Fitness test? Um, can I use a cheat sheet??

Ahhhhh short weeks rule. Of course short weeks punctuated by nausea and tummy pain not so great, but I'll take it. One more day until the long weekend, and more blissful days off. Not that I hate my job or anything. The teenagers are great, for the most part (I won't deny I have a wrinkle or two with a 15 yr-old's name on it), but I really am built for a life of no work. I need to be independently wealthy. Like now. Any ideas?

So I haven't yet met with my student personal trainer, but tomorrow it is FO SHO! She's going to do some testing...eep. She wants to see my strength, endurance and flexibility as well as weight/measurements and such. I'm a lil' scare of the wall sit test. Um, ouch! Also scared of foreign scale *shudder*. Plus, knowing my luck, my home scale will get wind of my dalliance and be a total prick from now on. Scales are jerks like that.

I did manage to work my lazy ass out today...and I will certainly get a workout tomorrow. I am hoping hubby will be back in running form for next week. Poor guy is still weak from the fever and little food. But at least the scale has been kind and I am showing just above 160. Soooo close to my goal!

S'all I got for now folks!

Best laid plans...frickin' Robbie Burns got it right!

So ask me if I did my second Couch 2 5k run? G'head. Well, the answer is a big fat NO. Dammit! Hubby wasn't feeling well yesterday and really wanted to do Mon, Wed, Fri anyway. Then not feeling well turns into barfing and fever action all night long. Poor guy! Today at 1 I started to feel ookey too. F-ing germs. So far no yarking for me, but no appetite and a weird gurgly/hot feeling in my tummy. So no running with my stomach on revolt. Blahh.

I did find out something cool today, though. Thanks to comment from the lovely and kind Sonya at Eyes on the Hourglass, I found some audio to help me with the C25k on iTunes...totally free! She saw that I was using my cell as a stopwatch (huge pain in the buttocks, btw) and told me she'd downloaded something to help her keep track of the time. So AWESOME! Thanks Sonya!

Now, I just have to get my ass out there and USE it. I guess if we start next Monday not the end of the world. I have set up a session for Wednesday with my student personal trainer. Can't wait to see what that girl has in store for me! Hope I'm alive for that one. Ugh...I don't want to get sick!!

All I know is Robert Burns can suck it. Awry it is.

What..me? Run? Why, is there someone chasing me?!?!

Ha ha NO.

But, I am doing it people. I have officially begun the Couch 2 5k program.

This program seems perfect for a beginner like me. It appears to gradually introduce running and build endurance. Today, my husband and I made our way to the track to give 'er a try. I used my cell phone as a stop watch to time our walks/runs. At first, I was thinking it was pretty easy. But by the third of fourth running segment...ohhh man. Getting harder! But we both survived it. :) Hubby has some shin/calf pain, so he's going to break in his better quality runners over the next while and give them a try once he figures they won't rip his feet apart whilst running. As for lil' old me, I felt some tightness in my quads for some reason. Weird. No other pain though!

We will run again Sunday after the man gets home from work. Can I just say how FABULOUS it is that he is running with me!?!

I have sort of been dragging me feets about this running thing, but my friend Cory really gave me a kick in the pants to get started. He asked me...now this is slightly insane...to RUN A TEN K WITH HIM!

AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

It's in July, so I do have some time, but I'm not fooling myself into thinking I can run a full 10k non-stop in a few months. But I can try. :)

The 10k is to raise money for cancers below the waist. It's called Uncover the Cure and we get to wear our underwear as outerwear! Too fun! Plus raise money, of course. My dad died of cancer (his began as skin cancer), so raising money for any kind of cancer hits home for me.

I also did a weigh in yesterday that kinda shocked me. I went away for three days and came back...lighter?!? I ate CHEESECAKE! TWICE! How did this happen? Not complaining, just a tad dumbfounded.

Here are some pictures...

My friend Ashland and her preemie. He's 3 months (but only six weeks from due date).

Posing with the sleepy baby.

He looks like a wee doll!

Bonding with baby Tristan. :)

At the Cheesecake Factory. Cookie dough cheesecake is...OMG...so good!

The wee one bundled up for his first sit around the fire pit.

I borrowed some clothes so mine wouldn't get smoky. I know, HOT.
Looks like me pre-weight loss!

Hat and glasses complete the look!

