MVP FITNESS 365

WEEK 18 WEIGH-IN – 291.4 pounds

Just another painful week.

I KNEW I had done too much on Wednesday with my lower body workout.  I rushed the exercises and reduced the rest period in between sets, but I did not reduce the load.  I actually increased it.  I also did not have my PWO shake afterwards because we were out and away from home.  The result was pain on Thursday, followed by extreme pain on Friday, crazy soreness on Saturday, and lingering tightness into early Sunday.  Fun week.  I tried several times to walk it out, but it was just too much.

So the first third of the week was awesome.  The second third was flat (no exercise, but I ate well). The last two days finally caught up with me.  No exercise, no clean eating.  I even capped the week with two bowls of ice cream last night.  Had I skipped that snack and jumped on the treadmill, I’d likely have made up for my gains from the week before.

As it was, I only lost 4.2 pounds.

This tells me several things.  Last week wasn’t as bad as I had thought.  And this week isn’t as good as the numbers indicate.  The positive I take from all this is that I am in a narrow range (low 290’s) instead of jumping immediately back over 300 after a rather long period of blah, blah, blah days scattered with a few intense workouts.  There is hope yet.  I don’t mind a breather to recoup, refeed, and rethink my approach.

The negative is that I leave for Las Vegas in a few days.  A very large part of me has already checked out this week, knowing I will be eating poorly in a few days.  These few days won’t make a difference, right?  Let the party begin now…  I am already planning the massive workouts that will start the day we get back.

Ahh, whatever.  The fact is that I DO have a few days before we leave, so every bit will help me as I try to minimize the gains over the next week or so.  I’d LOVE to come back at the point I left.  And to that end, I will be bringing my scale, not only for a weigh-in on Monday morning, but to gauge how fast I begin to climb.  If I approach 300 again, I will have no choice but to cut my vacation from sanity early and hit it hard while still in Vegas.  I want to avoid that, but I also want to be able to enjoy a vacation as well.  Fine line. 

Bottom line, I will never be 300 again.  And that thought is so much stronger than my desire to have fun.

I am 34.6% complete.   -30.4 pounds

April 7, 2010 – measurements

Four months in…

Here are my stats for April 7, 2010:

CHEST          49.0″   (-.5″)

WAIST          58.0″   (+.25″)

HIPS              45.5″   (-.25″)

I am not thrilled with these results, evidenced by the post below. 

Nothing more to say other than I am more determined than ever to produce better results on May 7th.  As always, the weight loss is fine, but I gauge my success on the 7th of every month.  And using that yardstick, it wasn’t a very successful March.

If tomorrow comes and I can actually walk (after tonight’s horrendous leg workout), I plan to subject my body to a double cardio session.  I will feel it one way or another tomorrow.

WEEK 17 WEIGH-IN – 295.6 pounds

Ugh.  Happy Easter.

What really can I say? 

For whatever reason, I was so incredibly hungry this week.  I think I had been a bit low in my calories recently, and it just caught up to me.  I knew that I needed a re-feed of sorts, but I went way beyond that.  I started out just gorging on healthy food, but once the workouts stopped on Tuesday, I gave up the fight.  It’s not like I ate a box of donuts in one sitting, but we did eat out three times, first at Paradise Bakery, then Jack in the Box, and finally Wendy’s.  Not good choices.

By that time, the chocolate began showing up in the house.  It was all over once I began raiding the baskets that hadn’t even been given out yet.  I think I bought Ashley THREE bunnies this year.  I ate the first two over the course of the week.  And it wasn’t even good chocolate.  Sigh.

To be honest, I know the scale shows a 6.6 pound gain (which is awful), but a TON of that is water weight and will come right back off.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t painful, but it is a comfort to see 2 pounds drop off in the first day as I exercised and ate well today.

Two steps forward and one step back.  The important thing is that this lasted only a week, and I am back working hard already.  Even with this pace, I will get there eventually.  My only regret is that I didn’t wait until our upcoming Vegas trip in two weeks.  I may have to cut back now as I don’t want another huge gain so close to this one.  If wishes were gumdrops…  Vegas is what it is.

My monthly measurements are in two days – not good timing.

I am 32.7% complete.  -26.2 pounds

WEEK 16 WEIGH-IN – 289.0 pounds

An intense focus this past week was rewarded with a 3.8 pound loss.  Awesome! 

I am now down a total of 32.8 pounds and into the 280’s for the first time in a couple years.  Perhaps even more exciting for me is the fact that this week’s loss puts me back ahead of the 2 pounds per week pace charted on my STATISTICS page.

113 days into my program, and I feel GREAT.  Consistency really has been the key.  So much more now, I feel like I can have a bad day and continue on without giving up on everything.  No ONE day is too important.  Success requires an “over-time approach” that isn’t as apparent when you look at any individual moment of time. 

