Maria Week 35 - Ute

Rachel will be happy to know that I am a now a fellow Ute. Yes, it's true. I attended my first class yesterday. Oddly enough, I don't feel like I am betraying my Cougar loyalty by becoming a Ute. In fact, I have BYU Football season tickets and I think I could potentially cheer for both teams if necessary. (This is much easier said than done.) I save my real support, my real loyalty, and thousands and thousands of dollars for the school that grants me acceptance for graduate school so my true colors won't show for a few more years.


Well, that being said, this is about improving ourselves, right? And not just our physical appearances, right? I've worked pretty hard on and off, mostly on, with improving my physical appearance and now I get to work really hard with improving my mind. I'm very excited. We all know I'd be a professional student if that were possible. Anyone know if that's possible? I'll do it. Sign me up! I'm still not 100% sure what my undergrad major is going to be so I'm really on the right track to being a professional student. I mean, if I make a switch - it will be my 6th or 7th major since starting college ..... we won't get into exactly HOW many years ago that was. I have so many huge decisions to make and I feel such urgency to make them right now. I feel like I am standing on the edge of this enormous precipice! It's all exciting, nonetheless.

Well, workouts have not begun to suffer, yet. Depositing $10.

Maria Week 34 - Loser

I'm a loser again. I'm excited about that. Not a very big loser....It's really a tiny accomplishment. But I'll take what I can get. Once again I am seeing the numbers drop on the scale.

Also, I burned over 1800 calories in just one day. That always makes me feel good. I really wish I could do that everyday. But it nearly exhausts me. And hopefully I'll have a job soon and won't have that kind of time. I can't credit that to my weight loss - I just did that today and I lost the weight by Monday. But I'm sure I'll see the effects of that huge calorie burn soon.

Picking up the pace, speed, intensity, whatever, on my running again. It's feeling good.

Depositing $10 for all my workouts.

And the winner is ......

As many of you know, my husband's sister started a family weight loss/fitness challenge. There were essentially two categories ..... highest percentage of body weight lost and highest number of points. To see how to earn points check out the blog at http://sanderslosers.blogspot.com/

It was a close race. Justin was weighing in at 264 yesterday afternoon. That's 13.68% loss of his body weight. He got out the calculator and started to figure out what his weight would need to be as well as that of his closest competitors to determine if he could easily win or not. If he could maintain that weight - he'd have a very good chance of winning.

Justin's oiled up striped down brother-in-law Brock came out in his tiny shorts and jumped on the scale. He had lost 13.9% of his body weight. Poor Justin.

But wait... Justin hadn't OFFICIALLY weighed in yet. Justin would need to weigh 263. He climbed on that scale (that only an hour ago he had used to weigh himself at 264) and .....

263!!!!!

Justin lost 14.25% of his body weight and took home the title of Sanders' Family Biggest Loser! He lost 44 lbs in 11 weeks!

Good job, Baby! I am so proud of you!

Oh.....and I won on the points section.

But the most important thing is that we all started making healthier changes in our lives. Just like the Butterfly Girls.

Our vacation will be great, but honestly ladies, we've already been rewarded by how much better we all feel about ourselves and the love, friendship, inspiration, and encouragement that we've received from each other.

Keep up the good work BG's. Keep up the good work Sanders Family. And keep up the good work to all of you out there striving to improve your lives!

Maria Week 26 - Can I sympathize with Mj?

I'm in the final home stretch of my training....for THIS half marathon anyway. I hope that there will be many more to come and if all goes well, perhaps even a full marathon someday. I don't want to make a habit of running full marathons, but one or two might be nice. IF I can stand to continue running.

I want to thank Brady for his words of encouragement regarding my running issue. You have given me hope. I am determined to become a runner. That was a very daunting thought in the beginning, but now I believe that I can learn to love it. Thank you for that.

On Saturday I ran 10 miles - my longest distance yet (and a milestone). I started off the run with some minor pain in my hip and knees. Knee pain and often shin splints at the beginning of a run are very typical with me and if I can tough it out for about 30 - 45 minutes the pain usually goes away. Saturday, the pain in my hip slowly increased. By mile 7 it was approaching unbearable. By mile 8 I was choking back the tears. By mile 9 I considered, for the first time, walking - at least for a short distance. And it occurred to me - I've been in this same stride for so long that I'm not really sure how to walk at this point. But after a few minutes of serious thought I figured out how to walk again. The pain was unbearable! I probably only managed to walk about 15 feet when I had to start running again. It was much more painful to walk than to run. (Go figure!) So I kicked it back into gear. I cried the last mile. And by the time I finished I was in so much pain I wanted to collapse and just sob. (I nearly did). I don't know what it's like to live with that pain everyday, but Mj, for one day, maybe I could sympathize just a little. You are a real trooper.