This is my favourite pic from the trip. :)

I had a really good time in Puyallup. Getting to meet baby Tristan at three months old was fantastic. Next time I see him he'll be crawling around. Such a sweet, happy baby!

Hope everyone is doing well. Wish me luck with day two of the program on Sunday!

Costco clothes and a few other things

The scale gods surely do make me give my head a scratch sometimes. I worked my ass off to lose a pound in a week in the past, and now I am being a lazy-ass "maintainer" and I lose a pound in a week. Huh. Of course, this pound may find its way back onto my ass and bring some friends right quickly here...so I'll refrain from breaking out the pinatas just yet.

But yes, down to 163 this morning. I forgot to weigh myself Thursday (regular weigh-in day). Hand slap for me.

Had a couple NSVs while shopping lately. I was completely flummoxed at Costco when face with a pile of shorts in various sizes and no way to try them on. Frickin' annoying. They were super-cute navy Calvin Klein (or whatever knock-off seconds Costco gets) plaid shorts. Should I get the 10s or the 8s? Holding them up to my waist was not a help, and after a few pointed sighs from the hubby, I just said fuck it and grabbed the 10s. I didn't want no muffin top. Of course, i got them on and I SHOULDA GOT THE 8s! Yay, but bloody hell that means I have to go back to frickin' Costco for bloody shorts! I don't know about you, but I surely do like that maneuvering in parking lot from hell and battling crowds with ginormous over-loaded shopping carts and then following said crowds into interminable line-ups. Me holding my sad little pair of shorts while some tiny man in front of me buys 65 gallons of milk and a palet of geraniums. I love the Costco if I need bread or chicken, or some other vital staple items, but going to return a pair of shorts just seems like a waste for the hassle of going there.

Ahem, sorry, didn't mean to rant about Costco there....really it's about fitting into SMALLER shorts than I expected.

Then today, I bought a pair of size 7 jeans. This must be taken with a grain of salt 'cause you are supposed to buy this company's brand of 'comfort' (basically pull on, no zipper, but not scary drawstring- don't you worry) pants a size small because they stretch. But still, I love seeing that crazy small size on my ass. :)

I am FINALLY on spring break, baby! I am leaving on Monday for the US of A to visit my old friend Ashland. She had her first baby a few months ago, and I am SOOO excited to meet baby Tristan. I don't know what kind of food I'll be eating, or how much exercise I will get, but I am going to do my best to come home the same weight as I left! Booya!

Wish me luck on my 4 hr drive south. Wheee!

In other news, I went to a movie today with 190 gr. 10 students. We took 'em to see Alice in Wonderland. Good movie! They were awesome, as usual. There were 6 teachers along for the ride, so lots of supervision. The only downer part was getting stuck in the bathroom. Yup, had to do the ol' shake and shimmy under the door. Sweet. This was made much less gross by the fact that the theatre hadn't yet opened to the public, so the floor was clean. THANK GOD there were no teenagers in there when it happened. Though I did manage to scare the bejusus outta my one witness, my co-worker, when I suddenly kicked my rather large purse under the door. She thought it was some weird-ass creature skittering out and screamed. Hee hee. Good times.

So to recap- losing pound, smaller clothes, getting to watch a (free) movie (thanks kids) all morning rather than working, scaring co-worker, SPRING BREAK and visit to see bébé: Good. Getting stuck in bathroom, having to go back to Costco for shorts, and driving for four hours: Bad. I think it's an overall win for the GOOOOOD!

Man this post was just all over the place. Ah well...I'm sure you can handle it.

Later y'all!

The Mystery is History!

I think we figured out what is wrong with my leg! It's been bothering me for 3 months or so and hasn't gotten any better. Went to the doc today, and it turns out I walk in a funny, silly kinda way. Yup...just like in Monty Python, only without the accent.

I have this bad habit of rolling out on my right foot when I am standing, and it seems I also walk that way too. My right shoe is all distorted from it. The husband has bugged me about that before, but I never associated it with my leg pain! Doc said I need orthotics to keep my foot flat when I walk. Wheeeee! I am also getting a hip x-ray to make sure I haven't damaged the bone from all the years of abuse. I may go to physio as well.

He had to do a bunch of tests on my leg- getting me to push against his hand, etc. to check to see what movements hurt, and after he commented, "You have amazing leg strength!" I guess all that working out has paid off...doc says it, so it must be true!

