• I was up .5 pounds on my home scale on Saturday.  I haven’t taken my measurements yet so I don’t know what the deal is there.  I’m not freaked out.  I know I’m doing the right things so the weight loss will follow.
• I was down .6 pounds for the weigh-in for our office Biggest Loser contest.  I discount that number because it is taken after I exercise in the morning.  I appreciate it for contest purposes though…better down something than up in weight!
• Feb bootcamp ended Friday and I improved a lot in the benchmark workout we did at the beginning of the month.  I’m looking forward to March’s go ’round.
• Last week was fairly light on exercise.  I took three (planned) rest days.  I feel like a lazy slob!  I made it to three days of bootcamp but I didn’t do a long run and I only had one other day of cardio.
• I decided to do a 10K sometime in May.  It is really hard to find races that time of year because it is so freakin’ warm here.
• I find that I don’t run when I don’t have a race planned.  The downside is that training for a race means that I can’t do other types cardio that I enjoy.  Catch-22 much?
• I need to start drinking my water again.  I am terrible about hydration at home!  Terrible!  There are days when I don’t drink anything from 6PM-10PM.  It seems like I’m always holding the baby or scarfing down dinner really quick before he starts fussing.  This must change.
• I fit into another new pair of jeans.  Yay!  I bought some jeans from Old Navy that fit in one wash but were too tight in a different wash (same size, same style).  Now they fit!
• I love Old Navy for transitional clothing.  $22 jeans work for me when I am losing weight and not trying to spend a lot of dough.  They might not last a long time but they work for now.
• I still can’t fit into the Size 12 Long and Leans from Gap.  The 14s are too big (or maybe it is too stretched out?) to the point where I don’t want to wear them anymore.  I still can’t get in the 12s though.  How is this possible?

• I’m down 2 pounds again as of this Saturday to 192.5.  What a great 2 weeks this has been…down 5 pounds total!  I’m also down a total of 5 inches (all over) since starting my Precision Nutrition program measurements.
• A few people have told me that I look like I’m losing weight.  Yeah!  It is so hard to see it yourself.
• A lot of my workout pants are starting to feel loose.  This is good news too but kind of annoying when you are trying to do mountain climbers in boot camp.
• This was a great exercise week.  I worked out every day this week.  Four CrossFit bootcamp sessions, 2 step aerobics cardio days at home and 1 outdoor running day.
• I truly do believe in the need for rest days though so this will not become a weekly habit.
• The ATL weather was fabulous this weekend so I made the long drive to the Silver Comet Trail on Sunday for a long run.  I’ve really missed running outside and this is my favorite place to run.  I like running here because once you get out on the trail you can’t cut your run short!
• I ran out to the 2.4 mile marker (started running at .3 miles), took a 2-minute break and then ran back to the 1.2 mile marker.  So I ran a little longer than a 5K in total.  I wasn’t trying for any particular time.  I’m just trying to get my endurance back.
• I had to swap out my running shoes.  My running has been off and on since becoming pregnant so I had no idea how many miles I’d logged on my Asics.  I felt shin-splinty after my last run so I figured it was time to toss my old shoes.  Luckily, I had bought an extra pair last year when they were on sale super cheap.  The new pair is a crazy gold snakeskin color but they were $30 cheaper than the normal cost.  No shin split feeling after Sunday’s run.
• I’ve got 7.5 pounds to lose by March 12th.  This is going to be close!  I would be encouraged if I hit that target, but things are going well right now so I’m fine if I get close.
• I bought two pairs of pants from The Limited for extra cheap.  They are a (tight) Size 14 and about 3 pounds from being wearable but at least I could zip them all the way up this time.  The last time I tried a pants search there in mid-December, I had to hang my head in shame and head to Lane Bryant.