I do at least one hour of cardio everyday but one. And on one day I did nearly 2.5 hours (Saturday). I am also pretty good about eating fruits (although not so good with the veggies). So I'll be depositing $12. My max amount plus one milestone.

Maria Week 24 - To be or not to be....That is the question

What does it take to be a "runner"? Do I qualify. I run 3-4 days a week. And I have now run as far as 8 miles in one run. I am signed up for and training for a half marathon. But does that make me a runner? I sure don't feel like a runner. And while I plan (at this time) to continue to participate in races and half-marathons; I plan to continue to run 3-4 times a week; I gotta be honest with you all ..... I don't think I enjoy running. And that sort of bums me out. Because I want to like it. Hopefully my problem is that my running at this time is primarily on a treadmill. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that THAT is my real issue here; that once I get outside with the sunshine on my face and shoulders and a breeze in my hair - I'll catch the running bug and be addicted!

Ran 8 miles last Saturday - new milestone!

I want to take just a minute to revisit a monster from my past. By the time I had graduated high school I had never successfully run more than about a mile and a half without stopping to walk a while. By the time I was 31 I had never run more than about 2 miles without stopping to rest or to walk a while. I have now run 7 miles without stopping at all. (I took a much needed potty break with my recent 8 mile run - hehe). I think I'll pat myself on the back today. And when I finish that half marathon in a little over 2 weeks - I think I might reward myself. Not sure what my reward will be yet. But I believe I will have earned SOMETHING!

Depositing $12. Max $10 for workouts and fruits and veggies and $2 for the 8 mile milestone.

Maria Week 18

I was thinking back about the week and felt like I hadn't been strong...but as I actually looked through my calendar I realized that it's really only been the last few days. I started off really strong. But Saturday my usual instructor wasn't there so I followed a different routine. Not as much strength and it threw me off. Then Monday and Tuesday evenings I had work meetings/dinners so I didn't get to do my two-a-days and missed my abs class so that has made me feel even more off. But prior to Saturday I was strong and so will finish this week out great anyway!
I am going to get to deposit the max for workouts and eating my fruits and veggies. Also, I not only hit, but surpassed my next milestone weight this morning! 116.6 That's puts me 1.6 lbs from my goal and 1.6 lbs away from my next milestone weight!
So depositing $12 for max workouts and a milestone

Canyonlands Half Marathon

I made it! My registration to the Canyonlands Half Marathon was accepted! I won the lottery! Hehe. That's what the email that I got called it - a lottery. And I got accepted - that's kind of like winning right? Or losing? This is so daunting and scary! OMG! What have I gotten myself into? As of today (December 16) I only have 95 days to prepare. Yikes! But 95 is a good number - I should be ok. Right?

Maria Week 12

I'm so late ... and so sorry. Feels like the story of my life lately. Late to work, staying late at work, late getting home, late to the party, later period - but sometimes early - what's up with that?!?!?! (Sorry - I'm a girl - I gotta mention my girl issues.)
Anyway. Fell off the wagon - been REALLY bad at recording things on BodyDaemon. Pretty good at putting my workouts in to my phone so that by the end of the week I can see what I've done to calculate that. Maybe that will need to be another one of my milestones that I'll forget about (like not eatting out - ARGH!)
Anyway ... depositing the max $10 - no milestones this week. (Should have been a new weight milestone, but i put that 1/2 lb back on after the weekend.) Maybe next week. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Maria Week 10

ARGH! I worked my butt off this past week and I still gained 2.5 lbs. Ok, ok, so I also ate like crap. :-( So I have no one to blame but myself. I've been sick for eating so badly and ... again, still haven't learned my lesson. Maybe someday I'll get it through that thick head of mine. For now, I'm weak - chocolate and peanut butter and salty tortilla chips have been calling my name and I've completely given in. (I blame PMS - for the cravings AND the weight gain.)
So, with all my workouts, fruits and veggies most days, minus $1 for gaining more than 2 lbs, I will be depositing $16. (Told you I worked my butt off! I'm thinking of having all my mail delivered to Gold's Gym since it is my primary residency.)

Shout out to VL

I want to give a shout out to VL who has lost 8 lbs in a little over a week and has been working out consistently and eating healthier. I am honored and flattered to know that I am inspiring and motivating others to lead healthier lives. And the greatest compliment I could ever get is that someone made better choices because of me.
Wa-hoo! VL - you are a rockstar! I am so proud of you. Keep up the good work and keep calling me to check in ;-) You are motivating and inspiring me to be better, too!

