Monday mix tape

Weekend wrap up
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Not too much to report after a very gray and wet weekend!

Saturday started out really wet so we had to skip the 5k. I had some extra time so I decided to go do some clothes shopping. I had a gift card from lululemon and I freaked out the whole way there -  wondering if I was lululemon size yet. Luckily the manager I know was there so she helped me decide on a few styles and then it was off to the fitting room with 3 pairs of pants - all size 12. They. All. Fit.

I had to pick one since they are $80 but I can promise you when I get to my goal weight I will own at least 6 pair. Size 4 maybe? I kept looking at the bag sitting in my front seat. Finally I can shop there for something other than a head band :)

After that I went to  Nordstrom Rack for the first time for something other than shoes. I've never even glanced at clothes there but sure enough I found a couple of cute tops for an awesome deal. One is a fitted blazer that doesn't quite fit yet but I know that it will - probably right in time for our trip to Scotland in August. Anyway, I have have a whole post started about the clothes thing and the quite surprising emotional toll this is taking on me. I'm going to address it with my support group peeps on Saturday so I hope to finish it before then!

SO it cleared up enough in the late afternoon to do a 5 mile walk. I probably burned more calories doing that than I would have at the 5k- even with a stop for sushi. Right now I can manage about 4 pieces of sushi - 3 sashimi and one nigiri - that way I can have one bite of rice which is just enough.

Sunday we had brunch with friends but I drank a latte before and was so full that I had a single bite of scrambled egg and less than 1/4 chicken sausage. That was a bad idea. I was "hungry" all day. Not even a little bit physically hungry - it was ALL in my head. It was dark, pouring rain, and I was working. The perfect storm. I had a couple of wheat thins and a couple of pop chips (left over dog sitter snacks - note to self: make the dog sitter take all snacks with him next time!) it made me want more!

Now I know that 2 wheat thins and 2 pop chips aren't going to undo everything I've worked so hard for but to me it's a early warning sign. I suppose it's good that I'm recognizing this when it happens - this is only the 2nd time in 3 months and both times it's been gross outside. I need to figure out NOW what do on the gray days to get through it. Normally I could go to a yoga class or something else indoors but there was no getting around work yesterday. As time goes by and I'm able to eat more, it would be great to have a strategies in place for my known triggers.

The week ahead
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Running, yoga, spinning, weight training and pilates all on the schedule for this week. I'm loving the variety right now. I need to do my job in the middle of all of this! Staying busy really helps - as I like to say "idle hands eat the devil's snacks":)

Have a happy, healthy week!!

Friday weigh in - 3 month update

Three months since surgery already!

I saw my surgeon this morning and I don't think I've ever been so excited to go the doctor in my life! He freaked out when he saw me then we went through the numbers! He was thrilled (said I was a rockstar) with all I've accomplished in 3 months. We just sat and talked about working out and all the new things I can do. I know I say this every time I see him but I can never get over how genuinely happy he is for me and how easy he is to talk to.

Getting right to the rock star numbers...

Jan 14 - Start of liquid diet - 250
Jan 29 - Surgery weight - 237 -13
Feb 8 - 231 -6
Feb 15 - 222 -9
Feb 22 - 220  -2
Mar 1 - 218  -2
Mar 8 - 216  -2
Mar 15 - 213 -3
Mar 22 - 209 -4
Mar 28 - 208 -1
Apr 5 - 206 -2
Apr 12 - 199 -7
Apr 26 - 196 -3
54 pounds total! 
 
Starting BMI = 48
One month post surgery BMI = 42.6!! - 5.4
Two month post surgery BMI= 40.6 -2.0
Three month post surgery BMI= 38.3 -2.3

Inches for April
Waist: - 4. 75"
Chest: - 1"
Hips: - 2.5"
Thigh:  R - .5"
Arm: R - 1"
Calf: R - .5"
- 10.25" for this month
26.75 total inches since surgery!

Now for the progress pictures. I'm not seeing as much of a dramatic change this month but the size 14s I'm wearing and all those inches are what really matters to me - oh and all my progress with yoga and running!

click to enlarge

A couple of non scale victories to share:
1. The difference on the plane last week was amazing. No seat belt struggle. The tray table went down.
2. The hotel towel went all the way around me
3. I designed some cute, tight girlie shirts for my trainer over a year ago and never thought I could wear one. Ta-da!

