Century Day!

Today marks the 100th day of my transformation journey. It has been a rocky path with physical injuries, bruised emotions, and unexpected events – also known as life. But, I am happy that I have been able to pick myself up and stay committed to my fitness. Not much has come off the scale but I do feel different physically and I may have dropped a size or two.

Today also marks 6 weeks since my break up. It hasn’t been easy. The last time that I went through a break up, I resorted to drinking and I gained a lot of the weight that I carry today. This time around, I find myself walking… A LOT. For the past 4 weeks, I have been walking 3-6 miles a day 4-5 times a week. It doesn’t take the pain away but it does help take away some of the sadness and provides me some time to think and focus. I have also found some solace through prayer.  It’s super easy to sit and mull around in a melancholic state. So I try to cut through that thickness by creating a positive outlook through my thoughts and prayer.

Anyhow, I am still tracking my food intake and that has helped a lot. I feel like I am at a crossroads and in some transitional state…and my persistence and attention to my health and fitness is imperative going in my new and exciting near future.

Cheers to the Past 100 days!

I’m melting!

After several weeks of monitoring my food and walking 4-5 times a week, I’m finally feeling a difference in the way that my clothes fit. I haven’t weighed myself in weeks so not sure how much i’ve lost. But, my clothes feel loser so that excites me!

Taking Control

Just want to say that I’m back in the saddle and taking the reigns. There was a rough patch of about three-four weeks where I was either physically or mentally out of commission.  Ever since I recovered from my back injury, I have been walking 3 miles most days out of the week.  I feels like it was the hottest June yet here in Houston with temperatures steadily over 100 degrees. It’s dropped a few degrees over the past several days so it’s still pretty hot.  So I’ve been heading to the park either early in the mornings or in the evenings were it’s a bit more bearable. I’m taking the day off today which turns out to be a good day to take a day off due to rain (that’s something we haven’t seen in a while and is much needed)!

There was also a long period where I felt like I was being crushed under financial pressures and felt like I was on the verge of bankruptcy. So I recently took the reigns on that as well by tracking all of my spending. As for food,  I’ve started utilizing the tools that I garnered while participating in the Weight Watchers program and I’ve started logging my food/fluid intake and counting my points.  By actively monitoring my finances, food intake and logging my workouts, I feel more in control and more focused. I just need to stay consistent and not get sidetracked. That’s the hard part.

I’ve got fourteen weeks til my next birthday and I’m confident that I’ll be able to feel and look good on my day!

Day 65: New Beginning

I just noticed that today is Day 65.

It’s been an interesting and tough ride. I haven’t been able to workout the past few weeks because my back gave out on me and I’ve been in excruciating pain. But, I am starting to feel better and should hopefully be back to 100% by Friday. I am ready to get back to working out. I kind of feel like i’ve lost all of the progress that I had made. I am also thinking of joing either weight watchers online or the biggest loser online membership.

Anyhow, I am okay. Thanks to my readers for their continual support!

Day: FORTY!!

I just realized that this is week 6 and today is day 40 of my training – and life is good!
It hasn’t been entirely easy but I am pretty proud and happy today for sticking to it this long. And, just between us….I did sneak on to the scale at the gym yesterday. It said that I had lost 3 lbs. Six weeks and 3 lbs. I’m actually pretty happy with that because I do feel different and realize that my body composition is probably just shifting. I do feel stronger and I do feel slightly different in my clothes. People that i don’t often see do say that I look slimmer. I realize that I still have a long way to go and that this is gonna be my new way of living.

I haven’t worked out a whole lot since I last posted a blog because I was either dealing with emotional melt downs or dealing with a hurt ankle. Not sure what I did to my ankle but I was in some pain. My trainer and I did work out one night and I did the most stairs ever! LOL But, my ankle started to swell again. So now I’m training on a stationary bike til it heals a bit more.

As for my friends that are still not talking to me…my trainer says to forgive myself and to let it go. To give the situation away and to not let it affect me or my goals anymore.  I made a mistake, I’m learning from it and now it’s time to move on. If they are my true friends, they will forgive me and support me in my quest for living a healthier lifestyle.  If not, I am prepared to accept the loss of their friendship (it’s almost been 2 weeks and at this point, I’m starting to question how good of a friend they were to begin with). I do have a lot of other great friends that will experience the benefits from this loss.

As for my blown out computer, thanks to some really great friends, I am now up and running again! I am so Happy. Gonna kick it on the stationary bike this weekend!

