Then and now

8/31/12 and today 7/22/13

Then in Now- my year in pics

Then and now

some days when I get down on myself.. looking at then & now pics is the only thing that keeps me continuing on this path.
I tried on a bikini and my body is not at the point where I will be confident enough to wear it... yet!... that is after almost a year of working my ass off. Its frustrating... but then I look at these pics and I can clearly see that I have made big changes in the shape of my body..its a process... I need to keep working... take it day by day.

Week 49

week 48

weight 134


I worked hard this week.. really reined in my eating and worked hard on my diet. I had quite a few protein shakes and kept snacking to a minimum. I don't think I have ever eaten so much protein. I am sore today.. but it's a good sore. Going to try and do just as good next week. Try a little harder with my eating and push a little harder with my exercise to get the results I want. I have worked hard on my body...I know I am physically healthier and My butt has never looked better ;) My problem is fat on my arms & tummy & legs. I once researched somewhere that fat in general takes time& work to remove because first you must work off the stuff you don't see.. the stuff inside wrapped around your organs. I know that I have come a long way... but honestly I am not where I hoped to be working out 5 days a week for the past 11 months. I desire to get stronger & leaner... in the best shape possible for my age.

I do believe that if I rein in my diet, change up my exercise routine to challenge my body that I can achieve my goals. I just realized that I have not taken measurements in a while... time to do that. I love this fitness related advice..."Weight is a number, measurements are numbers, clothing sizes are numbers. Pick which number matters most to you and base your progress off of that".... for me that number is the scale.. without a doubt.... how about you?



updated to add measurements taken 4/19/13 134 lbs size 8/10-

Bust
fullest- 38 Band-34

waist
natural 33.5 navel 38

Hips 40

bicep 12

Week 47- arms

am weight 138

It takes work to change the shape of your arms.........WORK!!!!! I am not where I want to be yet... but I am working on it and hope to be there soon...... it did not help that my arms were pretty thick to begin with. It's a hereditary thing.. like I said I am petite in stature but not small boned. I come from hearty stock.  See attached picture where I am posing with my Mom on our family camping trip in June. I was just a few weeks in at that point. I am working so hard on shaping up my arms so that this is the year I wear a tank top with confidence.


My arm routine is using 5,8, 10 and 15 lb weights and a medium resistance band. I usually work my arms 3 days a week for about 15 minutes or so.I have injured my upper body more than anything (  upper back, shoulders, forearms,elbow).... My elbow is still not right.... but it is getting better. 10 lbs is to light, but 15lbs is to heavy..etc... I usually don't find that out until after I strained something and over did it. So I take time off, heal and then start up again.. but then I am nervous about getting hurt again. They tell you to increase your weights slowly and I have a decent selection of weights and a weight bench... what I need is the in-between weights of a set of 12 lb dumbbells

My weight was 138 this morning.. I nearly fell off the scale in shock... but who knows why? I am killing it with my workouts. Today I did  1 hour of cross training ( 30 elliptical, 15 treadmill and then 15 min of weights). I have been eating well but nothing too cray cray..... I can always improve. I count every morsel I consume on MFP . It could be anything... not letting it get me down.

how are your arms? ready for spring?

Week 46

Non scale victory

Progress week 42

todays weight 133

Week 42- still have work to do, but I have come a long way. No denying that... sure I can pick apart my back & belly fat... but Instead I am going to pat myself on the shoulder for my dedication. Now I am really zoning in on burning fat these next few months and cleaning up my diet.  I can do much better in that area. I am Running again..woot!!!!. I had reverted to power incline walking awhile back and alternating walking with the elliptical. Now I am running again and hopeful that this will give me the extra push I need to see the results I want to see.

Progress pics then & now ( week 2 & week 39)

 The first set of pics were taken on 6/14/12 second set taken on 2/14/13-  eight months apart. 15 lbs lost and 8 inches. Sorry for the blurry quality... but you get the idea.  My cell phone which has a better camera was charging and it's really hard to get decent non-flash pics on my other camera. Take pics of yourself ladies... you will look back and be motivated when your in a slump or feeling down.

Happy Valentines Day!!!!