In other news, I want to eat the house. Yup, drywall and all. Ok, I'd start with what's in the cupboards, but after that, who knows? Friggin' TOM always does this to me! I hate. A lot.

I wasn't sure how my extra snacking this weekend would affect my "maintain no gain" phase, but it seems like I am sitting around 164 again. I hope this means I really have a lifestyle that incorporates healthy habits that will allow me to keep this weight off. It would seriously kill me to gain it back after nearly a year of working to get it off.

Ok, did you hear about the CRAZY woman who wants to gain 400 more lbs to reach some stupid record of 1000 lbs? She wants to be the fattest woman alive. Wow. Sad thing is, she has kids! She's mobile now, but she relies on a scooter for a lot of moving around. I can't even imagine how damaged this woman must be to even contemplate putting her health in FURTHER jeopardy and GAIN weight when she's already morbidly obese. She has a website that encourages people to either donate money or food to help her reach her "goal". Crap on toast, people, that is just sick-o-rama. I see all the other bloggers on here just trying so so so hard to change their lives for the better and lose weight, and so many are succeeding! I wish this woman could read some of those blogs and see that she could go the other way and save her life rather than throw it away. She makes me very, very sad.

Take it easy, ya'll and keep yer stick on the ice.

A survey from my teenage personal trainer-in-training

OK folks, this shit is going down soon! I am going to get my student trainer working for me! I can't wait to see what she comes up with to whip my ass into shape. I thought I'd share this nice little survey she gave me with you! She's just so darn energetic and enthusiastic! Can't wait, can't wait!


1* Tell me about yourself..

I am 36 and have lost 55 lbs pounds over the last year. I have have a husband (who is also trying to get fit!) and a cat. I live in Richmond in a condo. I am usually a happy person, but I have suffered from lack of confidence due to my weight in the past. Sometimes this meant I would just hold back from doing things I wanted to do, or from socializing as much as I'd like to.

2* What goals do you have ? ( in life & physique )

My goal in life is to be fit and healthy. I want to be able to do things easily and not worry about not being strong enough, or not having the endurance to do them. I want to have a baby in the next year, and I know being strong and healthy will make any pregnancy (and recovery) easier.

My physical goal is to gain overall muscle tone and lose a bit more weight (maybe 5-10 lbs). I really like the new muscle I have built, and it motivates me to do more. I'd like to do some weight training for this reason. I also want to start running. I heard about the couch to 5k plan, and it sounds very reasonable for a beginner.

I really want to keep this weight off, too. I have lost weight before, and I have always gained it back. I have maintained the same weight for over a month now, so that makes me happy! I know paying attention to diet and regular exercise is important for this, and that is what I am doing.


3* Is there/ would you like to set a deadline for when you want to achieve these goals? ( short term/ long term )?

I suppose short term would be the summer to lose more weight. Long term would be to maintain loss and maybe figure out a way to make that easier.


4* Do you have any health conditions/ allergies ? ( if so are you taking anything for it? )

I have no allergies, but I do have a sore let right now. It's persisted for 3 or more months, so I'm going to the doctor to get it checked out. The pain occurs when I move my right leg out to the side. The pain usually is a stabbing one, but it sometimes aches as well.

I did have some knee pain when I was doing push ups on my knees, but a pillow under them solved that problem.

I have had some back pain in the past. Usually now it's only if I sit in a chair for too long.


5* Do you currently do any exercise/ fitness ? ( if so what kinds?/ how often? )

At the beginning of my weight loss, I was exercising 6-7 days a week. Now that I am sort of maintaining it's more like 3-4 times. I do 1/2 hr on a recumbent bike with hand weight, or I have some exercise DVDs. I did the Biggest Loser 30 Day Shred with Jillian Micheals for 30 days in Dec. and lost 6 lbs. (and gained a lot of muscle!). In the past, I have also done brisk walking for exercise. I don't usually work out for longer than 1/2 at a time due to time constraints, my dislike for exercise (wish I liked it!) and sometimes boredom.

6* How often do you eat? ( how much/what time(s) during the day? )

I eat three meals and two snacks usually. Breakfast at 7:20, snack at 10, Lunch at 12, snack at 3:30 or 4 and dinner at 5:30 or 6. I may have a square of dark chocolate or a low-fat pudding for dessert, but I try not to eat after dinner.


7* Does your current diet consist of the all the food groups ?

