this topic gets too personal for anyone, but I've been posted my weight and promised full disclosure so here goes nothing. I haven't been on birth control for 5+ years because it was making feel ill. I was getting debilitating migraines so I discontinued a long time ago. Since then I've struggled to keep my cycle regular. Most recently I went about 9 weeks without it, and even though it's nice not to deal with it, that's not normal. After numerous false pregnancy tests (even though I was confident I wasn't pregnant) and the liver cleanse I did in July I went to Dr. Wally. He suggested to send in a test of saliva samples to test my cortisol levels (the hormone that works with the adrenal gland to help our bodies manage stress) and hormone levels. I received the test results this week and met with the Doc to go over it. He said my adrenal glands are experiencing between stage 2 & 3 adrenal exhaustion. He explained that there are 3 stages, 1 being the easiest to repair and 3 being complete exhaustion.
He also notice some flucuation in my testosterone and estrogen levels. He believes this is caused by Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I was diagnosed with PCOS in high school and suffered very painful cysts on my ovaries then but have not had cysts since I stopped birth control. Dr. Wally explained that the cysts can be effective by insulin/sugar levels. My treatment plan to fix the following concerns is a supplemental regimen and a gluten free diet. The Doc said the gluten free diet will help balance my insulin levels and aid in weight loss. He said this may be why I've found it difficult to lose weight over the past 6 months and would explain the changes in energy level and my cycle. He also mentioned if these types of senarios go untreated it can cause troubles with trying to get pregnant, which is something Shaun and I do not want to struggle with after we're married. All of these comments validated that fact that I felt like something wasn't quite right but overwhelmed me as well. I've always wanted to be a mother and the fact that it may be a difficulty for me is worrysome. With a good treatment plan in tact and a fantastic support system I think I can repair my body and continue towards my goals.
Late in August I visited Dr. Wally, the chiropractor at Adventure 212 fitness to discuss some concerns. I apologize in advance if this topic gets too personal for anyone, but I've been posted my weight and promised full disclosure so here goes nothing. I haven't been on birth control for 5+ years because it was making feel ill. I was getting debilitating migraines so I discontinued a long time ago. Since then I've struggled to keep my cycle regular. Most recently I went about 9 weeks without it, and even though it's nice not to deal with it, that's not normal. After numerous false pregnancy tests (even though I was confident I wasn't pregnant) and the liver cleanse I did in July I went to Dr. Wally. He suggested to send in a test of saliva samples to test my cortisol levels (the hormone that works with the adrenal gland to help our bodies manage stress) and hormone levels. I received the test results this week and met with the Doc to go over it. He said my adrenal glands are experiencing between stage 2 & 3 adrenal exhaustion. He explained that there are 3 stages, 1 being the easiest to repair and 3 being complete exhaustion.
He also notice some flucuation in my testosterone and estrogen levels. He believes this is caused by Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I was diagnosed with PCOS in high school and suffered very painful cysts on my ovaries then but have not had cysts since I stopped birth control. Dr. Wally explained that the cysts can be effective by insulin/sugar levels. My treatment plan to fix the following concerns is a supplemental regimen and a gluten free diet. The Doc said the gluten free diet will help balance my insulin levels and aid in weight loss. He said this may be why I've found it difficult to lose weight over the past 6 months and would explain the changes in energy level and my cycle. He also mentioned if these types of senarios go untreated it can cause troubles with trying to get pregnant, which is something Shaun and I do not want to struggle with after we're married. All of these comments validated that fact that I felt like something wasn't quite right but overwhelmed me as well. I've always wanted to be a mother and the fact that it may be a difficulty for me is worrysome. With a good treatment plan in tact and a fantastic support system I think I can repair my body and continue towards my goals.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)