Weak 4 (yes, I meant to spell it that way)

Well, last week concluded on a very lazy note. I never did make it back to the gym. I had piles of laundry stacked up that I was trying to get done on Thursday night and pack for the weekend as well. All of this kept me up until 12:00, so that by 4:15am when I tried to wake up to go swimming, I wasn't feeling the magic. I did stay within calorie range for all my meals, so I had that going for me. Lesson learned: don't wait 'til the last minute to go work out....or do laundry.

Thankfully, Scott also is on a diet and workout schedule, so Saturday we went Hiking around Oak Mountain which is a park just south of Birmingham. Scott knows his way around, so it was fun getting to see all sorts of stuff around the area and getting a good day's hike in. I have to admit, at the time I wasn't really excited about going. We had woken up early to get Abby's nails trimmed and get my oil changed and I guess I was still tired and cranky for not getting to sleep in on my weekend, but once I was up, I was up. We got a couple of turkey sandwiches, granola bars, and apples to kind of picnic after hiking a little bit. Lots of hills, especially at the end. And I so lost the Sprint to the car in the parking lot even though he was carrying the backpack. So embarrassing....but it really was fun and nice to get to walk around in the nice cool air. The shoes Trent gave me for my birthday were AWESOME, too.

Then on Sunday afternoon we went to the Student Activity Center in Montevallo. There we played Racquetball for a while. I'd forgotten a lot of the rules so we just volleyed for the most part. I forgot how tiring that was! It was a lot of fun, though. Then he showed me how to use some of the Weight Machines to work out my arms and chestal muscles. That was very helpful.

Speaking of chests, I just learned that one of my co-workers can see her Xiphoid Process. She says that it has always hurt after she exercised. We researched it and it was interesting. We also learned that she can't have chest compressions in CPR because it might drive the XiPro into her heart muscle. How crazy is that?! Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiphoid_process. They should make wristbands for that so people know when not to do chest compressions.

As for the running and listening to Sarah Palin, it's not working too well. Sarah reads her book slow and steady and it's not meshing well with my pace, though I have enjoyed listening to it driving to and from Birmingham and to Atlanta to work this week. DEFINITELY helps my driving pace. Monday I ran 2.75 miles on the Elliptical in 30 minutes, and let's be honest, I couldn't run that for real, but I'm working up to it. Tuesday I took a break.

Wednesday I went to go Cycling at the evening class, but did not know until I got there that you had to sign up for a bike up to 30 minutes ahead of time. So I had to miss it, but looked at the schedule and saw that there was going to be a Hip Hop class starting in 15 minutes. I jogged a little on the elliptical while I waited and then figured I might as well go if I'm going to try all the different classes to decide which one best fits me. Should have known dancing would be a bad idea. Dancing is always a bad idea for me! I walked in and met the Russian drill instructor that taught the class. At first it seemed ok, but overall, I never felt like I really exerted myself. I sweat a little bit, but I still don't know if it was from the work out or the instructor yelling "KEEP MARCHING" and "Da?" I did learn some moves to bust at the club sometime when I get krunk! (Yeah, I looked it up.)

It had been a week since the last time I went Swimming, so this morning, Thursday, I woke up early and went back to get a good swim which had me to work early enough that I could leave and finally make it to a Cycling class this evening. OMG. Cycling sucked every bit of energy I had in my body. Good GOD. It was intense. I made a new friend, Veronica. She was great. She helped me set the cycle so that the seat and everything was where it needed to be. She, and other people in the class, were very encouraging. When I thought I was ready to quit, Veronica told me there was only 25 minutes left and I thought, "If I can make it over halfway through class, by God I can finish." Then during the guys vs. girls sprint I was sprinting and the guy next to me was like, "Push it! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about." He was definitely being nice. And I didn't realize this until I got home, but it wears out your hands, too, gripping on those handlebars. This came to my attention when I tried to open a particularly stubborn jar of pimentos, which seriously pissed me off. I mean, come on, what kind of asshole screws a lid on the jar that tightly? COMPLETELY uncalled for. After doing my frustrated dance I finally got it open.

My plan for tomorrow is to go and actually start running on pavement, though after tonight, I might have to take tomorrow off.