I showed my husband these pics and later he asked for an invite to the blog... I told him it was public and he was shocked that I was posting pics like this on a public blog...he was all " your half naked"..... If he seriously had an issue I would take them down... he was light hearted about it. In fact I am not posting as many pics with my face . I reminded him that I get like 6- 10 hits a day on average... lol.  so no worries about any pervy people.Over on my fitness pal.. many, many people have similar progress pics. I trust my gut in these aspects. I am not new to blogging... so if something is nagging at me... I take it down. I post these pics to remind myself of the hard work I have accomplished and to inspire others.

Non-scale Victory

rocking the skinny jeans

Awwww yeah

I did it, I did it, I did it..... finally!!!!!! Woot!!!!!!!!


I worked very hard for the past eight months to earn that number on the scale.. while it does not define me.. it sure does make me smile.

week nine/week 33 & week 18/week 33

am weight 134


33 weeks... yeah me. I have been working out consistently since May. I work out doing 30 min minimum of cardio 5 days a week, doing heavy weights 3 days a week. My average workout is 50 minutes long. Honestly I thought my visible physical results would be more " WOW" after 33 weeks of hard work. I am working really, really hard. There are numerous non-scale victory's- better heart health, improved digestion, muscle tone, better sleep. I don't get winded going up stairs, I can run 3 miles. I have been 1 stinking pound away from my goal weight of 133...... it's comical at this point.  I have lost 13 lbs so far and 8 inches total. I went from a being a snug size 12 to a loose size 10, even my wedding rings are too big... which is silly since I weighed 133 on my wedding day... I must have really conditioned my fingers. I am really going to ramp up my routine because I want to have more wow results on my 1 year fit-anniversary.





                                                            week 9 & week 33

week 19 & week 33

week 32

morning weight 135


doing well over here...feeling better. I managed to workout three days last week and then I squeezed a good workout in on Sunday and will get three days of working out in this week. I definitely indulged over the holidays.. but nothing too crazy.  I don't anticipate any weight gain. I need to do a grocery run today to stock back up on my healthy eating options. Looking forward to reaching new goals in 2013.

Week 30 pics

My guns

working my behind off trying to get some definition in these arms..I have naturally meaty arms being the big boned short girl that I am. I really envision having great looking arms this summer. working hard at it.

Week 24

am weight 136

All is well.. my knee is just about back to normal, it gets a little achy now & then as does my body in general when I push myself. I am feeling like I need a new challenge or a change up to my exercise routine. while I am still doing my thing consistently- working out five days a week alternating elliptical & treadmill and adding heavy weights 2x a week. I am feeling a bit blah/perhaps bored.. that could be because it has been raining for a week straight and I tend to feel better when the sun shines.

so I am just brain storming on how to change things up, some of the ideas I have are maybe take a zumba class or once I get a new dvd player, check out some beach-body turbo fire workout dvds items on ebay. There is a local boot camp that occasionally has groupon specials or perhaps getting an in home trainer just for a few weeks to learn some new exercises. I am leaning towards Zumba just to get out of the house and socialize. I still plan on training for a 5k outdoors come spring. I did not give up on that goal, I just postponed outdoor training and instead run on my treadmill.

week 24 is my reward week.. woot! I really want a new outfit & new boots. My week 20 reward, my clarks shooties did not fit, so I returned them. So I really never got my week 20 reward... so it is only fair that my week 24 reward be a bigger one :)


and to celebrate my achievements and to serve a reminder to myself that all the healthy choices I am making are working..a picture of me at 146 lbs and then at 135 lbs...8 inches leaner, more muscle.... done the all natural way... slow & steady, one healthy step at a time.

April 2012- 146 lbs and a big size 12

Oct 2012- 135 lbs and a small size 10

week 22

All is well over here..weighed in at 138 this morning- feeling healthy & fit... I still have a bunch of body fat I would like to lose and it's time to take my weight lifting to the next level and up my weights.Today I was running in the rain pushing a grocery cart and my size 12 pants fell down.. lol... time to visit a tailor for sure. I am saving for a fall/winter shopping spree.

