Pluggin Away

Its been a different week. Dale has been gone all week and will be gone again most of this week. I have been alone a lot this past week. Most of my interaction is usually with him.
Discipline is still the main focus. I am proud to say that in the last three weeks, I have not veered from the eating or exercise. I realized yesterday, that I have not had fast food in the weeks I have been here. WOW! For me, that's huge. I am starting to get the itch. Not so much of a desire for that food, but I think more of a withdrawl from that habbit. Not that I have acted on it, mind you! I did buy a kashi pizza that is in the freezer if I get really, REALLY desperate. Its actually legal on my eating so that's a good thing.
My trainer, Matt, asked me to bring in my food journal so he could see if there was anything he would tweak since I really didn't lose any weight last week. I was encouraged when he looked at it and said that there wasn't a whole lot he would change. Only two things he mentioned: not to have eggs every morning (his concern was mostly the cholesterol, which has not been an issue for me in the past), and to keep the "bready" carbs in the first half of the day. For those of you interested, when you work out (with weights especially), your body burns off the carbs first. Once you burn them off, your body starts to burn the fat.
I kind of mixed up my workouts this week, adding more stuff in the pool. I have started doing the swim aerobics at the gym every morning and stay in the pool after to run laps. Sound easy? Remember when your kids were little and they wanted to sit on your foot while you walked across the room? Try doing that for 40 minutes! I wish I could wear my bodybugg in the pool so I would know how many calories that burns.
I was able to spend some time on Friday evening with some old friends. Had dinner at their house (cleared the menu first !) It was fun to catch up and enjoy some good fellowship. I have plans to do a girl night with some of the girls from my folks church, which I have been attending. I think we will go to the movies on Wednesday.
Oh, something of interest. I am going to be interviewed on the Family Life Radio show Intentional Living. I think the interview will be on Tuesday and will air on Wednesday. If you want to catch it, you can go to the website. I think I saw that you can listen online. I will let you know more details and how it goes after the interview.

Press on Towards the Goal

What does that look like? I've been pondering that for a couple of days. What is the goal?
I know what it means in spiritual terms, but what does it look like for me in real life. Paul says, "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
If I consider this verse in light of where I am, I have a LOT of forgetting to do of past stuff. The straining towards what is ahead is boggling me a bit. I realize my focus has been about losing weight. Of course thats an obvious goal, but what about the others, the "big picture" goals. I dont think I can clearly define those. I should have probably done so BEFORE starting this journey.
This has been a crazy week and I feel like I have been caught up in the immediate goal of weight loss. Since I havent lost the hoped for amount, I have to consider maybe there is something more. Something bigger. Something God wants to teach me (imagine that???) that is bigger than a few pounds. I think it might be HOW to press on towards the goal.
In the meantime, I will keep doing what I know to do, eat right, drink LOTS of water, and exercise. Lesson #1: discipline.

Hitting the Wall

Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
Thats what I lost this week.
OK, IF you round up, I lost 1 pound.
This is where I usually hit the wall and quit. It took all I had to do my thing today. I made myself go to kickboxing tonight because I decided if I dont, the only one who loses out is me.
This week is going to be crucial and I will need lots of prayer to win this battle.

I DID THEM!

The last few days have been a pretty normal schedule: walk, bike, gym, swim. The only thing I have to report is this: Yesterday I did 15 sit-ups (without stopping), 15 reverse sit-ups (without stopping), 15 glute bridges (without stopping) and 15 flutter kicks (without stopping). For those of you who dont know, they are all some form of ab crunches. The first day, I couldnt do two without resting briefly. Even if I dont see it on my body, I see it in my endurance and strength.

Blood Pressure, Bikes, Boxing and Buffalo

Well, had another lost day yesterday...Worked out in the morning and came home exhausted, could hardly keep my eyes open driving home at 9:30 in the morning! Took a 45 minute rest and thought I should check my blood pressure before heading off to the gym to an intense workout with the trainer. I was quite surprised to find that my blood pressure had dropped again (95/56 for you medical folks). Called my doctor and she sent me to urgent care. The doctor there said I should reduce my dosage of meds, which is what I suspected. He also gave me some tips in terms of workouts in the desert. I did learn something quite interesting. One of the meds I take regulates my heartbeat so I dont have palpitations. He said that it keeps my heart rate very low. NO WONDER I CANT GET MY HEART RATE UP TO BE IN THE FAT BURNING ZONE! Although I have continued the disciplines of working out and eating, I dont seem to be seeing any changes to my body. Maybe some tweeks in this area will help. I'll see what my doctor says...

On another note, I got a new bike today! My mom and I went in on it together so that she can have it when I leave. I will have to take a pic tomorrow and see if I can post it. Its a cruiser type bike and quite retro looking. It is a 10 speed so it should serve its purpose just fine. When Dale and I were walking on the river walk today, people were zooming past us and every time I felt envious of their speed. Walking is fine, but a bike! Now thats just one step away from a Harley, right? So tonight I will get it all ready to go and give it a test run tomorrow. Its been years since I have been on a bike. I hope the saying is true, "its just like riding a bike".

