Portfolios, Photographs, and Pant Sizes - OH MY!

After my second weigh in with DPT, I'm happy to report that I'm down a total of 15 pounds and several inches off of my waist!  I haven't seen much change in myself, but I can tell when I put on my clothes.  I was holding up my pants with a safety pin, and I knew that had to change when I was folding over more than the safety pin could hold!  Even my work out clothes were too big.  When DPT tells you that you look like Santa Claus by tucking in your shirt (so your pants won't fall off), then you know it's time to upgrade the wardrobe.  As of my most recent shopping trip, I've gone from a size 28 women's plus size clothing to a size 22 women's plus size clothing!  I <3 RESULTS!

So, one of my earlier excuses was that school work was kicking my tail.  Well, um it really is!  This is, hopefully, my final semester at WVU for my RBA degree with an emphasis in Communication Studies.  In the final weeks of September, I diligently worked on my portfolio to qualify for graduation.  My portfolio consisted of a narrative detailing my skills and information regarding my work experience in relationship to college courses, samples of my work, and letters of recommendation from past and present supervisors.  I was super nervous after submitting it, and I am waiting on pins and needles until I get confirmation about graduation.  I actually got a fabulous email from the RBA Academic advisor regarding the organization of my portfolio yesterday.  She stated that it was the "best one so far" and "that they would like to use my work for reference for future students" and "that I should have nothing to worry about" (in regards to credits for graduation)!  More updates on graduation will come as I know them! :)

Graduation is 10 years in the making for me!  I started my journey at WVU in 1999, directly after high school, and life events got in the way of finishing my degree sooner.  This journey has made me stronger, because I know that it really takes hard work and determination to reach your goals.  Being an independent student is a blessing and a curse in itself - a blessing because it allows me the freedom to complete my work on my schedule, and a curse because it allows me to put other things before school work and procrastinate to get certain items done.  I'm really going to value this degree when I get it and I can't wait to start the next journey in to graduate school.

I wanted to celebrate this milestone in my life with some new pictures.  I haven't had professional pictures taken since our wedding over 8 years ago, and pictures by myself since my senior year in high school.  I've been following (read: stalking) a local photographer, Amanda Reed Photography, and I just had to have her take some fantastic pictures for me.  And she did not disappoint!  I had an idea in mind for the perfect picture to fit my personality, and she completely delivered my vision.

I hand-made the tutu, and the colors are like cotton candy.  I wanted the picture to be fun, flirty, carefree, and innocent, and she captured that image straight from my thoughts.  We may have ruined a pair of white leggings in the process, but it's all for a good shot!  I had the best time shooting with her.  It didn't feel staged or posed.  It felt like an old friend was talking with me, and I felt more comfortable than I ever thought I could taking photographs.  In addition to the tutu pictures, she took pictures of the hubs and I sporting our WVU gear and another single of me showcasing my best feature - my eyes!  My parents thought these were the best pictures of me EVER.  Amanda really knows how to pull out the natural beauty of her subject and the environment around them.  I can't wait to see the rest of the photographs, and I know who my go-to photographer will be from now on!

Until next time, I leave you with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."  Until recently, I didn't carry my beautiful with me.  I didn't see that in myself.  But now I know that beauty is not only on the outside, but on the inside as well.  I know my inside beauty shines out, and I'm finding my outer beauty on this lifestyle journey.  We are all beautiful and unique, and this is what makes us special!

The CHALLENGE begins...

So on Friday, DPT decides we should weigh in since it's almost the end of the month.  Well on top of my previously recorded 6 lb. loss, I've also lost 2 lb. more!  I've lost 8 lbs. in 3 weeks, so I'm pretty excited about that.  My goal is to lose between 8-10 lbs. per month, and I know I'm shooting for the higher end of expected weight loss per week but it helps keep me motivated.

After this great weight loss, DPT rewards me with a round of HURRICANE.  And no, it's not the refreshingly tasty drink that I had on vacation this summer.  It's 30 minutes of intense circuit training that hurts like the dickens!  I wonder if I can return his gift for something better, like say a manicure at the spa?!?


After a weekend full of tempting snacks and treats, including texas sheet cake, brownies, soda, chips, and frosted cake bites, the hubby and I started the "Transform Your Body Challenge" today at a local gym.  We had starting weights, BMI, and measurements taken along with the horrid "before picture".  I'm pretty sure that we are the biggest participants in this challenge, so that could either help or hurt us in the long run.  After watching many seasons of The Biggest Loser, you can see that bigger people will lose weight at a faster rate.  However, you can really can't tell a difference in their size until later on into their weight loss journey.  So, we'll see how everything works out after 90 days.

Today, of course, was ZUMBA day!  One hour prior to Zumba, I completed 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill and 30 minutes of circuit training with the machines, kettle-bells, and medicine balls.  After working up a good sweat, it was time to shake everything my momma gave me (PLUS MORE!) and burn some more calories!  I'm pretty sure that the inventor of Zumba must really enjoy torturing people, because the arm workout absolutely kills me every time!  But 60 minutes of aerobic dance class is very enjoyable and keeps me moving the entire time.