I love my Karen the Fitness Girl tiny t-shirt and my jumprope!

So that's where we are now. I'm happier than I've ever been - food is no longer the center of my universe. I have energy to spare and I feel so incredibly blessed to have so much love and support from my friends, my family and my readers. I'm going to make y'all so proud!

Monday mix tape - rock and roll edition

Weekend wrap up
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Apologies for not posting a Friday weigh in this week. I was in Cleveland and frankly it was nice taking the week off from the scale. I came back the same as I left. 199!

We had a total blast on our trip. My husband knows one of the members of the Proclaimers from Scotland so Thursday night we went to see their show at The Beachland Ballroom which is an old Croatian dance hall. Such a great show at such a cool place.

They were such nice guys too and I was so happy to get the chance to have a quick chat with them and get our picture taken.

Friday we spend the day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - it was freezing and raining so it was a great day to be indoors. It's a fantastic museum and well worth a visit. We walked around for 5 hours and were never bored!

Saturday morning I went to the best spin class of my life at a studio called Psychle. I spun in a completely dark, candle lit room for an hour. The instructors are AMAZING and motivate you with messages about self love and pushing your limits etc. About half way through, the instructor (who I had met the night before and is good friend of our friends we were traveling with) came over and set a candle in front of my bike because I was "totally busting my ass". At the end, I blew out the candle with my friend and made a wish. I saw the pool of sweat around my bike and have never felt more proud to have made such a mess :) It was snowing when we came out of there but as you can see in the photos above, I was still smiling!

Sunday morning we flew home early. WAY too early for all the drinking we did.

The week ahead
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I'm happy to be home and back to my routine. It's HARD to eat high protein on the road with no refrigerator. I had way too much alcohol and restaurant food. If it weren't for all the walking and the 500 calorie burn at spin I might have gained some weight back.

I see the surgeon on Friday so I need to work really hard to get in the "safe zone" this week - I want to make sure his scale sees onederland too. I didn't come this far to have shoes and clothes put me back over my goal!

The visit to the surgeon means we will be at the 3 month mark so stay tuned for updated pictures and measurements on Friday!

Have a happy, healthy week!

This happened today....

I was a 20/22 when I started. I was so excited I ran to my car!

Monday mix tape

Weekend wrap up
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 Another fun weekend here in the ATL (except for the part where I cleaned the basement)!

Saturday was supposed to be my day off after my crazy week of exercise but it was gorgeous out so we ignored the piles of laundry and set out on foot to get some exercise and have some fun.

We walked to the 2 miles to the running store to get me some new kicks after realizing I was running in shoes that got me through the 3-Day and were well past retirement.

I've been a huge fan of the Brooks Adrenaline for years. I just keep updating them with the new model. These are much more fun than they usually are - I'm glad they added some color!

After that we stopped for a beer (half a beer in my case) and then went to the taco place where I ate the insides of a pulled pork taco and a few bites of some shrimp and corn chowder. I thought eating out after surgery would be difficult but it's not at all. I love places that sell single tacos, or small plates. Most pubs now have half pints or I just sip on one shot of tequila (Patrón always!) over ice with some limes.

After lunch the was uphill but believe me we needed it after that :) 5 miles in total and we had so much fun along the way.

Sunday the weather was cold and cloudy. The opposite of Saturday! I was kinda cranky and hungry and exhausted. And I really needed the day off from exercise. Turns out this is a not a great combo for me. I thought about food a lot and wished I could have a big bowl of mac and cheese or pizza. It's totally in my head and I blame it on being born in Minnesota - the second the weather is cold and grey, I want to eat to "survive the winter. So I cleaned the basement and did a lot of really lame chores around the house to keep myself busy. I had a Kashi blueberry waffle which really did the trick. If that's going to be the extent of my "bad days" I'll take it!

My closet, my enemy
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I thought for sure that the clothes would be the most fun part of this whole journey and I'm sorry to say that it's not! I didn't really consider the in-between time - that crazy place I am now where nothing I own is wearable - even bras and underwear! Yesterday it almost made me sad how bad I looked in my winter clothes but I just can't bring myself to buy new stuff I'm only going to wear for another week. I'm traveling this weekend and I'm hoping the residents of Cleveland can overlook my baggy butt jeans and my big old winter coat.