Kickboxing class tonight was awesome! Not only can I jab and cross, uppercut and hook, but now I can do a roundhouse kick! I didnt realize that I grunt every time I punch or kick until the music ended in the middle of a round tonight. Ooops. All eyes on the noisy fat chick in the corner.

Had my first eating out experience tonight (other than getting a sub at subway). My brother is one of the football coaches at a local high school and they were doing a fundraiser tonight at Buffalo Wild Wings. Hmmm you might say to yourself, "what is she doing there?" I must assure you that I went in well prepared. I went online this afternoon and looked on the website at the menu and narrowed down my choices to two items. When I went in, I asked for a menu with the nutritional info. I pretty much got a funny look. The waiter however, seemed to understand my needs and was able to help me narrow down my choices. Even with eating out tonight, I ended the day just under my calorie allottment for the day. Dont want to make eating out a habit, but WOO HOO! And I had a great time getting to see Dale in action with the kids.

By the way, after doing my last blog, I went and read more of the surrounding verses to the devotional that I referenced. If you have an opportunity, read 2 Samuel 22, particulary verses 26-51. What an amazing encouragement for anyone facing any kind of challenges! Enjoy!

Leaping Walls

Weigh-In Day. It has taken all day to wrestle through the results of the official weigh-in. I did lose weight, but not anywhere near what I was hoping. For about an hour after, I railed! and ranted! and whined! and questioned! As I thought through the week, I had to concede several points: 1) I did not cheat on the food. Not even once! 2) I exercised like a fiend on Monday through Friday (if you follow, you know that I was trying to stabalize a very low blood pressure on Sat. and Sun.). 3) I learned several things that will be good tools for me in the future as I continue this journey at home.
My friend Luisa has been sending me a daily devotional connected to weight loss. The one I opened tonight was especially appropriate.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from 2 Samuel 22:30:
"For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall."
I have a confession to make; when I was a little girl I wanted to be Wonder Woman. I used to watch the T.V. series every Sunday evening, eager to see Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman defeat the bad guys. My favorite part was always when she would transform from humble Diana Prince to Wonder Woman by removing her glasses and spinning around. A loud noise, fire, and smoke and boom -- her transformation was instant. Wouldnt it be cool if losing weight was like that? All you would have to do is spin around, God would zap you, and all of the weight would disappear. But it doesn’t happen that way. Instead God gives you the endurance to run against troops and leap over walls. That’s what King David discovered.
David wrote today’s scripture after God delivered him from King Saul, who had been trying to kill him for years. Even though David had defeated Goliath and God had anointed him King over Israel, he still had to fight battles before he could claim what was his.
A strong, healthy body is yours. But you will have to fight for it. Scripture tells us that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12).
God has strengthened you with the endurance to run against troops, like your habits of the past.The way you can run with endurance is by giving yourself a vision of what you are running toward, keeping a clear picture of your future healthy self in your mind’s eye at all times.

I do wish God could just zap me thin and healthy, but part of me being here is to learn the discipline to fight this battle for years to come. As I look at the past week, no I didnt have the loss I wanted and expected, but I know that God has given me a profitable week and has shown me the way to continue to run with endurance. Pray that I will remember that God goes before me and flattens the walls so I can continue to leap over them.

PS. I DID beat my brother at the weigh-in!

This has been a rough couple of days for me. Yesterday, Friday, I had a great morning and felt good. Walked to Walgreens (1.6 miles one way) to rend a redbox movie. Told myself I was going to have to work for it if I wanted to watch a movie. Came home and was fine. Went to the gym to work out with the trainer. I was working so hard sweat was pouring out of my head! When we finished, I felt very light headed and nauseous. I ended up sitting in the locker room for about 45 minutes before I could come back out and complete two other machines Matt had given me as homework. I still didn't feel great and he said to just hold off on the cardio part for now. I went home and made myself eat and drink water and laid down for a while. When I got up, I felt a bit better and felt like I should take a walk or something so I decided to walk to a bookstore (JUST TO LOOK) that is one mile away. I made it there ok and sat inside the store and finished my water. As I started to browse around, I started to feel light headed. I sat for a while and then went outside so I could eat the snack I had brought. I sat for a while but couldn't quite get rid of the dizzy, nauseous feeling. After a while I decided I better start for home, but knew I would need to go slow. I was really struggling, but felt bad calling a family member to come all the way out to drive me one block home. I started praying that God would help me to get home ok. Within about two minutes of praying, my parents pulled up to the curb next to me! They had been at Costco on the street I was walking on and saw me. They took me home and I pretty much hibernated last night. I woke up feeling the same this morning. My mom suggested it may be a combination of dehydration and blood pressure(I take a water pill with my blood pressure med). She thinks I am losing too much water through sweat and then adding the pill is just depleting my body. So, until I can talk to my doc on Monday, I am holding off on the water pill and trying to drink some Zero Powerade to try to replace some of the stuff my body has lost. I feel like a lump today but I think its wise to try to take a break until I can find some balance. The Arizona heat can be deceiving. When you sweat, it evaporates so quickly you don't realize how much you really are. The last couple of days have been a cold snap(92-95) and so its even more deceiving! If I can feel better, I think I will try to at least get in the pool this afternoon or evening. I hate that I am losing a day, but with the big picture in mind, I can't get so sick I lose more than that.