While the hubby and I were waiting to weigh in for the "Transform Your Body Challenge", we watched a workout called Gladiator Training.  Ok, let me just honestly admit right now that I was completely scared by this workout.  I was thinking "I can't do that!", "Oh there is no way my body can do that!", "What the hell is that?" and I was psyching myself out the entire time.  It is a workout that pushes you and uses your entire body - and wow, it really works you out.  I joined in for the 3rd (and last) set of exercises, and I felt myself wanting to cuss, grunt, and scream a few times.  I am still scared of the work out, but I would join in again!

Tally that up readers - that's 30 minutes cardio + 30 minutes of circuit training + 60 minutes of Zumba + 1/3 of Gladiator training = Alot of calories burned plus a very tired ME!

Until next time, I leave you with a quote from Thomas A. Edison: "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."

Keep it UP...

So after last Wednesday's Zumba session, I had a come-to-Jesus meeting with myself.  I need to stay focused on the exercise portion of my change, as much as the diet portion.  I made the decision that I need to go on both Mondays and Wednesdays for Zumba to be effective for me.  Hey, I burn approximately 700 calories in 1 hour of fun aerobic exercise.  Exercise that makes me sweat like I'm melting at the greatest depths of the sun.  Sweat is good, right?!?  It means it's working...or so that's what I think.

After two back-to-back sessions with DPT last week, my body felt like it had been hit by a truck.  Everything ached, but DPT just kept pushing and pushing.  I like that he doesn't take "No" or "I can't" as an answer, because I'm pretty sure I would say that for every exercise.  DPT likes to start a competition between the hubs and I, because the hubs has a very competitive nature.  So, a rowing machine competition sounded like a fun idea at the time - not so much later on that evening.  The tiny people have taken over my body, and I'm pretty sure I'll be getting their first rent check very soon. 

We've decided to try out bike riding, so we can get our cardio exercise and be outside while it is still warm.  Of course, everyone recommends these super expensive bikes for optimum biking performance.  I just want a bike that will go when I pedal it.  I don't plan on being Lance Armstrong or anything, and I'm not entering any triathlons in the near future, so I'm pretty sure I do not need a $800 bicycle.  I guess we could get ONE $800 bicycle and we could take turns riding it, but where is the fun in that.  So to Wal-Mart we ventured for our newest purchase.  DPT mentioned that Mongoose was a pretty decent bike for what we wanted to do - and what do we find, but this...

Oh yes, I'm super excited.  I would be even more excited if it was yellow, but pink and white will certainly do.  We need to tighten a few screws and ensure the tires are inflated properly, but I hope to test it out in the next few days.  Of course, you know there will be an update when that happens.

On a more positive note, I visited with my family today and they say they can see a difference already.  I don't know if they are being nice or serious, but I'll take it.  I'm kind of excited myself, since my boobs now stick out more than my tummy does, so that's always a plus.  The hubs and I are total slackers, and we've been meaning to take some BEFORE pics for over a week now.  I think I'm going to make the time tomorrow before Zumba to take mine, and then I'll post it.  UGH, I'm so not looking forward to that, but it will be great motivation!

Until next time, I leave you with a quote from an unknown author: "A diet is the price we pay for exceeding the feed limit."

 

Six down...and lots more to go...

We had another painfully exhausting session with the DPT this evening.  I was seriously not feeling it today.  I was having cravings, the tiny people are killing my body, and I just wanted to lounge around in the family room watching TV.  So when the hubby came home and saw that I was not ready for the gym, he was not a happy camper.  I huffed and puffed about it, but I finally got ready for our workout.  He says: "It will be so much fun once we get there." I say: "Fun? What part of it is fun?"  I'm thinking:  "In what cruel world would any of this be considered FUN?!?'  What I want to do is make a U-turn and go to Dairy Queen for a mini blizzard and then watch TV.

I mope the entire way to the gym, because I haven't gotten my way and I don't like that.  Why yes, I can act like a petulant child if I want to!  Then there's DPT smiling away, and I just know that he has something horrible up his sleeve for today's workout.  We start off with our cardio and, before we leave the gym, we get our usual 30 minutes in.  I tried the elliptical, and I'm not so scared of it anymore.  Apparently our gym's elliptical machines are the devil, and start you off with an incline of 5.  So if you just lower that little number to 0 or 1, it's not as bad as it was before.  Although, DPT did raise the resistance up to 27 for all of 30 seconds and I was about to jump off!

So now is the fun part - the 30 minutes of strength and core training.  My weights remained the same for this session; although, he did mention he was going to up them next week.  I really hope he forgets that statement, because I thought my arms were going to fall off.  I do really enjoy the medicine ball slams, because it really helps to get out some frustrations.  Today I was frustrated because I weighed in on Monday and there was no change on the scale from last week, so I slammed the ball extra hard.  I'm really not a fan of resistance band bicep curls - everything burns - and then DPT tells me to alternate arms.  I give him the deer-in-the-headlights look, but he just says YOU CAN DO IT!

