Drugs, Exercise, and Potty Stops

I'm on sabbatical from blogging for a few weeks, so while I'm still working out, I'm not sharing about it.  However, I thought I'd rerun some of my favorites from early in my circuit torture adventure.  This is from Week Five: 

It was cardio week, which meant I sweat enough to power a water bender.

If you have not seen Avatar: The Last Airbender, then DO IT!

 And speaking of water, I started the next phase of my health regimen--drinking a gallon of water a day.  Basically, that means that between the jumping exercises and the drinking, I'm hitting the bathroom every 20 minutes.  My Professional Torturer laughs.

And, just to entertain my blog readers, this week I tried drugs.  Not those kind!  GNC was giving out some weight loss "supplements" as free samples.  Frankly, this is not something I would ever do in the long run and don't recommend, but for a week, why not?

The first one I tried is called Ripped Freak and has "green tea extract."  As near as I can tell, they've extracted somewhere between 10 cups and a tea shop's worth of caffeine.

Caffeine!  Yeah, baby!

When I was in college, I could drink pots of coffee until the wee hours of the morning and sleep like a log.  Now that I am a middle aged woman, I've put away youthful things--including my tolerance to caffeine.  So in retrospect, taking it at 4:30 in the afternoon was not the smartest idea.  However, after tossing and turning until 1 am, I did get smart and succumb to the inevitable.  In the next three hours, I cleaned a few rooms in the house, thought up several new scenes for Mind Over All, and read an entire book on St. Kolbe, whom I was able to write about the next morning after two hours' sleep.

The other pills are called Cellulor Super HD and CLK.  They, however come in 2- or 3-pill a day packages.  I was smarter and only took one a day.

However, the Ripped Freak came in a sample of two.  You know the saying, "Fool me one, shame on you, fool me twice, it makes a great blog?"  I took the second one on the morning of the 15th.  It makes a BIG difference to take them in the morning!  I'm writing this at 11 am, and the only thing I've noticed is I've gone through a gallon of water without noticing.

Anyway, with the sweating, the water and the chemical boost, I lost 3.6 pounds this week.  However, I gained .8 percent body fat,  and nearly 3 inches in the waist/abs area.  This just goes to show that even drugs cannot defeat the double-whammy of Fat Tuesday and Valentine's Day!

Anyway, I must say I recommend the water, but not the supplements.

Curse you, Bagely Sweetness!

I'm on sabbatical from blogging for a few weeks, so while I'm still working out, I'm not sharing about it.  However, I thought I'd rerun some of my favorites from early in my circuit torture adventure.  This is from Week Three:

After week two's incredible progress, I backslid.  It seems circuit torture cannot overcome the awesome power of bagels with blueberry schmear.  I did discover, however, that "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips" is pretty accurate--I lost an inch on the waist, but gained in my hips this week.  Curse you, bagely sweetness!

Resistance is futile!

Anyway, I realized on Friday, as I was crawling from the sit-up mat to the push-up mat, that if Dante were to write The Inferno today, my gym would be in the circle of hell where they send those whose sin is gluttony.  Personally, I'm hoping this is just Purgatory, and that I will suffer, be expelled of my evil ways, and come to a new heaven...where I can have a bagel on occasion.

Weight Loss Update 3: How Real People Lose Weight

Time again!  Here are the before-and-after photos and stats on my weight loss/muscle gain development.  Just a reminder or note for those who are new.  I take circuit training five times a week and sometimes work out on Saturdays.  I've also decreased my sweets and sodas and increased my water.  I am not on a diet, because I don't have that kind of discipline for cooking and eating.

Not as easy to see, but I'm starting to get my hourglass back,  I've lost 12 inches in waist and abs combined, but only 3 in hips and 3 in bust.  That's how I like it!

Look!  My poochy belly is shrinking!

When I take these pictures, I try to do them in the same outfit and without any sucking in of guts or posturing.  This is the real me as you might see me coming out of the gym (messy hair and all!).  I hate those Before-and-After shots where the person is wearing make-up and tanned and obviously holding herself in a perfect posture when her before picture was schlumped.

	15-Jan	19-Apr		total loss
weight	169	155		14 lb dec
body fat	38.5	35.7		2.8 dec
chest	38.7	36.1		2.6 dec
bust	41.1	38.5		2.6 dec
waist	39	32.9		6.1 dec
hips	42.8	39.5		3.3 dec
abs	42	36		6.0 dec
thigh	22	23.5		1.5 inc
calf	15	15		0
bicep	11.6	11.2		.4 dec
forearm	10	9.8		.2 dec
neck	15	14		1.0 dec

Total: 14 pounds lost and 23 inches gone overall.  I've not gone down a size yet in clothes, but all my clothes fit better now.  (Wardrobe-wise, I'm holding out for 145 and to be sure my husband has a post-retirement job, although when I reach 145, I'm buying a Biofit Bootcamp t-shirt regardless!)