• The scale has been playing hide and seek with me showing me down one pound one day and the same the next.  My jeans are getting ever looser though.  I managed to squeeze into a pair of jeans that I purchased from Ann Taylor Loft 2 months ago when I couldn’t get them up over my hips before.  They are hardly ready for prime time yet (serious muffin top), but I buttoned them at least.  I take my victories where I can!
• Week #1 of CrossFit bootcamp is in the bag and I’m loving it.  I’ve really been pushing myself again and I like the feeling.  It feels great not to finish every workout in last place – especially when everyone is so much skinnier than you.
• I’m not liking the soreness.  We do a bunch of mini-workouts in bootcamp so the chance of not being sore is slim to none.  My calves were sore for three days.  How do you get sore calves?!?  The last time this happened I had done a bunch of Turkish Get Ups and I understood the soreness.  This time – not so much.
• I did end up hanging with the Mochas for the exotic dance class.  I wore some yoga pants and a little chemise thing that used to be a short dress when I was smaller (LOL!) as a top.  My trusty old stripper shoes fit just fine.
• I had a great time and I’m glad I went.  I felt pretty good even if there is a lot more going on in the middle during hip rolls than there used to be.  I am determined to get back to pole class once things with the baby settle down.  Right now, I don’t see how I can get a consistent weekend day off (we alternate) without striking a Devil’s bargain with The Mister.
• I did great with nutrition last week until Friday.  My mother in law was in town so we got out for a rare date night.  I was craving food my favorite pizza joint and I feasted!  I had a Greek Salad with chicken (good) along with a few lemon pepper wings (not so good) and fries (ummm).   The Mister and I split a dessert.  I had to do a penalty workout at Saturday bootcamp because of my shenanigans but that food was worth every slamball!
• I was able to have my cheat meal on Friday and get right back to business on Saturday.  That made me happy.  I think I am starting to learn a little something on this program.  If 90% of the time I make really healthy choices  (not just low-calorie processed junk food), a couple of not so healthy choices once in a while will not destroy me.

• I will continue to post this on Monday although I am using my measurements from Saturday.  My Precision Nutrition measurement check-ins are on Saturdays.  It is too annoying to weigh-in on Saturday and Monday.
• No weight loss this week and I completely own that one.  This week started well on the path to reducing dense carbs at non-workout times and ended up with me eating a combo at McDonald’s yesterday.  *Sigh*.  I don’t know what is wrong with me sometimes!
• This is a new month and a new day.  I’m still at 197.5 and I want to hit my quarterly goal of 185 by March 12th.  It is totally do-able if I fly right the next month and a half.
• I got my body fat measured for the PN program.  I had to find someone to do a 7-site skinfold test which is not necessarily the most accurate way to measure but if someone is skilled with the calipers it can be as much as 98% accurate.  I think it has to be a heckuva lot more accurate than that stupid Tanita scale that I have at home.  That thing put me at 44% even after a 20lb weight loss!  Since I carry most of my weight in my bottom half that method of testing is bound to overestimate me.
• My caliper test body fat came in at 29% which was absolutely not as bad as I thought it would be.  There is still much work to be done though!
• Even if this number is not accurate, a downward trend is the major focus.  I expect it to decrease throughout the 6-months of the PN program.
• My ultimate body fat goal is 20% which is considered athletic.  As a former couch potato, to ever “officially” have an athletic body would be sweet!
• I don’t feel like I’m working as hard as I can fitness-wise.  I’ve been leaving energy on the table during my workouts and that’s not my style.  I feel like there is this script in my head that goes something like “I’m bigger now so it is OK to not push myself that hard”.  “I’m a big girl…I should be out of breath…I should take a break…”  My goal this month is to stop working at 85% and give 100% again.  Size has nothing to do with effort!

My most successful diet back in the day was Atkins.  I stayed on it for about 2 years and was the tiniest I’ve ever been in my adult life.  I actually saw 120-something on the scale.

Eventually my love of bread and potatoes got the best of me and I went back to my old ways (and weight).  I found success again with a more inclusive (but calorically restricted) diet and SparkPeople.com.  Then I had the baby so here I am again with a substantial amount of weight to lose.  This time I am using the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating coaching program.

The first PN habit was easy.  I swig some fish oil every day no problem.  Our new habit – not so easy.  The new habit is to restrict dense carbs (whole grains, brown rice, pasta, potato etc) to post-workout meals only.  Not quite Atkins, but this habit definitely requires a shift in my normal routine.  I exercise first thing in the morning so that means no starchy carbs with lunch or dinner.  I can eat fruit anytime (just not a whole ton of it), but I should be focusing more on leafy greens and other veggies.