My friend Julie suggested trying the Weight Control Quaker Oatmeal for breakfast and I got to Publix this week and it was a BOGO (buy one get one free) item. I was excited and grabbed a box, not realizing that Julie suggested the one with High Protein. Sorry Jules! The only one I noticed that was different was the High Fiber and I steered away. Completely overlooked High Protein. Anyways, if you like oatmeal, this stuff is fabulous. It tastes like the same good instant stuff I grew up and survived college with. Yummy! They have some good flavors, too (banana nut, cinnamon, and maple and brown sugar).

Nutri-Grain bars (another BOGO item), on the other hand, did not keep me full when I ate them for breakfast, but acted as a fairly decent guilt-free snack. Though almost every brand of yogurt has coupons that make them all $1.50 for 4-6 containers, I decided to give Dannon Light & Fit a try. I also had a coupon for Truvia, it's a zero calorie "natural sweetener." ("It's a non-nutritive cereal varnish. It's semi-permanent. It's not osmotic."-Christmas Vacation) There was also a coupon for Kraft cheese which I got two bags of the fat free mozzarella and cheddar. I'm looking forward to putting those to good use.

I think I should add here, that I'm trying to do this diet and exercise thing on a fairly modest budget. After Anna and her husband Andrew gave a good briefing on how coupons work and the best ways to save money, I was convinced I could pull this off and it's been working out fairly well. However, it's sometimes embarrassing being that person who always has to have a coupon for everything, but when you pay and get your receipt, it's a beautiful thing. My best so far was spending about $50 with a savings of $32 at Publix. That food lasted me at least 2 weeks, and some of it I still have in the cabinet and freezer. Loving it!

Mom suggested something I hadn't thought about. She went to a nutrition class in which she learned that if you keep your calorie count really low for a few weeks, your body starts shutting down and retaining more fat because it's going into survival mode. She suggested that I start upping my calories a little bit to keep my body from doing that, which actually doesn't sound like that bad of an idea (and I'm not just saying so I can eat more). I'm slightly nervous about this type of schedule because I'm very bad with keeping up with irregular schedules. Even regular schedules sometimes. I'm just not good at it, and the point of all of this is to try to be consistent. So I'm thinking about giving it a shot.

A co-worker also suggested a different kind of work out to intertwine with what I'm already doing. Basically, all you do is work hard to meet the standards of the FBI's Test Scoring Scale (http://www.fbijobs.gov/11131.asp) which they expect people applying to be Special Agents to meet, and which Special Agents in training must maintain. They even provided a Training Guideline to follow to prepare yourself: http://www.fbijobs.gov/11134.asp. So I figure, what the hell. Can't hurt. And at least I'd be qualified for that job when this one ran out if I decide I want to do it. So yeah, we'll see. She and I tried to do push-ups at work to stay awake. I sounded like a deflating balloon as I started on my slow descent from which I did not rise, at least not gracefully. That told me it's been a long damn while and I need to do something about this. So I will be working extra arms and chest next week while still attempting to do push-ups at home.

I got in a little trouble at work this week. I was craving a little bit of chocolate toffee, so I made some and broke off a little piece to eat to satisfy my craving and brought the rest to work for everyone. Within an hour of sending out the e-mail telling everyone to eat some, I got an angry phone call from a dieting archivist (which they can be comparable to charging rhinos). It was all good. I told her she should break off just a little piece and to park her car in the back of the parking lot and take the stairs and she should be fine. I think she took my word for it.

I am making some progress, though! My clothes are feeling bigger and I'm having to tighten some things in order to keep them on...I'm being deliberately vague here. I'm still holding out before buying a belt, though.

And on exciting note, Abby, my dog who has steadily gained weight along with me, has been losing a little weight herself. We've been going on more walks and for longer amounts of time, thanks to the days lasting a little longer.

A couple more things I found at the grocery store: 1. bleu cheese made with yogurt (not bad) and B. polenta - I didn't actually buy any, but wanted to know if anyone has heard of it and if it's any good?

Week 3-ish

Last weekend was a 3 day weekend (thank you Dr. King), and was a great chance to get away from Georgia for a little bit after being snowed in the previous weekend. I went home for the first time since Thanksgiving, which was great! I was concerned about being able to stick to my diet, but luckily mom is on one of her own. Hers is a diet higher in fiber, but it comes with its benefits. I felt full the whole weekend without eating very much. She had a recipe for a beef and barley stew that was low in calories and fat. She was also stocked up on veggies which was FANTASTIC. I bought some goat cheese at COSCO to put on salads or crackers. I have researched and it seems that it is slightly less in fat (not by much) and higher in protein. Plus the taste is great. It's really good inside black olives.