The summer clothes are problematic too. I'm certainly not at the sleeveless shirt stage yet outside of yoga - can't someone make something with a sleeve that's not a cap sleeve?!? I found a few 3/4 sleeve tops I'll wear to death for now. At least I can wear my capri pants and jeans which are a short girls saving grace.

One of these days I'm going to have to face bra and swimsuit shopping. Shudder.

Have a happy, healthy week everyone!

Friday weigh in - major milestone edition!

ONEDERLAND!!!!!!!

I'm not sure I could be any happier about anything at the moment. I knew today was going to be the day. I went out at 7am, ran a 5k, came back threw all my clothes on the floor and jumped on the scale. It said 199.2 then I realized I was still holding my phone so once I put that down, a solid 199. I have not been this weight in at least 8 years.

Here are the stats:
Jan 14 - Start of liquid diet - 250
Jan 29 - Surgery weight - 237 -13
Feb 8 - 231 -6
Feb 15 - 222 -9
Feb 22 - 220  -2
Mar 1 - 218  -2
Mar 8 - 216  -2
Mar 15 - 213 -3
Mar 22 - 209 -4
Mar 28 - 208 -1
Apr 5 - 206 -2
Apr 12 - 199 -7

51 pounds total!  That's an overweight suitcase on Delta.

As you can see, amazing loss this week! My trainer is out of town so I did lots of yoga, lots of running and a spin class. I'm a little worried I burned some muscle which would account for the crazy weight loss this week. It also confuses me because I'm trying to find a perfect balance between weightlifting, cardio and yoga. Am I lifting too much? It seems to slow my weight loss but isn't it better for me in the long run? It's so hard to know!

What I do know is that I'm going to celebrate my success today - mani pedi, lunch with Crys, dinner with my best friends in the world. Lots of love :)

I can't believe how far I've come in 10 weeks. My life has completely changed already and there's still 74 pounds to go. I'm just going to continue to enjoy the journey!

Monday Mix Tape

Weekend wrap up
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Another beautiful weekend gone by in a flash! It was packed full of exercise, friends and fun. Did you know that fun can be had without enormous amounts of food and alcohol? I didn't! :)

I started off the weekend off with "Bikram power hour". The traditional class is 90 minutes but the hour one is perfect for a Friday afternoon. I'm so glad I went because I had a huge breakthrough.

This is Dhanurasana or "floor bow". I have always been able to get my right foot but not my left. My instructor would often hand me my other foot or I would just do it on one side. On Friday, I reached back and there it was. I grabbed both feet and did my pose - with a few tears of joy! (Just to be sure it wasn't a fluke, I did it at home the next day!) That my friends is why we are doing this. It's so much more meaningful to me than anything the scale says!

Saturday I took the day off exercise to get the patio and deck ready for the first dinner party of Spring.

new cushions for the furniture

I grilled steaks for everyone even though I'm not eating steak yet.
Lucy would have really liked one.

Late night fire pit. I surround myself with gorgeous women :)

Sunday was even more beautiful so I got up and did this

I have NEVER had such a great run. It wasn't a personal best time or anything - it was so nice out that I had to stop and talk to all the neighbors on the way out which slowed it down but I didn't care. I felt so strong. I conquered all the small hills I would never have even attempted before. I only walked the 2 biggest ones and I couldn't be more proud of that. The little blip of red on the route is a shoe tying stop!

What are you eating?
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I can honestly say I had so much fun all weekend without overindulging at all! I tried Sushi on friday and loved it. I had 3 pieces of tuna and salmon sashimi and one piece of nigiri (eel with rice).  I ate a teaspoon of the rice just to try but I can see how it would expand in the stomach and might get uncomfortable. 4 pieces of sushi. I used to get about 15? Our bill was so cheap it was laughable :)

I tried one of those one bite cupcakes from Trader Joes. I should have had half because the whole was way too sweet. Lesson learned. Really don't need sweets at all!

Sunday we had to attend a cookout and it was your typical cookout with burgers, hot dogs and potato salad. At first when I saw all the food I was nervous. Part of me would have loved to eat a big burger and a hot dog but those days are gone. I had a half of a burger without a bun and a tsp. of potato salad and a bite of the birthday cake. Plenty of food and plenty of fun without overdoing anything. There's such a freedom in that.