So far, so good!  I’ve been having big salads with chicken for lunch.  I purchased and sauteed some Swiss Chard in olive oil with red pepper flakes and garlic (yum!).  I traded my normal pre-workout whole wheat bagel half for a slice of Ezekial bread (which actually doesn’t taste too bad).

At this point, I haven’t felt the dip in energy that I remember when I dropped carbs cold turkey with Atkins.  I think this more moderate approach might work out better for me.  Or so I thought until I made this recipe last night.  The chicken was excellent.  I didn’t have some items on hand so I subbed some Rotel for the fresh tomato, frozen chopped green peppers and 2% mexican cheese instead of full-fat cheese.  I paired it with some green beans.  The Mister’s reaction?  “This is good but we really need some rice to go with this!”  Hmm…I was thinking more along the lines of mashed potatoes.

I can do this and I will be better and healthier because of it.

• Down 2 pounds this week to 197.5.  I can’t tell with the hip/waist measurement yet because I started measuring differently for Precision Nutrition.
• My size 14 Long and Leans from Gap are getting baggy.  I have a pair of Size 12s locked and loaded thanks to Sister P and Christmas.  I’m scared to try them on though.
• I ran my first post-pregnancy 5K Saturday.  I wanted to finish in less than 40 minutes and I did!
• I’m tossing a bunch of fitness plans around in my head right now.  I’m starting CrossFit bootcamp on Feb 1st M-W-F.  I wanted to start Insanity but I know I won’t have the time to properly do the program.  It is a 6-day a week commitment and I can’t do that with CrossFit.
• My basic cardio endurance still sucks right now.  I did another Cathe step workout this morning and I had to pause it several times.  That was with me using a 4-inch step when I used to have a 6-inch step standard.
• I still have my moves though!  I may not be able to dance but I can step and get all into it LOL.
• I think my best bet now is to do the bootcamp and go back to my basic step and cardio interval videos/workouts.  Insanity may simply be too much for me at this point.  Plus, if it is at all like CrossFit metcon workouts I don’t want to do that every day.
• Precision Nutrition has an exercise program but I am just not into it LOL.  I’ve never felt like my workouts were ineffective.  I think I do a pretty good job.  Prior to pregnancy, I was getting stronger and fitter.  My nutrition is the problem.  For the time being, I will continue with my own fitness programming.

I joined a group called Mocha Moms recently because I wanted to meet other moms in my area and because I want Lewis to have friends (besides little Foxy ).  I missed last month’s Girls Night Out gathering because of bad weather.  I was very much looking forward to attending this month’s activity until I got the invitation.  The activity is at the studio where I used to take pole dancing lessons – lapdance class.

I’ve actually taken this class before so it isn’t the class I’m worried about.  It’s me.  When I look in the mirror I feel so very un-ME.  I’ve always been extremely self-conscious.  I was self-conscious in pole dancing classes when I was 55 pounds lighter and now?  I’ve packed away the cheerleader shorts and tanks that I used to wear for class (never was one of those wearing lingerie to class girls LOL).  What in the world can I wear now to feel “sexy” but not like a total heifer?  What can I put on that won’t cling to my stomach and make me cringe at my silhouette?  Do my stripper shoes even fit anymore (my feet seem to have grown 1/2 size)?  Will I already know the instructor from my classes before and have to endure a double-take when they see how much weight I’ve gained?

I know the instructors of the studio are so encouraging and they are all different sizes themselves.  Maybe this is just what I need.  Maybe putting my heels back on and trying to find my new (albeit temporary) sexy at my current size is a great idea.

I don’t know.  Still undecided right now.