Maria Week 9

Lost a full pound from last week. I'm very excited about that because I now weigh less than the weight reported on my drivers license. I'd be willing to bet that there are very few people out there who can say that!
Also, I have reason to believe that I have inspired more than just my fellow Butterfly girls to get in shape.
I have gotten a few compliments at the gym from guys in my classes that I talk to, but not necessarily "friendly" with. They've been telling me that I look great and that I've lost a lot of weight or that they've really seen a change. Always nice to hear. Oh, and my favorite - one asked me what my goals were. Different sort of question than I usually get - specifically said goals. I liked that.
Depositing $10

Maria's Week 8

I felt like it was a good week for me. I look back on my BodyDaemon journal and I missed several work outs (or else I missed logging them because I don’t feel like I missed that many work outs.) But good results this week so I’m happy. I lost inches almost all over, but I will only report what is significant. I lost another inch from waist – that’s a milestone! But more importantly, I am an inch smaller than I was in high school (and then I was SUCKING IN!!!!!!! This time I wanted it to be accurate so there was absolutely no sucking of any kind.) I didn’t specify a milestone for losing inches from my butt, but I’m going to count it anyway – I lost 1 ½ inches from my butt! This is like losing inches off my chest – a little bittersweet. We all know I didn’t have much of a butt to begin.
Good thing I hit those weigh and measurement milestones because I’m sucking it up on my newest ones. In fact, I completely forgot that I had set one not to eat out for two weeks. Hmmm … may need to rethink that one.
Had my bodyfat % tested – FINALLY! And I so wish I had done this before I started working out. But I am extremely happy to report that it was 3% less than it was when I had it measure in high school and again in college. WA-HOO!!!!!!
Finally, there is this ultra fit and thin woman in my classes and the past two classes I’ve had with her she’s commented on how great and how thin I look. You gotta love that – it never gets old!
Depositing $12.50
Oh, and adding new milestone - every 1% of bodyfat lost.

Maria Week 7

I know the title of my post is really boring, but it helps keep my hopeless brain a tiny bit organized.
I worked extra hard this week to try and make up for all the workouts I missed last week. I think I did pretty good as far as that goes. I also tried harder to eat more fruits and veggies. I need to measure myself (promised myself I'd do it this week, but I'm menstrating so I put it off!) I'm feeling a difference even in my few new items of clothing so I think I might hit that go down a size milestone soon. YAY! (Except that I'm not financially ready to go buy a new wardrobe - ARGH!)
Didn't lose any weight this week - that's two weeks in a row. I'm hoping this isn't a (watch out - naughty word warning) "plateau".
Also, I think I've got my free day under control. I weighed myself the morning of my free day (or free meal, rather) and then again the next day and I'd only gone up 0.2 lbs! I was careful with what I ate all day except that one meal and then I didn't eat anything after 6 PM. I did notice that I am not getting enough water on my free days and I think that could be part of the problem, too. I'm dehydrated, but I think I'm hungry so I eat.
I'll be depositing $16 - unless anyone has any objections to that. I know that it's past the "limit" but I earned it (without milestones) and I want a very expensive reward next year.

It's been a rough week

I feel like that's my new motto. But hopefully, not for much longer. I expect that things will turn around very soon - and just in time for the holidays and all the wonderful holiday parties, family dinners, and neighbor gifts of cookies and chocolate and SUGAR!
I slacked off. I feel bad admitting to that after my last post. But I'm also motivated to make up for it! And I'll convince myself that's the difference between the old me and the new me. The old me would have put off the change until after Halloween, next Monday, after Thanksgiving, after Christmas, or until New Year. The new me is ready to start TODAY. I'll hit the gym even harder and longer than ever. And I'll get back on track with my diet and my on-line journal.
I'll be despositing $5.50 for the few workouts I got in and the few days I actually ate my fruits and/or veggies.

Maria Week 5

I'm a bit late - sorry, this week has been hectic. Well, I'm at my lowest weight in about 5 years. (Although just barely). I'm down from last week by nearly 2 lbs. Which means I am 0.4 lbs from another milestone.
I haven't been able to workout as hard as usual. I was busy on Saturday and skipped the entire day. I was pretty upset with myself about it and I was really feeling the lost workout that day. I was just so antsy all day.
I am taking a new supplement with essential oils that is also supposed to help with energy and I am sure feeling it. I am hungry all the time. And it would seem I might be able to increase my caloric and carbohydrate intake and still lose weight. Wahoo! (Fingers crossed)
I didn't measure this week. But I can say that I am wearing the smaller of the three pair of jeans I bought about 2 months ago when nothing else fit anymore and I noticed today that they fit a bit big in the waist. YAY!
I am depositing $7.50 today.