Still doing my fitness thing 5 days a week- I am very dedicated to my exercise. Wouldn't it be nice if I could be as equally dedicated at giving up Sugar?. Baby steps :)  If i am in a time crunch- I do 30 min of cardio ( running 2.5-3 miles on the treadmill or elliptical) and 5 minutes stretching, but I try to do 30 min of cardio and 30 min of weight three days a week and just cardio the other two days so I can recover. I have loosely adapted the female body revolution and new rules of lifting for women to create my own little routines. I drink a whey protein shake with 1% milk  for breakfast on the days I lift as well. I am hardly as sore as I used to get now that I drink those shakes.. I don't know if it placebo or just the fact that drinking protein right after a w/o helps repair muscle. It was an easy, tasty change to adapt to and I get coupons online and snag the protein powder for a steal.

 I do a really, really good  job for my main meal choices...pretty clean & green, usually around 300 calories per meal and one of the following items.

 6 am -morning pre- workout snack- nutrigrain bar, 90 calorie nature valley granola slim bar, kashi bar - 100 cal & 3 grams of fat is what I try to keep this snack to.

8/9 am- breakfast- greek yogurt or flax oatmeal or omelet or protein shake

10 am- work snack- almonds, fruit, 100 cal mini yogurt, sugar free jello, 100 calorie pouch of fig newtons- again I try to keep this around 100 calories.

12 lunch- big salad with veggies & turkey or turkey wrap with veggies on whole wheat  tortilla w/ baked chips on the side, or a cup of progresso light soup & crackers or  lean cuisine in a pinch.

3 pm snack- this is where I get into trouble.. I am usually starving... and home... I have access to Liv's snacks. I have been sneaking Halloween candy i purchased for our party- only one here and there.. but I wish I had not bought them so early.

5 dinner- tilapa, chicken, chicken sausage, lean beef, pork- along with fresh veggies, salads, frozen veggies- small amount of carbs like whole grain pasta, rice or roasted potatoes.

7pm snack-  I try to have a big mug of herbal tea and a fake out cookie- like a graham cracker lightly spread with peanut butter, or a half of a 100 calorie bagel toasted & lightly spread with cream cheese, or a mini bag of popcorn which is very filling. skinny cow ice cream sandwiches are another fav- but loaded with sugar.

even with my errant snacking ways- I rarely go over my daily calorie limit which is 1400 to 1700 depending on how active I was that day. I am always over my daily sugar allowance... so I am still working on ways to cut out the sugar. All those low fat snacks are loaded with sugar.

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Measuring up

current measurements- 10/12/12

Bust-
widest part- 38 band 34

waist-

smallest part 33 navel 36

Hip- 39.5

bicep-12

neck- 13.5 ( my neck has not lost inches and I am ok with that..lol)

I basically lost 2 inches everywhere in the past five months- does one add up the inches for a grand tally?


12 lbs , 8 total inches, 1 dress size- awesome progress achieved in the past five months and ofcourse the intangible rewards of being in better shape


I was thinking the other day as I am often prone to do.... what is the most important element of this journey... the food changes or the exercise? I think it's the food... the complicated relationship that we all have with food... especially with the Holidays approaching, the celebrating,our emotional ties to eating, etc... changing the way I have eaten is the biggest step and probably 80% of the key... While I have made great changes, whole grains, fresh veggies & fruit, lean protein and have given up fast food... 80% of my eating is clean & healthy now... but I still love my sugar/snacky stuff. Little 100 calorie packs of cookies/crackers.. fun size candy bars. I have not made a clean break from the sugar.... for now I am ok with that. I have made awesome lifestyle changes that will benefit my whole family.



as for the exercise I am hooked.....it still takes dedication, it's not easy.... but I do it every morning and feel better going about my day knowing that I put myself first. Today is my day off and I sit here in my workout clothing already, I change into them first thing.. a little trick to make myself get in there and do it... on days off when i have more time its too easy to lolly gag and put it off.... but once I am in my workout gear I am more likely to get my butt in gear.

Off I go to workout and then enjoy a Mommy/Daughter day since Liv has the day off of school.

Welcome back size 10