My living room. The chair on the left is the chosen throne. I do love a good recliner!

Country Girl

The place I am staying has really been great this week! I have been able to walk to the store several times as far as 1.6 mi away. I am also very thankful to have my dad's truck. I knew I was a country girl at heart! There's nothin' like cruisin down the road with the country tunes cranked and the windows down. Now I just need a dog and a hat!

I am at a place where I can post some pics so let me backtrack and put a few of them up. So that everyone has a reference on my starting place, my brother took a pic when we had out weigh-in on the first day. Not very attractive, but I hope it makes the after pic even more fabulous!

Oh my! I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. It has taken a few days to not feel completely physically and emotionally drained. Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I will try to give you a good idea of what Ive been up to and try to catch you up.

Sunday morning came early and we left for the airport around 4:15am. I had an almost 3-hour layover in Dallas so I made the most of it. Rented a cart, pulled out my sneakers and walked for about an hour through the terminal. Got into Tucson around 12:30 (3:30 VA time) and was met by my folks, brother Dale and neice Izzy. We had a lovely afternoon just being together and catching up.
Later in the evening, I went back to my place and got settled in. I am staying in the trailer of friends of my parents who are in Colorado for the summer. Its perfect! When I can get some pics uploaded, I will add them so you can have a visual of where I am. Did some shopping so I would be prepared in the morning and crashed into bed.

The next morning, my brother came over and the work began. To kick-off our adventure, we both weighed in. I am going to totally put myself out there and let it be known that my starting weight was 301.8. As I continue, I dont think I will put the number of pounds that I lost each week, just that it was a loss. At the one month mark, the gym will do a fitness evaluation and I will be able to tell you how many inches I have lost at that point. If you are someone who wants to know the weight numbers each week, you can email me directly (caryfam5@hotmail.com) and I will let you know.

We went to a nearby middle school track and did a run/walk for two miles. After we took a few minutes out of the sun and had some lunch, we went to Costco so I could stock up on fruits and veggies. I later went to the gym, LA Fitness, officially joined, and set up an appointment with a trainer for the next day. I had planned to take two swim aerobics classes with my sister in law, Darlene (Dea), but when the M/W class was cancelled, she convinced me to take a kickboxing class with her at the local community college. So, we headed off to the first class. When the instructor came in and said she would be excited to see someone vomit, cry or bleed, I knew I was completely out of my league. I did leave feeling like I could cry or vomit or both. I hated all the core workouts, but loved the boxing part. (I even woke up with a bruise on my knuckle the next day!-my first war wound). It was all I could do to prepare dinner and make myself eat and fall into bed.
The next morning Dale came over and we went to a nearby park. A cool thing about Tucson is that there are tons of paved walking paths. All the parks seem to have them and along the washes (a dry riverbed that fills with water during the late summer Monsoon season) there are paved pathways for walkers, runners, bikers, skaters and horseback riders. So at the park we walked for a while. I came home and had a break and then walked up to a store called Sunflower. Its a grocery store that has lots of produce, organic meats, bulk grains and nuts, lots of health foods and a whole vitamin/supplement section. Ate lunch and headed back to the gym. The workout was legs and abs. After the kickboxing the night before, it kicked my butt! But I did planks! two sets of them! 20 seconds each! I was supposed to go from there to swim aerobics, but the class got canceled since someone left a surprise in the pool earlier in the day! I came home to rest for about an hour and then couldn't get up. I just layed low that night.
Yesterday I felt better and was able to do more throughout the day, including walking about three miles in the morning, working out at the gym, more walking, kickboxing and some pool workout stuff after dinner. Today, more of the same, just replace kickboxing with swim aerobics. Pray for me, my left thigh is giving me trouble and slowing me down. Although my walk this morning was at a pretty slow pace, but I burned the same number of calories as the walk/run the first day! More later!

Hometown Sendoff

Monday was a day to remember those who have given their lives in pursuit of freedom for me and you. I am proud to be an American. Only Jesus has sacrificed more for me and I don't ever want to take either lightly.

As we gathered to celebrate the holiday, it was also a day to say goodbye to the old me and bury her forever. Sounds a little morose, I know, but I think it best describes the way I was feeling.

My wonderful, bosom friends surprised me with a sendoff that took me by surpise. When we arrived at the house, all of them and their families were gathered on the front porch holding signs and cheering me on. Wow. I was completely overwhelmed and wasn't sure even how to respond. If I had my wits I would have replied in Daris' (from the Biggest Loser) famous words, "I will do my best to make you proud and to make myself proud too."

The amazing part is that my dear, sweet friends love me. They want me to succeed, not because they would like me more, but because I will like me more. They want the best for me, and are cheering me on and praying for me. I know they will be my Aaron and Hur holding my arms up when I cant hold my own (Exodus 17:8-13).

Thank you dear friends! I love you all so much.

And when I come back, "I believe we will have somthing to celebrate!"