I bought some small tangerines to eat as a snack before my workouts. Didn't work out so well. I have a hard time with fruits that have seeds in them. One crunch and my gag reflex kicks in. Unfortunately I started smelling them ferment this morning and have had to send those on their merry way.

I have had a little aggravation with the gym I am now a member of. Part of the new member package is getting a session with one of the trainers to familiarize you with the equipment (I could be wrong, but that is what I understood it to be). Either way, I'm thinking I should have gotten more than what I did. I made an appointment for 6:00 with the lady I talked to when I joined. After spending 5 minutes hunting her down, I found her working with someone and she told me to go upstairs and warm up on the elliptical for 15 minutes. Ok, no problem. I warm up and then come back downstairs and begin hunting her down again. She was sitting at her desk with someone and waved at me and said "1 minute." Well, that turned into 20 minutes which was fairly inconvenient because I planned to go to the Kickboxing class at 7:00 and here we are sitting at 6:40. I told her maybe we should reschedule because I want to be able to go to this class, and she said we can go ahead and do a few things. She had me do tons of reps on 3 different machines (out of at least 30) all focusing on my abs up until time for the class. Then I asked about scheduling a time to look at the rest and she said that was it. Not to mention she was on her damn cell phone texting the whole time I was doing reps. So yeah, if anyone ever goes to LA Fitness in Douglasville, GA, and you want a personal trainer, Bernice is probably not your best bet.

The Kickboxing class went well, though. I had a different teacher and she was a lot of fun and very encouraging. She looked like she jumped right out of a MC Hammer video the way she was bouncing all over the place. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of hard work as well. Her technique wasn't quite as rigid as the other lady's. I guess I got "krunk" but I'm still not really sure if she was talking to me or what that word even means.

The next morning I was really sore and skipped the swimming and cycling I was going to do on Wednesday. Thursday I planned to get on it and run or cycle as well. Unfortunately, I was still sore tired I slept in a little bit which put me leaving work later and too late to go cycling. I started to get ready to go run, but got caught up in getting chores done and packing for Birmingham this weekend and didn't go. However, after two disappointing days of laziness, Friday morning I'll be up and swimming the crap out of myself to burn off what I may have gained the past couple of days. The good news is that this weekend Scott and I have planned on going for a good hike on Saturday (with my awesome new hiking shoes that my brother got me for my birthday!) and a good hardcore workout at Montevallo's Student Activity Center on Sunday...maybe even some racquetball!

I just learned today (Thursday) about a new method for preparing for the Half-Marathon. My sister introduced me to the Galloway method of running where it looks like you combine running and walking for training as well as the marathon itself. Anyone who is into marathons and is looking for a way that might improve your time, take a minute and check out this website: http://www.jeffgalloway.com/. If anyone has any input or inside information about this, let me know. I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it. I'm torn because I want to be skeptical, but this method gives GREAT excuses for walking more.

My friend Anna also told me about a workout called the P90x. She said it really worked well for her. She did the Yoga variation. I have checked and these P90x videos are NOT on Netflix. Since I've already paying for a gym membership, I'm not going to follow through on this, but if anyone is looking to actually SAVE money on a workout situation, check it out. It's $120, but if you look at the scheme of things, I'm going to be paying that much to my gym the next 3 months and that's not including the sign up fee. Definitely check it out. Anna is a good source. ;-)

I've also come across a couple of other things this week. First is the cabbage diet. After researching this, I've deemed it as irresponsible and unhealthy. This diet promises that it will have you lose 10-12 lbs in one week. I have found that most people believe this to be water weight and that they become nauseous at the smell of cabbage for years afterwards. Wikipedia that mess and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Second is that angel food cake is surprsingly low in fat (if you avoid the cool whip). Who knew!

I have also just recently caught wind of a new diet called the P90X diet. I haven't had much time to do some research on it, but will be looking into it for the next couple of days.

Next week I have a couple of exciting tricks to try. One of which is listening to Sarah Palin's book while exercising. Not sure how that's going to go, but I'm looking forward to finding out!

Getting Started

After posting progress on my facebook status several times about how I'm losing weight, I have decided to start a blog documenting my progress and keeping my facebook status open for other expressions. This way I can also go into detail about all the fun experiences that go along with losing a significant amount of weight. It's going to be a fun time!