Trying Times

Whew! what a week!
This week has been really tough emotionally and down right stressful.
I hope to post a blog later on alcohol abuse. But basically, I’ve had a lot of cleaning up to do since my drunken Saturday fiasco. According to a few of my dearest friends, I said and did a few hurtful things and I don’t have any re-collection of exactly what I said or did. So, in little words, they’ve made it clear that they are disappointed and not speaking to me. I was really saddened and scared and it really killed my motivation early on this week. For the most part, I’ve forgiven myself and I realize that I need to make changes and honor my friends by not having another experience like that again…EVER. I realize that they are too upset with me still to speak to me. I feel that if they are true friends, they will eventual come and talk about it with me and realize that I was not myself and will help me to learn and heal. And if they never speak to me again, then I am also prepared for that. I just need to re-establish my commitment to myself and cherish those many other friendships that I do have.

Aside from that, karma decided to fine me for my awful behavior by killing off my personal computer. So, now I’ve got to get creative and come up with ways to generate the $1300 for a new one. So, I’ll try and update my blog as often as I can when I can.

In good news, I have gotten up early the past several days and have worked out. I’m able to run up more hills and do more of everything now. I still don’t feel like I’ve lost anything though and I’m about to complete week 5. Maybe it’s my stress this week? I dunno. But, I will keep going.

Have a nice Memorial Weekend everyone!

26, 27, 28: Nothing too exciting to share

Day 26: It was our annual company picnic so I didn’t go out and exercise on this day.

Day 27: I took my bike out and rode around Allen Parkway for 30 minutes. It was a nice scenic route with lots of inclines and declines to climb. It was a challenging 30 minutes.

Day 28: Saturday day night was brutal. I had way too much to drink and it killed my Sunday. Took a day to re-coop and hydrate.

DAY 25: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

This morning’s work out with Peden was tough but I am totally getting stronger and better. Today I had to walk downhill and RUN uphill 10 times again. Only she has a lot of surprises and mixes it up and breaks it up for me. We started off walking our normal path and we stopped and I did some “stair climbers” on a pretty steep wall. Then, at the bat bridge and I did 20 pushups. On the other side of the bat bridge, she had me walk downhill and run up. And each time that I came up, I had to do 15 crunches. I did that about 5 times then we walked back across the bat bridge. It’s called the bat bridge because there is a large bat colony living under the bridge and it’s a popular spot here in Houston (on Waugh Drive and Allen Parkway) where people come to watch them emerge at night. It has a potent stench. And it’s not fun when you’re trying to catch your breath after running up and down a hill. It makes me want to gag, really. Anyhow, back to my workout. So we walked back across bat bridge and I’m back down on the cement for more pushups and stair climbers. Once we walked back to our starting point, I had to walk downhill and run up 5 more times. And each time that I came up, I had to do 15 pushups. Whew! I made it though. And she was talking me through my scale issue. I am not to weigh myself for a month. I think that temptation is harder than refraining from sweets at this time. But, I can do it. (I need to take pictures of our path for visual reference.)

24

Day 24: Woohoo!
Just got home from some intense cardio at the gym. I survived 30 minutes in spin class at my own pace. Then hit the elliptical for 10 minutes (2 minute warm up then alternating between 30 sec sprints and 30 second rests). And then I walked up and down the stairs a few times. I look like someone hosed me down! Still weighing in at 293 lbs. (I know, it’s a bad habit to break). I guess because I feel pretty good and I would think that the scale would start to reflect some change but I guess not. I’m going to ask Peden to take my measurements again. Perhaps that’ll help me get over my “results” fix.

Regarding last night’s Biggest Loser finale…I think that I’m still shocked. I think every one (including myself) wanted Tara to win so badly. It truly was a huge upset. Helen looked kinda sickly though. But I guess a quarter of a million is worth looking sickly. Oh Tara. She is still much more of an inspiration to me than any of the other contestants. Oh and Kristin looked stunning! She was totally rockin’ her new look – Loved it!

6 months… I’m going to be hosting my own “gun” show.

Twenty-three

Day 23: I feel great and I am super excited about tonight’s finale of the Biggest Loser. Well, it’s kind of bittersweet actually. I’ve enjoyed watching their accomplishments every week and I draw inspiration from the contestants. Guess I’ll have to keep them saved on the DVR a bit longer.
Peden and I decided to ramp up my cardio. So this morning, I went to my gym and warmed up on the treadmill a bit then got on the elliptical and pumped up the volume for 10 solid minutes. It was tougher than I thought but I powered through it. Tomorrow morning, I plan on going to 6am spin class. I’ll check in tomorrow and let ya know how my night/morning unfolds!

Go Tara Costa!!