Tag Archives: progress

April’s One Month Check-In!

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Hello readers!

It was just over a month ago that I decided to give up double decker tacos to become a double chinner instead.  The motivation that I have gained from writing on my sister Alyssa’s blog has provided me with much success that I am pleased to share with you all today!

Since my first weigh-in on October 1st, I am down 6 pounds after five weeks of jumping up and down a pound or two.  This week was the first time I lost weight consecutively two weeks in a row as well!

I tried to exercise more by going for a walk/run along side a wetland close to where I work.  I also went on an intense hike yesterday in my Natural Resources class that left me embarrassingly pink and longing for a pony tail holder that I had forgotten in the car. With the addition of my hula hooping, my waist has been whittling away like the faith of my fellow Californians in knowing if GMO’s are in our food or not.

Speaking of hula hooping, I’ve got the results of my Hula Hoop Challenge!  I originally measured in with a 45″ inch waist but when I measured myself a few days later for Myfitnesspal.com I measured at 44 inches.  I should start measuring by the mole on my stomach or something because it’s hard to keep track of where exactly it was that I measured!

But either way, my newest measurement was only 41.5″!!!  That’s a 2 1/2 inch loss off my waist in five weeks!!!   I feel like I was really bloated a month ago with my summer habits and now that I’m back on a healthier way of life, getting the inches off my waist was rather easy since I’m no longer feeling so fluffy.

I did not successfully do my Acu-Hoop for ten minutes a day for every day of the month like I planned.  I averaged about five times a week for two reasons.   One was that there were days when sitting down and being lazy seemed better than standing for ten minutes shaking my hips with the dogs barking at me.  The better excuse that prevented me from hula hooping is that I WAS SORE!  I was getting these horrible pulled muscle feelings at times when I would stand up or sit down and after two weeks of thinking something was wrong with me, I realized it was probably because I was overexerting my abs.  So I cut back and now the pain isn’t happening as much.  Plus I decided I should only do seven or eight minutes at a time instead because after eight minutesis when it really starts to hurt.

When I lost the nine inches years before, I was using a three-pound hoop.  I somewhat regret buying the five pound hoop because it seems for every day use, it seems to be too much weight.  Maybe once I am super fit that hoop won’t have such an effect on me but for now, getting through ten minutes every day is rough!

So if you’re thinking about getting one of hoops, don’t necessarily pay attention to the pound suggestion the website has for which size you should get!

But enough with these words, here are my progress photos!

Lots of love,

Thailand 20 Tuesday – Week 4

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Hello Friends:
I didn’t really know how to approach this week’s weigh in – because while there was a lot I did right this week, it was kind of a weird week. I didn’t go overboard on anything, but I got tied up and didn’t track on MyFitnessPal for two days, and then I exercised and was active but took it down a notch over the weekend because I was sad (my cousin passed away unexpectedly this weekend. Bummer. A reminder for all of us to live our lives with purpose because you really truly never know when your number is going to be called.) So, I’m not altogether surprised that I didn’t hit 2 pounds down, but I’m not devastated either – because I hit 1 pound down. I know what I need to fix for next week – which as usual – is more cardio. I’m behind on my goal but I feel good about keeping consistent with my weigh-ins and definitely making more progress than I was before. I try and think that even if the scale isn’t showing what I want, I’m noticing other things – like more energy from working out, or my jeans feeling a little bit looser. And hey – a pound lost is a pound lost – so that’s great!

Here are some of the weight loss high points from this week:

Cucumber and Tomato Feta Salad

1) I ate TONS of veggies this week. This was a yummy and simple cucumber, tomato and feta salad with some green bell peppers. So good and so filling.

A nice sunset stroll in my snazzy new workout jacket.

On the day we got news of my cousin Josh passing, I didn’t want to work out – but Matt and I took a nice sunset stroll through the park. It was lowkey and we ended up clocking in a 3 mile walk – just enough to make me feel a little bit better and burn up a small sweat.

Very Veggie Pasta


I had a craving for spaghetti on Sunday night but knew that the way we usually make it (ground beef, wine, olive oil) would be too fattening. So I did half the amount of ground beef, a tsp of olive oil, and EIGHT different kinds of vegetables. It came out amazing – super chunky and filling but chock full of veggies, so I needed very few noodles. So good.

This next week is going to be interesting as I’m getting on a plane Friday to head to Josh’s funeral – so I’ll be surrounded by family and food. I’ll need to remember not to eat my emotions! How is your week going?

How’d I do on my 2011 resolutions?

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Hi everybody! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let’s see how I did on 2011′s resolutions. The red text are my comments now. Check back tomorrow night to read about 2012′s goals and resolutions!

  1. Lose weight. 30 pounds would be great, but in general, to be a healthier, happier me with less “fluffiness”. I definitely did lose weight – about 15 pounds, give or take a few depending on the day. Not quite 30, but this is a solid yup, it happened, kind of. Yay! 
  2. Get in shape.  This is another one that’s sort of “half way” true. I don’t really feel in shape now, so I’m going to say I need to keep this up. My fitness level has definitely improved, but I could still be a lot less lazy. 

    I hate push ups.