I am trying to incorporate more fruit and vegetables in my diet, as that is the area that is usually lacking! I drink 2% milk and eat low-fat cheese. Sometimes I have yogurt. I eat oatmeal and whole grain bread and high fiber pasta. For meat, I have chicken, extra-lean ground beef or ground turkey, and pork. My fruits are usually bananas, grapes, kiwi, strawberries, oranges and unsweetened applesauce. Veggies I eat regularly are spring mix greens for salad, tomatoes, corn, cucumber, carrots, red peppers.

I am trying to avoid junky snacks like chips and cookies, so I usually have a banana at work and an applesauce and a few almonds after work. We don't buy chips, cookies or ice-cream for the house anymore (which is very good!).


8* Would you be comfortable/ uncomfortable if we took measurements ( weight, bust, waist & hips )to keep track of during the following weeks, to compare results for progress reports?

Sure. I am scared to weigh in on another scale though! I think it will weigh me heavier!


9* Is there a specific part of your body you would like us to work on the most?

I would love to tone my arms (get some nice definition), legs and stomach!


10* Are you ready to begin training ? :)

YES!!!

Hooligans and shopping addiction...helllllp meeee!

So I feel like my spring break is being held hostage by my school district. Everyone around here is either on spring break or will be this week. Some even have TWO weeks off. Fuckers. I'm not bitter though. Uh uh. I NEED this time off...it keeps me from killing, or at least scarring psychologically, the teenagers. Seriously.

Take Friday, for instance. A lovely rain-soaked day and we were just blithely going about our first class. Little did we know that a cretin in blue jeans walked our halls with arson on his mind. Some little turdbucket started a fire in the boys' room. In a garbage can. In the BOYS' ROOM. WTF? This lead to the entire school standing in the pouring rain for 1/2 an hour freezing our collective balls off. To increase the shittasticity of this event, the sprinklers failed to turn off, so they dumped gallons of water into our second floor, which then cascaded over the balcony onto the first floor. Some of it even found its way through the ceiling and dripped down the walls into the hallway. Sweeet. We were eventually let back in, though we had to traverse the new lake in the caf. to get to our rooms. Then we got to sit in our classrooms for 1/2 hr more whilst the nice fire dept. vacu-sucked the water up. And did we find this walking poster-child for birth control? Nope. Still at large.

I fear for the next generation.

But, yes this is a weight-loss blog, not a ranting site, so on to that.

Um...so I haven't lost any. On purpose though! Yes, still maintaining. Well, as of today I am. I am still awaiting the repurcussions of Friday drinking and Saturday lasagna dinner, bread, cake, chips and more drinking. Oh, and there may have also been a cookie in there. Definitely more than I usually eat. Felt all ooky in my tummy area after. BLAH. That and the lack of exercise for 3 days in a row has me a bit worried what the scale gods will say. I did work out today though, thank god. But, as of right now I am still 165. PHEW. For now. Eeeeep for tomorrow. Eeep.

Also, I may be addicted to shopping. I really worried about this before. I always said, it's a good thing I can't shop in the "normal" stores 'cause I'd have no money left. Um. Yes. Problem. I keep finding cute clothes, and they are on SALE. What am I a freakin' saint? I can't resist a cropped denim jacket for $15, or a super cute red polka-dot tee for $10, let alone a seriously sexy white pencil skirt for SIX DOLLARS!!!??!! C'monnnnnnnnnn.

I am hoping I will get to start working with my "student trainer" soon! She's not so good with the deadlines.

Hope everyone is doing well out there in bloggerland. :)

Pictures! (And some really pale legs. Seriously. I warned you.)

I know you loves the pictures!

First, my big girl clothes. Most of these clothes fit me back in April 2009. I remember buying one shirt in a 16 and thinking, NO I don't want to buy a 16 because I'm going to lose weight! But, I bought it anyway because the 14 was just too tight in the chest. Story of my life. Then, and now, I am a size smaller on the bottom, so usually a 14 at 220 lbs.. The shorts are a a bit older and size bigger though. My apologies for the lame-ass quality of these pics. No flash in my bathroom=crap photos. Oh, and I just took out my headband, so wonky hair action too. :P

This is a size 16 from Penningtons, I believe.

Top: 1x from Penningtons Shorts: 16 from ?

Clown pants!

Think I could fit a couple legs in there, actually!