The week ahead
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My trainer is out of town all week and I'm fending for myself. I'm totally dependent on her to get my weightlifting in so this will be a challenge! There will be yoga, spin, body pump and running involved and she would probably want me to add planks, burpees and jump rope. It's hard to kick my own ass but I'm going to try!

Have a happy, healthy week everyone!

Friday weigh in

Happy Friday! It's going to be a perfect weekend here in the ATL and I'm looking forward to getting outside and catching up on some running! I spent most of the week with my trainer and a few intense yoga sessions so it's nice to think about being outdoors with just myself and my music.

I was pleasantly surprised when I sat down to write because I thought it was only one pound this week when actually it was 2. Hooray!!

Jan 14 - Start of liquid diet - 250
Jan 29 - Surgery weight - 237 -13
Feb 8 - 231 -6
Feb 15 - 222 -9
Feb 22 - 220  -2
Mar 1 - 218  -2
Mar 8 - 216  -2
Mar 15 - 213 -3
Mar 22 - 209 -4
Mar 28 - 208 -1
Apr 5 - 206 -2

44 pounds total!  

My goal is to be 199 or less on my visit to the surgeon April 26th. It's going to be close but I'm going to give it all I've got!!

Monday Mix Tape

Weekend Wrap Up
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I made it through Easter without touching a single piece of candy! What is it about Easter candy that's extra appealing? I think it's because as kids in my family, we had to give up candy for Lent then we would gorge on it on Easter Sunday. It was always such a treat but combine that with parents who smoked (this was the 70's and they didn't know any better yet!) and it was a long and nauseating trip home from Grandma's!

Saturday was a gorgeous day and my sister and I had plans to attend a yoga event at the W Hotel. Our favorite instructor was teaching a 75 minute class and then we got drinks and snacks at the hotel bar. There was about 150 people and it was one of the best classes I've ever done.

The gorgeous view

The other gorgeous view :)
This is my instructor Astrid. I know I never stop talking about her but she has totally changed my life!

Sunday was my day off after 8 days in a row of workouts so we decided on a late brunch. This was my Easter treat- fresh grapefruit juice, tequila and Grand Marnier! It was absolutely necessary as I was headed home to get my taxes together for the accountant.

I love being self employed until tax time. It wasn't too bad - I was pretty organized this year!

What are you eating?
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People keep asking this so I'm going to make it a regular topic! I still eat a protein shake for breakfast and today I tried a new strawberry version with frozen strawberries and greek yogurt. Not sure if my nutritionist will be okay with me continuing to do a meal replacement but I'm just not really a breakfast person - the shake seems to be a good solution.

Seafood is still my favorite - I eat a lot of tuna, salmon, crabcakes, etc. I still eat a lot of chicken and just tried a little filet mignon over the weekend. It was delicious but it filled me up really fast. Maybe too fast. I ate about an ounce and a half.

I feel completely normal when I eat out which was unexpected. I thought servers would question me ordering so little and not finishing it but that's not really not the case. Sometimes I get mussels and can eat about 10 then give the rest to the table. Brunch was a simple scramble of eggs, chicken sausage and avocado with a side of black beans. I ate half and gave the biscuit to my husband.  

Yesterdays mid-day cocktail caused an afternoon battle with carbs. It scared me a little to have cravings since I haven't really had any but that's the price I paid for the drink! I ended up eating a Kashi blueberry waffle and it did the trick.  Rice cakes are the closest we get to carbs in our house - except for the waffles which are a new purchase. I hope this was an isolated incident and the waffles don't become a problem - otherwise they will have to go!

Off and running!
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Thursday was my first run since Thanksgiving. Being the person that I am, I couldn't just ease back in so I set out to do a 5k to see how much work I had ahead of me. It was exhilarating to run again. It was a million times easier since losing the weight and inches of a toddler. I even ran up hills I would have never attempted in the past. I ended up only a minute short of my personal best 5k which is 49:55. I felt awesome - my quads not so much! I had to skip weight training on Friday and go to yoga instead - even that was iffy! Tomorrow we will do it all again. Since my surgeon doesn't want me overdoing it on the cardio, I'm REALLY going to try to keep it slow, easy and fun!

Have a happy, healthy week everyone!!