My name is Lindsay, I am 25 and am wrapping up my master's degree in history. For the past 3 years I have sacrificed my body in order to complete this degree. The first year didn't hurt too bad, but around the end of the second year was when the damage really piled up and as I'm wrapping up the third and final year of this, I am working on getting back on track. I started grad school in June of 2007 at about 185 lbs (during which time I already thought I was fat), but as of the beginning of January 2010, I was at a whopping 230 lbs. Quite an accomplishment, I know.

The fun side of all of this is that last summer, my sister found out about a Disney Princess Half-Marathon in the middle of March and told mom and I about it. I was on board thinking I definitely could use some motivation to lose the weight. Mom decided to go with the 5K version, which my sister and I also signed up for. The other fun part of this story is that I had planned to be completely done with school by December, but school has extended into one more semester, however, I won't be taking any classes, which is a HUGE relief, though I will still have some projects I need to wrap up along the way of this weight losing adventure.


So let's get started with the progress. I started dieting a little over 2 weeks ago. I weighed myself at home this weekend and am at a strong 220 lbs! Ten pounds! Yay! I just joined a gym on Tuesday of this past week and am getting the hang of working out again. I like taking classes because that is more motivating to me, but I'm still trying them all out to see what best fits me. Here is what I've learned so far:

-Kickboxing is a lot of fun, but the lady teaching it is crazy and particularly enjoys repeating the same move that makes me want to hurl. I might have to wait and get my endurance up a little before I come back to this class.

-Step (Plus Abs) is taught by the same crazy lady, but must be some advanced class because after about 25 minutes I found myself staring at everyone else doing these combos that were making me cross-eyed and trip (like the rhythmless white girl I am). I left early, probably missing the abs part, and ran on the elliptical machine for the remaining 30 minutes.

This week I plan to tackle one of the Cycling classes (also called Spin classes), and Tai Chi. Cycling/Spin classes supposedly can help you burn up to 800 calories. It sounds extremely painful, but I am looking forward to it. Tai Chi will hopefully bring some grace into my otherwise klutzy life and hopefully help me calm down when I'm stressing. I also plan to meet with one of the gym people and they are going to go over some of the weightlifting stuff with me so I can get comfortable with the weight machines.


So now let's talk a minute about my favorite thing on Earth: food. The diet I'm loosely trying to stick to is low fat and about 1,200 calories a day. I have found charts online showing a scale of what your current weight is and how many calories you are supposed to have a day. I am somewhere in the 1,600-1,800 range, but if I shoot for 1,200, I can go a little over and I'm still ok. Keep in mind, I'm eating veggies and fruit and doing my best to drink plenty of water, which is hard to keep up during the day at work since I am not allowed water at my work desk. So, I think it is a healthy diet considering I'm getting more nutrients now than on my greasy, fatty diet I was on for the past 2 1/2 years, and I feel full most of the time. Here's a typical day with the diet I've been on the past couple of weeks or so:

Breakfast - 90 calorie special K granola bar OR 140 Fiber One granola bar (this one can be explosive, so be warned!)

Lunch - Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers OR Lean Cuisine (whichever is on sale) with fat free publix yogurt and a weight watcher's desert cake

Snack - granola bar (once again, watch out for those Fiber One bars, especially when working out later!) OR tangerine OR a leftover weight watcher's cake I skipped at lunch

Dinner - several different recommended options here. One night I had Light Progresso soup (not particularly tasty). Another I had fat free refried beans (very filling, but also can be explosive later). My favorite so far has been half a piece of grilled chicken with a baked golden potato (which are smaller) with fat free sour cream and I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Butter spray. Fantastic. I still have a couple more tricks in my hat for dinners as well. I will share them as I go along.


In the end, I am excited to keep this blog as a sort of diary to go with my progress so I can look back and see how I've changed along the way. I also hope this can be entertaining to someone. I relate many things in my life to movies and songs, so that will probably frequently come up...maybe some youtube videos. I also want to make a point that even though I've put on the weight of a fully-grown, anorexic Paris Hilton since I first started college back in 2003, I'm wanting to become healthy in my habits and size more so than I care about how much I actually weigh. I do have a goal weight of 140, and I enjoy gauging how much I've lost as I go, but my prime focus is simply living healthily while enjoying the benefits of weight loss along the way.



I welcome any comments, questions, advice, or suggestions at any time! I need all the help I can get!