My Wall

I have this wall - Maybe we all have our walls. I've hit my wall twice in my life. The first time was when I was 27 and I stepped on the scale one morning and saw ZZZ lbs. For my height and body type - ZZZ lbs is 5 lbs from clinically overweight. I made the decision right then and there to make some changes in my life. And for the first time EVER I seriously dieted and I lost 25 lbs. I worked out a little, but not really hard, my main focus was on my diet. The weight came off in about 6 months and once it was off - I went back to my same lifestyle. I was very fortunate in that I didn't put it all back on, at least not immediately. The second time I hit my wall was this past March. I had gone from a size X to a size Y and I needed to move up to size Z. I stepped on the scale one morning and I saw ZZZ lbs AGAIN! ZZZ lbs is evidently my wall. My do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to unhappy. I had two choices - go out a buy a new wardrobe or lose weight. I had two choices - given in and accept that this was me or get to work. I didn't want to spend money on a new wardrobe of even bigger clothes. But I also wasn't ready to just give in and be completely unhappy with myself, my health, and my body. The difference between this wall and the last one? I didn't want to simply lose weight – I wanted to get healthy, I wanted to get active. I’ve never been athletic and I asked myself why not? Because I never wanted to work for it. (My cross country experience being a perfect example of this.) Now I want to work for it. Now I’m willing to work for it. I didn’t want to just lose weight – I wanted to make a major transformation.
Not only am I down more than 15 lbs and 2 sizes, but just as important - I'm in the best shape of my life. And I'm not even finished yet.
Somewhere along the line I skipped a size. In my closet I had my "fat" clothes which were my clothes that fit me at ZZZ lbs. And then I had my clothes that fit me at YYY lbs. And my clothes that fit at XXX lbs. Well, in my weightloss journey I seem to have skipped over my YYY clothes. I find myself at a new crossroads. I'm up against a different wall. I don't really fit into my size X's anymore either. So do I go out a buy a new wardrobe of size W's? Clothes that will fit me at WWW lbs? Or do I take a break, lay off a bit so I can fit in my size X's. Well, what do you think?
I am so happy to have my Ya-Ya Sisters (can I say my Butterfly Girls?) making this transformation with me. I am excited that you guys have caught the fever with me and that we're all going to be much healthier and in much better shape soon. And maybe we'll all be buying new wardrobes soon. For our trip at the end of the year - maybe we'll NEED to go to a shopping hot spot!

Maria's Week 3

This week I discovered that my free days just might be counter-productive (if they were ever productive in the first place). I think that a free day is good because there are going to be events and occasions where a free day is needed; because we need to be able to reward ourselves sometimes; and because we can't completely deny ourselves all the time. But I am struggling with a balance with regards to my free days.
And I've settled on an on-line fitness journal - www.bodydaemon.com I'll write more on that later.
On a much more positive note ....
I lost another pound this week which puts me at 3 lbs since this challenge began and that's a milestone. I also lost an inch on my waist since this challenge began (that's 4 since I started my own challenge) and that's another milestone. I also lost 2 1/2 inches from my hips - that's two milestones!
A note about my measurements ... since I started working out about 5 or 6 months ago I have lost:
1/2 inch from my calves (not that there's much to lose there)
1 1/2 inches from my thighs
2 1/2 inches from my hips
4 inches from my waist
1 inch from my arms
2 1/2 inches from my chest
So I will be depositing $7 for workouts (4 cardio and 3 strength), $2 for eating fruits and veggies, $8 for milestones reached, minus $1 for going over my carbohydrate intake on a day that was not my free day for a grand total of .... $15.