  3. Blog regularly.  I owned this one! Save for a few weeks when it was finals time, I think I rocked at keeping DCD pretty updated.
  4. Pay off my credit card debt. I definitely kicked debt’s ass! I’m not debt free, but well on my way. 
  5. Continue working hard in grad school.  My cumulative GPA is 3.8 :)

    Beautiful grad school friends keep me sane!

  6. Learn to make TOM KHA GAI. (Chicken Coconut Soup). Haha. Nope. And it’s funny because this is on my resolution list next year.
  7. Worry less.Well… this didn’t really happen. I did pretty good, until work got really, really stressful and school got really, really demanding. Still working on improving this year.
  8. Cut my hair.  I did! Definitely did! I’m growing it out now but my short curls were perfect for the summer!

    Short hair! Shortest it's ever been!

  9. See my family more. I did! I think we averaged at least six trips up there this year. Here’s a shot of the I-5 looking kind of pretty as proof. 
  10. Teach Leo not to sit on the counters or tabletops. Yeah. Didn’t happen. AT ALL. Ironic that I wrote that because I was just lecturing him (As if he understood, or cared) about how he shouldn’t carry bad habits over to the new year. Oh, Leo…

    Whatz? I r angel!

  11. Keep my car clean(ish). I’ve done very well at this! “Blueberry” remains clean and smelling of lavender. She’s become the go-to car for group lunches at work!

    Blueberry on her birthday last year!

    All in all, I’m happy with 2011. It wasn’t a bad year, and it wasn’t the best year, but it was a good year. There was some astronomical stress, but there were also some incredible times with family and friends. 2012 is going to be great – I can feel it!

Weekly Weigh In #…I forgot

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Hello Bloggies! Happy Friday to you – It’s a super special Friday to me because I work one day next week and then I’m off to Chicago and Minnesota to visit family and see my cousin get married! Exciting! I’ve been lacking on the weekly weigh-in posts – sorry – but believe me, I have been checking in with the scale every Saturday.

Happily this week I’m down another .8 of a pound… making my grand total 5.8 pounds since starting the weight tracking on this blog.

 

I should probably be more angry that I haven’t lost more, but when I consider my hectic life the past few months, I’m grateful I’m DOWN and not up! 5.8 pounds is a nice chunk of chunky, and I can feel it in my jeans. To be completely honest too, the last time I tracked was… *hangs head in shame* weeks ago. So with all that said, continuing to lose is a small victory for me and I’ve accepted that this particular journey will be long, but that small tweaks ultimately lead to big change over time.

I’ll be challenged many, many times on my upcoming vacation – with Wisconsin’s deep fried cheese curds, Chicago’s Italian Beef, Deep Dish Pizza and wedding cake – but I know that a few slip-ups on a vacation hardly make a downward spiral, or even more important, I don’t need to LET it turn into a downward spiral.

Things will probably be quiet around here next week – I’ll try to check in at least once, but if I don’t, please know that I’m enjoying a few days off work and school and spending time with my awesome family. I hope you have a great week!

The 3 Letter Word and What it Means to Me

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Fat.
Three letters. So powerful.
Or is it?

I know the power of words. I use them everyday. I make a living from putting them together in pretty patterns. Words can save lives, hurt feelings, educate, make people laugh, make people cry, cause wars, invoke injury, death – you name it. A word is often times not just a word. The word “Fat” is a particularly interesting one because of its loaded meaning. As a little girl, fat was the worst word in the world. It was that thing you never wanted to be – the word that was whispered in hush tones, the ultimate failure, the sad word that caused bad eye contact and blushing cheeks. But now – fat is just fat to me. It’s a jiggly tummy, it’s the draping skin of my arm. It’s soft and plush and a place for my husband to rest his head. It’s yummy meal after yummy meal. It’s a part of me, and maybe one day it won’t be, but for now, fat is fat. I’m not going to let it have the power over me that it used to. There was worse things in life than being fat.

First Progress Picture - 48 pounds to go!

Some people disagree with me. That’s fine. It’s not their battle to fight. It’s mine – and for now, fat and I are kind of like acquaintances, neighbors. We’re not friends, but we live in the same neighborhood and we gotta make it work for the time being, ya know? We’ve known each other for a very long time.

That picture up there was taken a few minutes ago in my backyard. When I look at it I might think “fat”, but it’s not out of hatred. It’s just me. It’s 5 feet, 9 inches of strong, capable body, courageous and maternal heart, creative and powerful brain. I see a confident woman,  a happy woman, somebody who believes in the power of her brain and personality, and yes, even her good looks. I see me – happy, successful me, who’s graduated college with honors, married an awesome guy, started a wonderful career, and is working on making peace with her rambling and random mind.

So, I’m fat. So be it. Fat is fat. It is what it is, and I’m working on losing it to be a healther version of the Me that I already know and love. So I can have a family and keep up with ‘em, so I can hike up a mountain overlooking the valley without huffing and puffing. So I can react to stressful situations without a scary spike in blood pressure, and so I can go on airplanes and roller coasters without fretting about a tight belt. So I can buy cute dresses and flattering swimsuits.

Fat is mean, scary, unfair, and unhealthy, but it’s also just fat. Three letters. Not so powerful to me, anymore.

What does fat mean to you?