Measurements

I'm not sure I'm ready to share my measurements just yet, but I am ready to share my inches lost!

Right Bicep - 2.375"
Right Leg - 4.375"
Waist - 5.5"
Hips - 5.125"
Total inches lost - 17.375
Weight Loss - 42 pounds

More changes...

Because I can't remember if I've mentioned this one thing before I'm going to mention it again, but my seat belt is a lot easier to get around me and I used to have to lean to the left to get the seat belt on and now I can fit my hand in right beside me to hook it.

The other thing I have been doing for a while, but just realized it yesterday. I used to have my desk chair the chair set on the highest setting because it was hard for me to get up. When I would get up from the chair I would have to put a hand on the window sill and desk to help push myself up. Yesterday I was typing something and decided to lower the chair to make the angle to see the screen easier, then I forgot it was lower and got up WITHOUT pushing myself up!

I need to keep remembering little things like that which aren't scale related because the scale doesn't show the whole picture!

On another note. I believe I'm going to get a caliper to calculate my body fat percentage. When I lost weight about 10 years ago my body fat percentage was 21.6%, but I weighed 210 pounds so I thought that I was still really fat! I won't let that happen again. 

For those who don't know here is a chart to compare!  I was in the "Fitness" range and was upset that I wasn't below 21% BFP! I need to remember that the scale doesn't tell the whole story!

 

Another pound!

I've officially lost 42 pounds!  I'm getting there! I know that I want to buy 50 pounds of food and take it to our church's food pantry, but as for a reward for myself I'm not sure yet. A massage sounds good, but I'm a little paranoid of someone touching my body at this weight still. I have been thinking about getting shellac nails so maybe that will be my reward! I have been buying so much stuff for cooking that I feel a little guilty buying a reward for weight loss!  LOL

I've made a decision to switch from LiveStrong.com to MyFitnessPal.com for my weight loss entries. The main reason is that I've connected with several people on facebook who use that and on LiveStrong I kind of felt alone. There are blogs that are more relevant to my situation on MFP so I'm going to start posing my food and workouts there.

I considered getting a Fitbit that everyone is talking about, but after reading reviews of Fitbit vs. Polar FT4 heart rate monitor I've decided I already have the best tool so I'm not going to waste my money buying something else! I would like to have a caliper to get my body fat percentage, but they aren't that expensive so I might get one of those this week.

I do know I need to measure myself soon! I had measurements taken when I started last year, but the trainer has them and hasn't gotten them to me yet. I should have gotten them when she did them, but I didn't!

I've also decided to eat my workout calories. In the past I've stuck to a caloric intake and not added calories to compensate for my workouts. I'm working out so much that I feel I need to compensate a little bit, plus everything I'm reading now tells me that I need to do that.

There are some cool tools out there to find your basal metabolic rate and total energy expenditure. Here is a link to my favorite one. Once you add your information by turning the wheels your BMR will be on that top which is what your body's organs need just to function. The body number is the amount of calories your body needs to do all your activities. Take that TEE number and subtract 500 calories to lose 1 pound a week or 1000 calories to lose 2 pounds a week. Anything over that is too much, but honestly, my TEE is so high that I'd have to eat a horse, literally, to eat all my calories!  Anyone who says that dieting and gaining weight messes up your metabolism doesn't know my body!  I burn calories like a freight train...I can't imagine how many calories I used to eat!  YIKES

Anyway, here is the website to calculate your metabolic rate: Energy Expenditure Calculator

Finally!

I went to visit my sister over Thanksgiving and I logged all my food, and yes, I was honest about it. Thanksgiving Day I went over my calories by about 1,000 (which is actually really easy to do!  Wonder how many calories I was eating before!  YIKES), but I walked a mile so that brought the damage down to about 800 calories. Still not bad and I didn't hate myself for doing it. It was a holiday, I enjoyed my day, and I went right back to it the next day!

The problem? On the trip I gained 4 pounds!  Seriously?  How does a body do that?  Well, today, two weeks after the trip to Chesapeake, I finally showed a loss again! I have officially lost 41 pounds now! Nine more to go to my one quarter goal!  :)

Today I tried a new routine for my weight training. I love to lift weights so I've been reading about it and I know that I won't gain so much muscle that I will turn into Mr. Olympic so I decided to lift more weight with less reps. I felt like I had a harder/better workout than normal...although, I feel like I was working out hard before too. At least I sweated more!  LOL

I need to find some kind of log to record my exercises and the weight I'm using because I won't remember them at all!  LOL

I had a weird thing happen to me at the gym the other day. I wear a heart rate monitor to keep track of my heart rate and calculate my calories burned. Well, I was just going to walk and I put the treadmill on 3% incline to get more benefit from my walk. Well, the heart rate monitor said my heart rate was over 200!  Impossible! I would have been lying on the floor gasping if that were the case. So I ignored it. It kept saying that to the point that I lowered the incline on the treadmill, but kept my pace (which is slow, but still moving!  LOL) The heart rate monitor continued to say my heart rate was over 200 so I adjusted it on my body and that did the trick!  My heart rate was in the 130's, which is exactly where it should be, so I knew I wasn't going to die!  