My Discovery

Today a bunch of my co-workers decided to go to Red Lobster for the all you can eat shrimp fest. I was invited to go and I think I've mentioned once or twice that I work with some of the coolest and funniest people on the planet so I hate to pass up an opportunity to hang out with them.
What to do? It is only day 1 in my week - do I use my free day today? And what if something should come up later in the week? Saturday is a birthday party - what if I want cake or icecream - or BOTH?
I was fortunate in that I knew ahead of time where we were going to eat lunch today. I was also fortunate in that a few days ago I found this amazing website that has the nutritional information on hundreds of menu items from hundreds of restaurants (www.thedailyplate.com). I went to this website and started looking at the nutritional information for several items on the menu at Red Lobster.
I am sure we are all starting to discover what a wonderful tool a food journal is for us. Not only does it allow us to track how many calories, carbs, or fat grams we're consuming and how much water we are or (in my case aren't) drinking, but it also makes us so much more aware of what we are ACTUALLY putting in our bodies - good or bad.
Today could have been an easy day to blow my diet - whether intentionally (just deciding I am going to eat as much cocnut shrimp, garlic mashed potatoes, and cheddar bay biscuits as my tummy can hold) or unintentionally (by ordering something that I think is a healthier alternative only to find out later that it was very high in calories, carbs, etc.) Janis inspired me to start looking more closely at the nutritional information in restaurant foods when she discovered that her Quiznos SALAD was NOT the healthy alternative she originally believed it to be. It is because of her that I decided to check out the nutrional information of my potential Red Lobster options beforehand.
I took a few mintues this morning to map out what I could order today and still stay within my alotted calories and carbohydrates. Because of the food journal, because I knew how many calories and carbs I had consumed for breakfast and would be consuming for dinner and because I did a little research online I was able to make a very informed and smart decision regarding what I could eat for lunch. And I didn't blow my diet today! YAY!
I remember being taught in YW to decide beforehand what I am going to do or not do in certain situations. Then when you are faced with what could be a difficult decision - it won't be difficult at all because you have already made that decision. I am going to apply this to my food choices.
I know that it isn't always going to be possible to plan ahead, especially with regards to eating out. My plan is to chose 6 or 7 restaurants and fast food joints where I am the most likely to eat "on the go" and I am going to research their menus. I am going to select the most healthy options available from those menus. Then if I am ever in a tight spot and have to grab something fast I can be sure I am making an informed decision and won't be surprised later to find out that I just consumed 800 calories or 50 carbs for lunch and completely blew my diet.
I am also going to plan out my own menus ahead of time. That way if I get asked to lunch again, having a good idea what my dinner plans are, I can make better decisions regarding lunch options.
Sorry to be so long winded ladies. But you guys know me well enough to know that I love to talk, chat, write, express, and share. I love you guys! I am so glad that we are doing this together!

Maria Weighing In

I feel I need to start by saying this has been a tough week for me. I went out of town on Wednesday and was gone until Sunday. I'm sure you all know how difficult it can be to eat well when you're traveling. It was also my anniversary - so there was a little celebration dinner (or two) for that, a BYU home game (i.e. stadium food), and my belated birthday dinner with the Sanders family (i.e. cake). On Monday morning I weighed myself and was disappointed, but not surprised, to see that I had gained 0.4 lbs since my last weigh in (Wednesday morning).
That said ... I did 1 hour of cardio Wednesday morning, 1 hour of cardio Thursday morning, 1 hour of cardio Friday afternoon, 1 hour of cardio Monday morning, and 1 hour of weight training Tuesday morning. And I am happy to report that this morning, when I stepped onto that scale, not only had I lost the 0.4 I had put on over the weekend, I had also lost another 0.6 lbs for a total of 1 lb since last Wednesday. Considering the week I've had - I think that's pretty good!
I'll be depositing $5 for week 1 as soon as we have a place to deposit it.

P.S. I know that gaining 0.4 lbs is not a big deal - you can easily fluctuate as much as a pound in a day (if not even more!). Knowing this, however, does not make it any less frustrating to see that extra 0.4 lbs on the scale.

Getting old sucks . . .

So I took my measurements just a couple of weeks before my 31st birthday and they were obviously not anywhere near where I wanted them to be - but when I took them this morning they were even further from that point. What the heck?!? I'd been eating - moderately - better and taking my dog out regularly and yet I was still getting even bigger. I guess it's true what they say about hitting a certain age and having your metabolism drop and mine obviously did just that. So I guess it's time to make so REAL changes in my life style if I ever want to feel good about myself again - so here goes!
After talking to Maria I decided that I'd jump start our fitness challenge by starting with a low carb diet for the first month or so. Wow! So much harder than I thought it would be! It seems like everything is packed full of carbs except meat. I don't eat that much meat so it's going to be difficult so if anyone's got any pointers on that one then bring it on!
I'm looking through my milestones and I think they'll need some tweaking too but I think we'll all find that along the way. However, I think it's going to have to wait until tomorrow because it's late and I'm tired after my hour at the gym tonight.
Oh, and I thought I'd pass these on. I've been using this website: www.sparkpeople.com to track all of my food (consider it an online food journal) and my workouts. It will help you calculate how many calories you should be eating and help you see patterns in your eating habits. And in my search through their site earlier tonight I found a pretty cool link that will help you to calculate the carb, calories, fat and everything else in any homemade dishes - just plug in the ingredients and the portion sizes and it will do it all for you.
xoxo
Jj