• Dr. King said I should take yesterday off in his honor – so I did!
• I’m FINALLY under 200lbs and I will NEVER allow that number to appear on my scale again even if I get pregnant with twins.
• Down .5 inches in my waist this week although I was somewhat discouraged to find out that I shouldn’t really move my waist from the area below my belly button to the area between chest and belly button that I feel is the smallest LOL.
• Precision Nutrition Week #1 went well so far.  The program is not what I expected out of the gate but maybe this is exactly what I needed.  So far, I haven’t been bombarded with some ridiculous strict diet.  In fact, nutrition wasn’t really discussed at all.
• PN is a habit based program so the first step is to develop a few healthy habits.  One is exercise (they suggest a particular program but I feel my current program is effective and I’m paying $$ for my CrossFit gym membership already!).  I’ve always been good with exercise so no issues there.  The second is simply to take a multivitamin and liquid fish oil daily.  So far, so good.  I can do this!
• I still have not finished C25K and I only have 2 sessions left.  I think I started this 9 week program in late October LOL.  I hit the gym for my session on Friday but my hamstring was feeling funny so I did Cardio Coach on the elliptical instead.  I don’t believe in pushing myself to the point of injury.  Monday was a day off work and I am being attacked with a nasty cold bug so I decided to stay in and rest.
• I WILL finish this program by Friday!  I want to have it under my belt before the 5K on Saturday.

• I’m soooo close to onderland…but not quite yet there yet.  I’m at 200 pounds even (Ugh!  I still hate typing these numbers) today giving me a loss of 2 pounds for the week.   Both my waist and hips were down .5 inches.
• According to my schedule, I have 2 more months to lose 15 pounds.  I can so do this!
• I succeeding in hitting my running goal of 12:30 min/miles during Couch To 5K this morning.  2.24 miles in 28 minutes.  Whooo hooo!
• The Mister and I are in fierce competition.  Biggest Loser style weight loss, one month.  Up for grabs is a whole week of sleeping in when the baby cries in the middle of the night.  I’m kicking his butt so far!  His whining about his lost abs (still flat just not as defined as before) gets very little sympathy from me when I see what I’m working with now.

• Yeah, I know.  It’s Tuesday (again!).  I hereby resolve to be more punctual in 2010.
• I am down a tiny bit (.5 pounds) this week and down .25 inches in the waist.  Since the baby’s  birth, I’ve lost upwards of 30 pounds.  That is not a bad haul for 3+ months and not a whole lot of effort, but I’ve got to do big things in 2010.
• As expected, my exercise sessions were pathetic during the week I worked from home.  I didn’t really do anything until Saturday.  I tried a new step video (Cathe’s Step Moves) at home and then wrapped up Week 7 of Couch to 5K at the gym on Sunday.
• I loved the new Cathe video but it was a little easy as far a choreography IMO.  This video was supposed to be complex and I picked up on most of the moves fairly easily.  I think the next time I do it, I will get 95% of the moves right and that isn’t what I call complex.  I have to break Seasun Zieger’s videos down into pieces over a week to really get them!  Complexity aside, I worked up a great sweat and hit the pause button on more than on occasion to catch my breath LOL.
• Week 7 of Couch to 5K is history and I only have two more weeks to go.  I’m still slow but I’m knocking seconds off my time with each session.  I had a goal to finish 2 miles in 25 minutes and was so close but now quite there.  I made .95 miles.  I remember the days when I finished a whole 5K in less than 25 minutes!  Sigh.  A 12:30 min/mile is still a vast improvement for me and I know it will get better as I drop weight.  I certainly didn’t weigh 200lbs when I was running so much faster.
• My copy of Insanity arrived (thanks GatorGirl!) and I can’t wait to add that to my rotation.  If I can just finish Couch to 5K I can finally start doing other things!  I plan to keep a running day in my weekly cardio sessions, but I miss doing step aerobics and other activities.  It doesn’t help that the bitter cold has got me stuck inside on the treadmill.  I miss running around my neighborhood at the break of dawn.  There was such a peace about being up and active at that time.  I’m looking forward to Spring already!
• I’m so excited about this year and really getting myself together.  I decided to join the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating Coaching Program for women.  It is a 6 month program that starts next week and I am so excited about making a change.  I’ll talk more about that in another post!
• The gym has been surprisingly quiet this week and I couldn’t be more thankful!