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was last Thursday and we traveled to my sister's house in Chesapeake for the holiday. Our family actually celebrated on Wednesdy because my husband had to get back here to work on Thursday! I did well with my calories and even walked a mile on the morning we celebrated Thanksgiving. I went over my calorie goal that one day by 800 calories, but I'm generally under my calories so I wasn't worried about it. 

The morning we left I weighed and was down to losing a total of 40 pounds. My body's natural rythm is to gain some pounds on the scale after a loss. That wasn't helped with the holiday in the middle, but the weight is back down to within one pound of what it was last week. I am happy with that. 

I have been on this journey so many times before and everytime I learn more things. Although I'm eating about 1500 to 1800 calories a day, I'm still not sure that's enough for my body. I have been doing a lot of research and I think I do burn a ton of calories...there is not a thing wrong with my metabolism, it's my eating that was broken and lack of movement!  I can fairly easily burn 1,000 calories on my weight lifting days. I usually spend about 90 minutes doing cardio and weight training in intervals. I find I like that and the cardio machine I like the best is the elliptical machine. It burns the most calories for me.

I recently found a website that calculates your calories burned during a day and then just subtract calories from that to know how much to eat to lose weight. According to that I should be eating way more calories than I am...I don't think I'm brave enough to eat that many, but I do think I'm going to up my caloric intake a few hundred calories. When I lost weight about 10 years ago I was very successful and ate 2200 calories a day!  People didn't believe me when I told them. Now, I'm not even sure that was enough with the exercise I was actually doing!

At my lowest weight 10 years ago (210 lbs.), I was only eating 1600 calories, but at the time I'm thinking of I was training for a triathlon so it wasn't uncommon for me to spend 3 or 4 hours in exercise...walking/running, biking, and swimming!  I probably burned that many calories in exercise so my body was not getting any fuel!  No wonder I wasn't losing anymore weight!

I want to be smart about my weight loss because I am 54 years old now and need to get this weight off and keep it off! I don't want to be skinny...I don't like skinny, actually!  LOL  I just want to be healthy! I need to remember that if 210 lbs and a size 10 dress is healthy, I need to be happy!  :)

Ten more pounds to the 50 pound mark and that will also be 1/4 of the weight I want to lose!  I will have to do what I've done three more times!  It's a breeze!

More changes!

I was going to a birthday party today and had to pick up another family member to go. He needed to sit behind me so I scooted the seat in the car forward. Although my knees were touching the dashboard I was still comfortable and got in and out comfortably. Here's the thing that surprised me, when Mike's brother got out of the car and I put the seat back to the original position it felt too far back so I moved it closer to the steering wheel!  Also, all day I felt like I was sitting lower in the seat!  I'm sure it's all part of my changing body...even if the scale isn't chaging!  LOL

I was able to stand longer today without my knees hurting...they hurt at the end of the day, but I did much more standing than I would have done before. 

I know this sounds odd, but I have been really tired lately, but I also know that I have been doing a lot more...more cooking, baking, cleaning, etc..., so even though I'm tired I feel like I accomplish more around the house!  My house has never been cleaner!  I am doing it slowly as I have the energy, but it's making a huge difference in how I feel about the house!

Little changes...

I decided I need to start posting my progress again. I've officially lost 35.5 pounds since last year about this time, but it's been 25.5 since Sept. 3, 2012 which works out to be about 2.5 pounds a week. Not what I wished for (3 pounds a week), but a good safe weightt loss.

Now the little things I've been noticing: my seatbelt fits better, my shoes are a little looser, sitting farther from the steering wheel, and just getting around a little easier.

I've been complaining that I'm always tired, but I also know that I'm doing more. Yesterday and today I cleaned out cabinets in the kitchen. I've been baking sweets for Mike because he likes them and I've allowed  myself to eat a serving and accounted for them on my food log so I don't feel deprived.

I've been working out five days a week consistently for a few weeks now and can feel the results of my efforts on most days. I start out on the elliptical machine for 10 minutes, do weight machines and alternate with the elliptical. I started with just one minute on the elliptical between machines, but I'm not up to five minutes on the elliptical between machines.

The good news is that I'm losing weight, but the bad news is that it takes longer working out to burn as many calories!  I enjoy doing the weight machines and I know that weight lifting is what will burn more calories in the long run so I'm trying to put more time in there than on cardio.

My sister and I are already signed up for the Shamrock 8k in March so I need to start doing walking and building my stamina. I can already workout for 90 minutes, but much of that time is weight lifting so I'm not on my feet...I want to build my cardio time. My goal is to finish the 8k in less than 1.5 hours. The last time I did it I finished in 1:37 so I'd like to do it in less time than that!  I will let you know how that goes!  There is a 6k in February I'd like to do, but it's at Virginia Beach too and I'm not sure Mike will let me go over there twice in two months! :)