Ooh, this looks like fun!
Day 1: I'm 31, 242, 48"/42.5"/48"
Day 2: I'm 5'5". I'd like to be just a smidge taller so I don't have to stand on tiptoe to reach the top shelf at grocery stores, but other than that, I'm good with my height.
Day 3: There isn't a specific photo that inspires me, but there are tons of quotes. A couple of my favorites are "you might be the slowest person on the track, but you're lapping everyone still sitting on the couch" and "one rep closer to being a bada**"
Day 4: My greatest fear is that I'll wind up getting frustrated with the numbers not budging on the scale and give up. It won't matter how many positive habits I've started already or that I've already lost more than I've ever lost before, it's those darn numbers. *grr*
Day 5: I would love to say that it was because of me, but really it was because I was in a group photo (on the end, as far back as I could get) and overheard one of the guys taking the picture go "Great shot, too bad about the fat chick on the end." and the other guy reply "That's okay, I'll just crop her out later." The first ten pounds were "Humph, I'll show
them!" but more and more my reasons for losing weight are less about other people's perceptions of me and more about how good I'm starting to feel now that I can do things I hadn't previously been able to do.
Day 6: I binge if there's something in the house that I "shouldn't" eat, like the bag of chocolate chips I got to make cookies for a work function, but didn't use all of. I also stress eat, which usually means loading up on pasta with creamy sauces or bread slathered in butter. I'm getting a lot better at both: the "no-no" foods only get brought in the house in order to make things for other people, then the extra ingredients get brought up to work to see if anyone else needs them. The stress-eating is starting to get better too. When I feel the urge to head to a fast food place or the store to buy something, I make a detour to the gym first. 99% of the time I feel tons better after a good, long sweat session than I would have felt after eating an entire loaf of French bread in one sitting, which is something that I used to do.
Day 7: I tell
everyone about trying to lose weight!
My parents in particular are very supportive. I mentioned to my dad that I was sort of nervous about lifting weights at the gym because I didn't want to look like I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing (I use the gym for mostly cardio and their sauna) in front of the group of guys that take up the weight room and he offered to dust off his old weight bench in the garage and teach me. Mom offered to cook dinner on those days that I show up. I caught her eyeing my cookbooks at my house and the next thing I knew, she got herself a copy of one of my favorite paleo cookbooks. So now I visit my parents three days out of the week for a personal training session and a good meal. I like to think that my habits are rubbing off on them too; Dad hasn't touched his weights in I don't know how long and when I call Mom, she's telling me about something new and healthy she cooked that they both really liked.
Day 8: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are my lifting days. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are my cardio days. I either do a very light cardio or weight session on Sunday or I take that day off completely.
Day 9: Besides just the rare and very in-between comments I tend to overhear, no one has ever said anything to me about my weight to my face before, except for family. We all have "that one" person who nags you about your weight, and my paternal grandfather was that one. He always compared me to my much thinner cousin and repeatedly asked why I wasn't like her. His favorite nickname for me from the ages of 8 until 20 was "gordita" until he stopped when he realized the namecalling wasn't baiting me like it used to. The comparison between cousins never stopped, nor did the sniping side-remarks about my size, but I finally decided that his opinion of me didn't matter, especially since he made it abundantly clear that I was never a favored grandchild. He made sure to never say a word in front of my parents or where they could hear, and it was only after his funeral two years ago that I finally told my mom all the hurtful things he had called me in the past. She told me she never had any idea he had been doing that.
Day 10: Bread and cheese! I miss my gouda and brie and an oozy, melty cheddar with a nice crusty French loaf.
Day 11: All of them! I lurked for a long time before joining up and everyone's positive, welcoming attitude has been such an inspiration. I know I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have so far by doing this alone.
Day 12: BACON! (actually, I only have 2 strips per day at breakfast, 3 if I got the tail end of the package and they're itty bitty strips) I'm doing Paleo, and I never really paid attention to the (healthy) protein I've been missing out on. I love all the scrambled eggs, spicy chicken and garlic steak I'm eating as well as the different ways to make veggies I'm discovering. Who knew putting steamed cauliflower in the food processor would make it come out like mashed potatoes?
Day 13: I hope I'm doing it in a healthy way. I'm not counting calories, but I am watching portion sizes. I get at least 3 hours per week in cardio and have started lifting heavy-for-me weights. I'm watching the scale, but not to the point where I freak out and want to do something drastic like skip several meals or spend hours in the gym if it moves up or stalls. I'm taking daily vitamins to help suppliment the unprocessed meals I've been making myself.
Day 14: Several BMI calculators said my ideal weight for my height would be 140 - 150 range. I'm aiming to hit 150 and then see from there. I have no idea when I'll get there, but I'm not going to stress over it. I'll get there when I get there: I'm building healthy habits along the way that'll help me once I manage to meet maintenance mode.