If you are wondering what it's taking me to do this, may I suggest you start at the beginning and read my circuit torture adventures?   You can also put "Circuit training" in the search bar and they'll all show up.

Weight Loss Update 2: How Real People Lose Weight

Can you believe it?  It's been eight weeks since I started my exercise program (circuit training, affectionately known here as circuit torture), and changed some dietary habits to lose some of this blubber I've been carrying around for a decade.

Here's my story:  Back in 2002, I weighed 120-125 pounds and was in good shape.  I didn't do any special exercise or dieting, either.  But something happened in that year that caused me to gain 30 pounds without any appreciable changes in diet or habit.  My doctor says I was just getting old (I was 35).  Maybe it was the SlimFasts I was drinking instead of meals that summer because it was too hot to eat.  Whatever, it came on and would not come off.  I did try dieting at that time, but with no luck.  I had every medical test under the sun--finally sparking the "You're just old" comment.  I went to a naturopath.  Nothing worked.  I gave up and settled in with my new size, and gained another 20+ pounds over the decade.

This is me on Jan 25, 2013

This year, I decided I'm tired of being the shape and consistency of a pudding bag.  Even more, I'm tired of getting out of breath going up a flight of stairs or when I lay down at night, which actually scares me some.  I don't care overmuch about the weight, per se, but I hate not fitting anything properly, and not finding anything that doesn't make me feel dumpy when I catch my reflection.  So, if I'm going to be 169, I'll be a fit 169.

I'm not dieting.  It does not work for me, and I don't have that kind of discipline.  Instead, I've cut sodas, desserts, and fast food drastically, and started exercising 5-6 days a week.  I also drink a gallon of water a day.  Two weeks of this past eight, Rob was home on mid-tour leave with the goal of hitting every restaurant and fast food place he's missed for eight months.  Even with looking at the low-cal options, I was taking in way more calories, sodas, and sweets than I had even before I started this regime.  However, if I can't have a little backsliding, then this is not the lifestyle for me.  The only thing I'm staying faithful on is the exercise program.

In the end, I'm pretty happy with the results of the past eight weeks.  I lost body fat, nine pounds, and a couple of inches in the waist.  Some places where I increased inches, I'm seeing muscle instead of wobbly fat, so I don't mind.  Nine pounds is about a pound a week, which is what they say is healthy weight loss for a long run.

	15-Jan	8-Mar		loss
weight	169	160		9 lb dec
body fat	38.5	36.6		1.9 dec
chest	38.7	36.8		1.9 dec
bust	41.1	38.2		2.9 dec
waist	39	36.9		2.1 dec
hips	42.8	40.5		2.3 dec
abs	42	39.5		2.5 dec
thigh	22	22.8		.8 inc
calf	15	15.3		.3 inc
bicep	11.6	12		.4 inc
forearm	10	9.8		.2 dec
neck	15	14.2		.8 dec

Here's my photos from yesterday. 

You can actually see some definition in my arms.  Funny thing is, since I started exercising, I don't have nearly as much trouble with carpal tunnel, either.

Please note that I am not posing or sucking in my gut or doing any of those photo tricks to make myself look better.  I'm also using the same shirt.  The idea is to see my progress in an everyday manner.

I post these because I think that the media--from advertising to talk shows--puts a lot of emphasis on quick and extreme results.  So tell me:  does this inspire (or reassure) any of you in your own weight loss efforts?  What are you doing to have a healthier you this year?

Great Weight Write-Off Winner--Dennis McGeehan!

You know, when it comes down to it, the reason for diet and exercise is not to lose weight or look great, so much as to get healthy.  This week's winner in the Great Weight Write-Off, Dennis McGeehan has shown that a little discipline can get remarkable results.  He joined with the goal of managing his high blood pressure by diet and exercise, and has been off his medication and doing great for two weeks now.  Congrats, Dennis!


Dennis P. McGeehan is a husband and the father of nine kids: 1 daughter and 7 sons plus one daughter-in-heaven. He is a freelance writer and author who writes both fiction and non-fiction on numerous topics - family, faith, fantasy , etc. His first published magazine article is in the Lenten Edition of The Word Among Us, viewable on-line at http://wau.org/archives/article/come_on_god_give_me_a_break/



 
He has one e-book, Selecting the Best Arts Class for Your Child, at http://www.amazon.com/Selecting-Martial-Class-Child-ebook/dp/B007L3FCV6:  A concise book to help parents make an informed decision on choosing a Martial Art school for their child. The book covers the different types of Martial Arts classes available, the distinctive characteristics of the styles, and the factors to consider when deciding what class is right for your child.