I am still focused on my short term goal of pushing hard until Vegas (April 16th), but getting under 275 will be the next major milestone on my way down.  It’s a silly thing, but I enjoy playing with my girls on the trampoline in the backyard.  Knowing the official weight limit is 275 pounds, I have been reluctant to join in and push it beyond that.  For how much time the girls spend out there, I am anxious to be able to enjoy it with them once again without fear of breaking the thing.  I don’t expect to see 275 until probably June 1st, but it definitely gives me something to aim for.  

I am 30.8% complete.   -32.8 pounds

WEEK 15 WEIGH-IN – 292.8 pounds

Another 3 pounds lost as I continue to inch along toward my goals.

And that is how it feels too.  Slooowwwwwww going.  That isn’t to say that I have anxiety about getting there.  In fact, just the opposite.  I KNOW this is a done deal.  Even with a few slip-ups since I started back in December, I am still just a single pound off the pace of 2 pounds per week.  And while I am pained by the enjoy the slow and steady weight loss, I also continue to gain strength, endurance, and fat loss.

All that sits between me and my goal of 230.8 by December 8th of this year is TIME.  It isn’t a matter of IF, or even of WHEN. 

It simply IS. 

I am 28.8% complete.   -29.0 pounds

WEEK 14 WEIGH-IN – 295.8 pounds

Ahhh, things were going so well last week too.  I had this weigh-in set up for a solid 3-4 pound loss, so I am little disappointed in seeing only the 1.8 pound difference.  That isn’t to say I didn’t expect it after yesterday though.  My body tends to retain water when injured, so I knew it was going to be an uphill battle.

Since this program started I have been running intervals on Sunday nights before bed.  I know that it does suck an extra bit of water out for my weigh-in, but considering I do that every Sunday, I am still comparing apples to apples, week to week.  The best laid plans…

It hurt that my kids fell asleep in my room, so the midnight workout would have woken up two sleeping girls who need their rest.  I don’t use that as an excuse though.  I could have done something else (or earlier).  The real problem from yesterday is my back.  It has been KILLING me over the last 2-3 days.  I have been able to work through the pain, but after spending 7 hours on my feet at the Ostrich Festival, I was in considerable agony by the time we got home. 

I tried the hot shower, the stretching, and even considered an e-stim treatment, but nothing worked.  I finally gave up and took an oxycodone before drifting off to sleep.  Of course, I woke up in incredible pain again, and now I wonder just how long I will have to be out.  I may continue trying to push through it, but at some point my back will likely need rest.

We’ll see.  I guess the upside is that I am primed for a huge week if I can get my back in order.  And as long as the scale continues to put distance between me and that 300 pound line, I will remain optimistic.

I am 26.9% complete.   -26.0 pounds

March 7, 2010 – measurements

Three months in…

Here are my stats for March 7, 2010:

CHEST          49.5″

WAIST          57.75″     (-1.75″)

HIPS              45.75″     (-.25″) 

Considering the lack of significant progress over the last month, I was actually thrilled to see ANY drop, especially an additional two inches overall.  As I continue to remind myself on these pages, the TRUE indicator lies in the tape.  It’s great to lose the weight, and I know it has to come as I lose these inches, but I gauge my success on the 7th every month.

See the downward trend on my Statistics page.

Party in the USA.  (OK, so I am a closet Miley fan.)

WEEK 13 WEIGH-IN – 297.6 pounds

Whew.   An even 4 pounds lost over the last 7 days.

I am now FIRMLY under 300 pounds and WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN.  Honestly, it feels great.  I know it’s just another week, and I was under 300 a few weeks ago, but this is a new recent low for me, and I am back on track and heading south towards better health, longer life, and smaller shirts with every single step.

It wasn’t the best week of exercise I could have put together, but it was enough.  With my Mom in town for a week, I managed only two weight beatings workouts, a softball game, and one late night interval cardio session.  The key this week was eating healthy.  We still ate out often, but I made better choices, drank my water, got in my vegetables, and kept focused.

I am 25% complete.  -24.2 pounds

WEEK 12 WEIGH-IN – 301.6 pounds

 A small gain of 1.4 pounds – not problematic.

My life is 90% returned to normal.  The painter is long gone (for now).  The mess he left behind is almost clean and put back in its place.  I can actually walk to the kitchen from my bedroom without climbing over the sofa, crawling under the coffee table, and then shimmying on one foot along the short wall.  Sweet!

Last week wasn’t fanatstic.  I did get in a couple trips to the gym and an hour of softball over the weekend, but it remained impossible to keep to my nutritional plan.  I am a little frustrated at myself for the lack of effort, but I can’t just give up.  The good I take from the past three weeks is that despite things falling apart for a bit, I did not put much weight back on.  I am still hovering right at the 300 line, both above and below.

So with the “pause” over, I need to find the motivation to get back on track.  I’m confident it will happen. 

I am 23.1% complete.  -20.2 pounds

WEEK 11 WEIGH-IN – 300.2 pounds

Week two of the mess that is my life.  The house is still driving me crazy.  Work stress through the roof.  Once again, we ate every meal OUT.  How I managed to do that, forego all exercise, and STILL LOSE 2.8 POUNDS  …I will never know.  I’ll take it though.

I am 21.2% complete.  -21.6 pounds