Yup, it's big!

I loved this "teacher skirt"! Size 14 from Reitmans

This is bigger than it looks here. Size 16 Lane Bryant.

And this is me now...4-5 sizes smaller!

Ahh clothes that fit!
Jacket: size 11 Reitmans, Jeans: size 10 American Eagle

Gotta do the side view.

Blouse: Ricky's size 10

Best angle..gives the illusion of a flat belly!

Talkin' to Amber on the phone- she says hi.
Gawd lookit the paleness. UGH!
Skirt: size 10 Old Navy (the 8 fit, but was a bit too short for comfort!)

Yessir, time to break out the self-tanner!

Blouse: size 12 H&M (small-fitting fo sho, my sis had to go up a size too)

Tryin' to show off the guns...annd not so much.

The light doesn't do the tricep justice!

Bye for now!

Maintain your cool

Maintain no gain! Maintain no gain! Maintain no gain!

It's my new motto...I may have it embroidered onto a pillow. It's just that catchy.

I may blink tomorrow and see that the universe isn't that kind, but I did weigh in 1 lb lighter today. Certainly not what I expected from the scale gods. But yes, it's nearly official now that I am in a maintenance phase.

I want to lose the last 4 or 5 lbs, for sure, but I am just not that worried about when. Sometime before the summer perhaps. Right now it feels right to try to maintain where I am. I like where I am for the most part. I'm actually 5 lbs less than my original goal, so that's pretty good, methinks!

So here I go, portion control, keep snacking to a minimum, keep crap outta the house, drink water, eat fruits and veggies and EXERCISE!

Soon...I will post some after pics with my baggy-ass clothes from last spring (inspired by F Daddy on that one!). Then...maybe a pic that shows a little more skin (bow chicka wow wow), depending on how brave I am! I should really go buy a bathing suit. Eeeep. That's some scary shit right there. I'd almost rather subject myself to unnecessary dentistry.

That's all for now. I am going to revel in the afterglow of finishing report cards ON TIME (yeahhhh bitches!), and that it is Friday tomorrow. THANK GOD.

Laterz.

Sorry to be rude, but 'scuse me while I massage my...

BUTT.

Oh, ow. My ass is so sore! I did the Biggest Loser Cardio Max DVD yesterday. Holy sore muscles Batman! It's been a while since Jillian and I got together, so doing this DVD reacquainted me with lovely lunges, etc. This DVD is set up much like the Boot Camp one. It has three levels, and you spend 1-2 weeks on level 1 (20 min), then add level 2 (10 min), then level 3 (ten min). Also, like Boot Camp, there is a 5 min. warm-up and 5 min. cool down. My biggest problems with level one is that it wasn't so much intense cardio for me. Bob's thousand lunges and squats didn't have me breathing all THAT hard. Not like Jillian's moves did, anyway. Of course, it could very well be that despite my pained gluteus maximus, my cardio is a bit better than a level 1. Maybe I will add level 2 next time.

I am not anticipating any weight loss (unless the scale gods are up for miracles) this week. You know what? I'm cool with that. I'm kinda digging this weight right now, and am happy to maintain it for a while. I do want to lose a few more, to be sure. Just not in a huge rush is all. I AM contemplating giving you a more revealing "after pic" like sports bra and short shorts (or a bathing suit, if I can find one I don't hate) or something like that. It's hard to see what's really going on under clothes, and I know I always appreciate those who post more skin in their after pics. We'll see how I feel and if YOU peeps want to see that kind of pic.

And oh, did I mention that

CANADA WON HOCKEY GOLD?!?!?!?

You know, just in case you were in a deep dark cave under the earth yesterday and hadn't heard. EPIC game yesterday. I was so nervous as the clock ticked down the final period and then NO! It couldn't be! At the last second the US friggin' well TIED the game! My poor heart could barely take it. Overtime. Sudden death overtime. Luckily, the Canadian team had it in them, those lovely boys, to slide a goal in before the Yanks could. Thank you Crosby! You are our hero!! And of course, Canadians around the world celebrated in grand style (and copious amounts of beer) all day and night. Hells. Yes.

Can I just say how proud I am to be Canadian? I love this country, and I hope that this spirit and national pride stays with us past the games because CANADA ROCKS, EH?

I hope you all enjoyed the 2010 Games as much as I have!

That's all for now folks.