Circuit Torture...er Training, Week 5

It was cardio week, which meant I sweat enough to power a water bender.

If you have not seen Avatar: The Last Airbender, then DO IT!

 And speaking of water, I started the next phase of my health regimen--drinking a gallon of water a day.  Basically, that means that between the jumping exercises and the drinking, I'm hitting the bathroom every 20 minutes.  My Professional Torturer laughs.

And, just to entertain my blog readers, this week I tried drugs.  Not those kind!  GNC was giving out some weight loss "supplements" as free samples.  Frankly, this is not something I would ever do in the long run and don't recommend, but for a week, why not?

The first one I tried is called Ripped Freak and has "green tea extract."  As near as I can tell, they've extracted somewhere between 10 cups and a tea shop's worth of caffeine.

Caffeine!  Yeah, baby!

When I was in college, I could drink pots of coffee until the wee hours of the morning and sleep like a log.  Now that I am a middle aged woman, I've put away youthful things--including my tolerance to caffeine.  So in retrospect, taking it at 4:30 in the afternoon was not the smartest idea.  However, after tossing and turning until 1 am, I did get smart and succumb to the inevitable.  In the next three hours, I cleaned a few rooms in the house, thought up several new scenes for Mind Over All, and read an entire book on St. Kolbe, whom I was able to write about the next morning after two hours' sleep.

The other pills are called Cellulor Super HD and CLK.  They, however come in 2- or 3-pill a day packages.  I was smarter and only took one a day.

However, the Ripped Freak came in a sample of two.  You know the saying, "Fool me one, shame on you, fool me twice, it makes a great blog?"  I took the second one on the morning of the 15th.  It makes a BIG difference to take them in the morning!  I'm writing this at 11 am, and the only thing I've noticed is I've gone through a gallon of water without noticing.

Anyway, with the sweating, the water and the chemical boost, I lost 3.6 pounds this week.  However, I gained .8 percent body fat,  and nearly 3 inches in the waist/abs area.  This just goes to show that even drugs cannot defeat the double-whammy of Fat Tuesday and Valentine's Day!

Anyway, I must say I recommend the water, but not the supplements.

Circuit Torture--er, Training. Real world weight loss

Here we are at the one-month mark of my new circuit training routine, so I thought I'd give you an overall view of my progress, more than anything to show how a normal person loses weight.  This is me a month ago:

 

My body seems to enjoy 160-170, which I have been at for a decade now.  I am 5'3", so in theory, I'm on the border of overweight and obese:

Excuse me while I take this with a big grain of salt.

I'm large--a size 12-14--and I don't like my belly (or as Amber calls it, "the food baby") but obese?  Still, I am not happy with my shape or that I'm so weak, which is why I'm making some changes.

First, know that I am not dieting.  I have tried this in the past and I inevitably lose 5 pounds in the first week or two, then never lose again, give up after two months and gain it back. Also, I'm not interested in giving up sweets and such for a life of veggies and free-range chicken.  So I've cut down on the bad stuff.  Sodas are a once or twice a week, dessert on rare occasions, eating out once in a while.

However (as you know), I am exercising six days a week on a really intense routine that incorparates cardio and weights.  Here's me after a month:

Not the most flattering of pictures, true, but the point is to see what progress I made.  I'm trying to use the same outfit for photos and measurements each time.

It doesn't look like a lot, but I m toning up. I can go up the stairs without losing my breath, and I can carry more.  Also, my jeans fit better.  Here are my stats:

	15-Jan	8-Feb		loss
weight	169	165		4lb dec
body fat	38.5	35.3		3.2 dec
chest	38.7	36.9		1.8 dec
bust	41.1	39.6		.5 dec
waist	39	35		4.0 dec
hips	42.8	40.5		2.3 dec
abs	42	39.5		2.5 dec
thigh	22	23.9		1.9 inc
calf	15	15.1		.1 inc
bicep	11.6	11.8		.2 inc
forearm	10	9.8		.2 dec
neck	15	14.5		.5 dec

I'm not happy about how little weight I've lost, but Ryion, my Personal Torturer...er...trainer, said people often gain at first because fat is converting to muscle.  Plus, as I said, my body seems to settle into a comfortable weight and stay there regardless.  If I can shape my body better, I'll be satisfied.  Something else you can't see in the photo btw, is that I've established a better routine of exfoliating my face and for the dark circles under my eyes.  (My mother-in-law bought me some stuff for the circles.)

My next step is to drink more water. I'm supposed to drink 84 ounces a day.  The formula is half your weight in ounces.  I saw on Dr. Oz that lemon water is supposed to help, so I'm doing that.  I also want to add a multi-vitamin.  I'm bad about taking these regularly.