DPT added a new exercise today.  When he brought a rope out of his bag, I didn't know what to think.  He puts the rope in each of my hubby's hands and then pulls on it from the back.  Then a light goes off - OMG!  We are going to have to pull him!  Ok, I've watched this on The Biggest Loser, and there is no way I can pull our trainer.  Of course, DPT doesn't take "no" or "can't" for an answer, so I suck it up.  I get nervous watching my hubby do it, because he pulls him all the way to the mirrors (and eventually across the gym floor).  I get in position, close my eyes, and start running.  P.S. - I don't run.  I've opted to only run if I'm being chased by a bear or some other wild animal.  By the fourth set of these, I have at least pulled him a few feet from his original position.  I'm proud of that!  Things I dislike about this session - knowing my weights will increase next week, burning biceps, and the squat position.

After the big goose-egg weigh in on Monday, I was not going to weigh in again until next week.  However, I was playing around with my Wii Fit board, and it showed me at a lower weight than on Monday.  The batteries were going dead in the board, so I thought maybe it was a fluke.  The first weigh-in on the board showed me as weighing 4 lbs. and being severely underweight.  I think my Mii was completely see-through.  So I decide to just check the weight at the gym, and see if the board was telling the truth.  While the hubby is finishing his cardio, I sneak over to the scale and weigh myself.  I can't believe it - the scale reads the same as the Wii Fit board.

I'M DOWN 6 LBS!

This pushes all the moping feelings from my brain, and it pushes all the cravings out of my body for the time being. I'm so excited.  Of course my mom says "I told you so!", because I had just complained to her about not seeing any results.  DPT says that our change will be 70% diet/food and 30% exercise, and we've changed both dramatically.  I can't wait for future results!

Until next time I leave you with a proverb: "Dieting is not a piece of cake!"

My trainer is the DEVIL...

Let me start off by saying that my trainer DOES NOT have horns, although sometimes I really think he is hiding them.

My husband and I enrolled in a Weight Management program through my insurance company.  The program is for one year, and we have access to a gym, personal trainer, and a dietitian.  If you quit this program, you can NEVER enroll again.  How's that for motivation?

Last Wednesday, we had our first session with our personal trainer (DPT - I bet you can guess what the D is for?!).  To say I was scared was an understatement - I was petrified.  We completed 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill, and 30 minutes of strength exercises with him.  After our first session with him, he said that it would just get harder as the sessions progressed.  Really?!?  After that session, I was sweating like a pig and my legs felt like jello.  Great things to look forward to.  I didn't know the jello feeling in my legs would be replaced with tiny people pulling all my muscles into uncomfortable positions.

The following day, we had our second session with our DPT.  I was sore and struggling, but I was going to push through the pain for our one-hour session.  Again, we completed 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill, and 30 minutes of strength and core exercises with him.  The sweat was pouring out of places I didn't know existed, and the tiny people in my legs had multiplied and moved to my arms as well.  I just want to say that I dislike very much two items from this workout - wall squats and lunges. 

Yesterday we had our third session with our DPT - just as the tiny people in my body took a much needed vacation.  We completed 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill, and 30 minutes of strength and core exercises with him.  So, I know it's not a good sign when your ears start ringing, but about 20 minutes in I had this issue.  I'm pretty sure I was on the verge of passing out and vomiting all at the same time.  Nice, right?!?  Just as I started to feel some semblance of normal, the tiny people happily invaded my body after their short vacation - and I live to see another day.  I dislike several things from this workout - upping my weights, plank raises, and the crabwalk. 

P.S. - The hubby says that it's not a good workout until someone pukes, so I guess it was a good workout!

Until next time, I leave you with an English Proverb:  "Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork."

And so the journey begins...

After watching 10 seasons of The Biggest Loser and always telling myself tomorrow would be the day I would change, I'm reluctant to say that tomorrow never came.  I was the overweight person watching people lose weight on television, with my two favorite friends: Ben and Jerry, wishing that personal trainer would kick down my door and drag me to the gym. 

After struggling with my weight most of my life, I am the girl who rarely ate in high school so I could shop in the normal section (even then it was the last possible size in that section).  I am the girl who gained the freshmen 15, plus 15, in college.  I am the girl who bought her wedding dress off eBay, because I was too embarrassed to try on dresses at a bridal salon.  I am the girl who wants to take her nieces and nephew to an amusement park, but is afraid of not being able to ride anything.  I am the girl that sits on the sidelines, and hasn't taken an active role in her life for a long time.  And this girl is fed up...and is sick and tired of being sick and tired all the time!

So my journey begins with a new lifestyle change!

I realized that no personal trainer could be my saving grace, because I have to make the decision myself.  I have to drag myself to the gym, even if I don't feel like it.  I have to watch what I eat, even if I would rather have something fatty and deep fried.  I have to want this more than life itself, because that's what it has come down to. 

Do I want to live?  Uh, YES!  There are tons of amazing adventures that I have not experienced in my 29 years!  So stay tuned for snippets of my journey, and experience the highs and lows of this new lifestyle change with me.  This could get quite interesting...