Day 15: I've tried both, but the truth is that I love animal protein too much. It was good for a short time while I supported friends/family members who were trying it, but I'm a steak and eggs sort of girl.
Day 16: See Day 5 for why I started. The actual "ah ha" moment when it became losing weight for me though, came when I was super stressed out at work and instead of thinking "Boy, I would kill for a pizza/doughnut/cake slice/etc." all I could think of was "Man, I can't wait to get to the gym and work this arrrgh-ness out!" Once I realized that I was losing weight and getting fit for
me and realizing that I could now do things I couldn't do 5, 10, 20 pounds heavier, it just clicked.
Day 17: Least Liked: Bicep curls on the third set when your arms are burning and you struggle to keep your form while you try to move just
one more time. Most Liked: The same. It might hurt for a little while, but the end result is completely worth it. Today I picked up a 25 lb. box of cat litter and it was only until I was halfway from my car to my front door that I realized I was carrying it with little to no effort where before it was a huge pain to lug around.
Day 18: Bread and cheese! Other than that, pastas, pizza, fast food burgers (wait a minute, all that boils down to bread and cheese too!) and pastries, be they cherry turnovers or plain chocolate chip cookies and everything in between.
Day 19: Most of the times, I think of how far I've gotten since I first picked up that weight/sat on the stationary bike/laced up my shoes. Do I want to be that person I used to be who made excuse after excuse for not working out or do I want to keep on being the person I'm becoming who can do so many things easier than she used to? When that doesn't work, my mantra is "Zombies hate fast food. Keep running."
Day 20: I really don't see this as a "diet" but the whole foods/paleo way of eating is amazing. I've been off processed foods for roughly three months, give or take a few splurge days. I can definitely tell a difference in how I feel after eating something I don't have in my usual food plan and I've noticed that bakery sweets are super duper, teeth-achingly sweet now.
Day 21: My highest pant size was a 26W. My highest shirt/blouse size was a 3X or 26/28. I had a feel good shirt that was button down, tailored to my size, and in the brightest red I could find. It was my "confidence shirt" that I wore whenever I was feeling blue or knew I had a big meeting to go to at work. My Confidence Shirt is too big now and doesn't fit well at all. I was sort of sad, but very happy at the same time when I decided I needed to retire it.
Day 22: I can't remember ever being a healthy weight, but the first weigh-in I can actually remember was my senior year of high school when I weighed in at 210. After that, life pretty much happened. The Freshman 15 piled on, then working at a mall full of unhealthy choices for lunches/dinners, then switching jobs and working in a place that was VERY centered around food put on even more weight. I was in my early 20's and still feeling bulletproof, hit 30 and took notice of how winded I got climbing stairs but really didn't do anything to change my poor eating habits, and now here I am today, a little more than five months away from turning 32 and finally deciding that enough is enough.
Day 23: Everything! I can't wait to fit into smaller sized clothes and to not worry about sitting in a booth at a restaurant. I want to look back at my progress and be able to say "Yeah, I did it," but what I'm really looking forward to doing is going camping and hiking where I'm not the anchor slowing down all my other athletic friends. I'm really looking forward to finally joining them at their level of fitness.
Day 24: At first, it was really hard to ignore the pastries and other sweets that show up in the office. I'd try to stay away, but eventually I'd just cut off a small portion. Now, I know pretty much when the "bring goodies to the office" days are, so I'll pack healthy snacks or drink tea. I found a chocolate peppermint tea that pretty much takes care of sweet cravings.
Day 25: My arms! It's weird to say that because they're also one of my most disliked body parts as well. When I started, I had jumbo sized bat wings that were not only bat wings, but they developed a vertical line right smack in the middle of the saggiest portion of the "wing" which made them look like a pair of extremely saggy breasts. I started to dub them my "arm butts". Since I've been lifting weights, I've been noticing that they're slowly shrinking. I've also noticed that after nearly a month of lifting that you can actually begin to see definition on my biceps, triceps, and deltoids and that my sleeves on all my shirts are beginning to fit a lot better.
Day 26: Confidence, grace, strength. Unrestrained laughter. Compassion.
Day 27: I'm a leftie. I tend to start a billion projects all at once but then only concentrate on one until it's done before moving onto the next. I didn't really see the big deal about Pinterest until I got on it myself...and now I'm obsessed with all the pretty pins that I probably won't ever do myself but still like. I'm a gamer. I'm a rennie who is excited because a side-effect of losing my current weight is that I can fit into smaller sized garb.
Day 28: I'm 31 (+28 days), 237, 48"/42.5"/48. I should have taken measurements of my arms, because I have lost at least a half inch on each, but yay for the 5 lb loss!