Circuit Torture...er...Training, Week 3

After week two's incredible progress, I backslid.  It seems circuit torture cannot overcome the awesome power of bagels with blueberry schmear.  I did discover, however, that "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips" is pretty accurate--I lost an inch on the waist, but gained in my hips this week.  Curse you, bagely sweetness!

Resistance is futile!

Anyway, I realized on Friday, as I was crawling from the sit-up mat to the push-up mat, that if Dante were to write The Inferno today, my gym would be in the circle of hell where they send those whose sin is gluttony.  Personally, I'm hoping this is just Purgatory, and that I will suffer, be expelled of my evil ways, and come to a new heaven...where I can have a bagel on occasion.

Circuit Torture...Er...Trainng, Week 2

That which does not kill you, makes your stronger...and perhaps thinner!

I have completed another six-day week of torture.

This week, he added a new twist to his sadism—20 second intervals.  Work 20, rest 10…but you do this eight times—160 seconds, or two minutes, forty-- instead of just pushing for a minute secure in the knowledge that it ends.   Once again, I was made to do “dips.”  That's where you put your hands on a bench or some other surface behind you, and push yourself up and down from a sitting position in front of the bench.  Who knew someone’s triceps could be so wimpy?  I made noises I haven’t made since I was in labor!  The pitosin drip labor!

This was a day of late starts for us, and one day, my trainer decided on the special torment for me.  It's supposed to give you a maximum calorie burn.  First, I was set on the treadmill to run at a pace I hadn't set since I was in the military and told to run a mile.  I did run a mile, but with the breaks, the treadmill ran a mile and a quarter.  Still I ran a mile, and I will take that victory!  Ah, but then he directed me to my nemesis, The Ladder.  "1000 steps," he said.

So, "old friend," we meet again...

Half an hour of pure pain later, he informed me I had just set a newbie record.  Apparently no one so early in the program had ever done 1000 steps (without passing out, throwing up, or requiring the EMTs, I surmised).  After a high five and a moment of sweet victory, he then put the nautilus machine on 55 pounds and made me to 50 sitting bench presses.  Oh, yeah, I was tired that day...although not nearly as sore as the first week.  I think my muscles are becoming inured.

Friday, I was even later, and ended up missing half the class, so I was given homework:  100 burpees and 100 crunches.  If you don't know what a burpee is, please, check out this link.  (For some reason, blogger will not call it up or let me embed it, but it explains it the best.  Essentially, you drop down, push your legs out, do a push up, bring your knees in to a squat, and jump.  Now, my burpees look more like drop, do a girlie pushup, struggle to bring my knees in and make a pitiful hamster-sized hop, but I did it a hundred times (in spurts, with breaks).  Saturday, I didn't feel well, so I stayed home from the gym, but did another 50 and 200 crunches.  Yes, I am now torturing myself.

However, I measured on Friday, and the past two weeks have resulted in a loss of 3.8 pounds; 1.8 percent body fat, an inch off the chest, 3.4 inches off my waist, 1.8 inches off my hips and 1.9 inches off my abs. Somehow, to my complete bafflement, I gained in my thighs.  Don't even ask--maybe it's the Curse of The Ladder!

I joke about the torture, but really, I'm enjoying pushing my body, sticking to a program, and of course, I'm liking the results.  The other day, I put on pants that I usually can't sit in without undoing the button, and they fit.  I've got a long way to go, but I think I can do it.

This week's Great Weight Write Off Winner--K. Ann Seeton

First weeks can sometimes be the worst when starting any new program, but the dieting dozen of the Great Weight Write off did pretty well.  Despite family crises, job issues, and more, we managed to start new routines, make purchases toward our fitness (treadmills to new shoes), and one person decided to try the Flu Weight Reduction Program.  (Not Recommended!)  In all, we lost 15 pounds and some inches.

Our big winner this week, however, was K. Ann Seeton, a blogger and writer.  She said she was as surprised as could be at her reduction as she hadn't noticed a big difference.  She has been on a diet specifically for regulating her blood sugar, and stayed on it almost perfectly this week--and she has the results to show!

As her reward, we're asking folks to visit her blog and give her a kudo.  While you are there, check it out, too!  (Feel free to kudo her on FB, too, but please check out the blog.)

Quicksilver to Gold at http://hg2au.com:  How does one go from Quicksilver to Gold during midlife? Learning new skills and seeking balance in the midst of ordinary life, how does one come to understand the meaning of a personal vocation? This blog is about finding my unique role in loving this world with the love God gives to me. Together let us move from Quicksilver to Gold. Welcome to the record of my journey.