Sunday, August 16, 2015

Day 43....check!

Believe it or not, I have no workout pictures to post over the last 4 days! I must be slacking! But!! Today was day 43 in a row of moving!

Let's see....last post was this past Wednesday. What have I been doing?

Thursday was awesome! I went to the gym and swam 1500 yards (60 laps) in the pool. Took me 37 minutes, and I felt great afterward! Friday I repeated week 3 of the C25K program. Saturday was a light day. I walked 2 miles at a fairly brisk pace and today (day 43) was personal trainer day.

This is totally me when I run. Totally a low runner! But I'm moving! And that's a fabulous thing! And the bonus is I feel awesome!
 
Weight is good. My official weigh in day is Wednesday. as of yesterday I was down 12 lbs. We will see what Wednesday brings.
I really like the Fitbit app for recording my workouts. I had almost 6 hours of work outs last week and over 8 hours the week before. 

My Mio works great for calorie burn counting. I love the heart rate monitor feature and the fact there is no strap! Last week I burned 3898 calories with my workouts!
I have never been big on sushi, but I have been trying new things. I sushi is pretty healthy in moderation. I love California rolls. Although I recently found out they use imitation crab... :(. But I like salmon rolls too. I am not a big fish eater. But this is working for me. And 3 - 4 pieces of sushi fills me up for like 5 - 6 hours!
Friday night I went and saw Shania Twain with a friend of mine. She puts on a great show and she totally has still got it! And with all the dancing I had over 14,000 steps!!

Tomorrow is a run day. Day 44!

I hope everyone is great out there! Keep moving and keep up the good work!
Cheers!
~Chris

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Chugging along!

Happy Hump Day!!

College orientation - Check!
Day 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, & 39 check too!

Still going! As of last Wednesday I was officially down to 249.4. Tipped those scales past 250!

This week I weigh in today at 250.1... No worries....

College orientation was good! I am sure my daughter will love it there. The hard part is about a month away, but she is here for another month.

Despite the travelling I am happy to report I didn't use it as an excuse to sit around! The hotel had a super small gym. A stationary bike, ellipticals, treadmills and weights. They were pretty cool! Awesome TV screen with awesome course scenery! So we did different stuff daily!

Bicycled...

Elliptical....swimming.... Even go the kid to play along!

 And sweated!
 
Then when I got back.....my trainer kick the S&%t out of me!
He pushes me hard...
 
Reached this milestone today!! Totally by accident! I thought I was repeating week 2 day 3. Turns out this was less of a struggle than I thought it was going to be! YAY ME!!
 
Food has been pretty great too....Most of my lunches look like this! Has been working so well!


I most certainly hope everyone out there in blog land is well and happy!

See you soon!
~ Chris

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Tipped it!!

I started counting my workout days on my 4th of July vacation. July 5th to be exact. I am so excited to report, that after 31 days of working out in a row, my wacky Wednesday weigh in cane in a 249.4!

9.8 lbs lost since June 30th! Took a while to get back here again....but I am on the down side of 250! I'm considering this a win!

Off to Chicago tomorrow for freshman orientation. Quick 3 day turn around trip. Plane leaves at 5:50 AM. I think it's time for bed!
 
Sleep well!
~Chris

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

31 days and counting......

Hi....remember me?

It's been a long time...since May 14th actually. But I have thought about my blog every day, and I have been silently watching other blogs as the days have gone by.

The last 3 months have literally come and gone. In the blink of an eye I have a high school graduate, an 18 year old, a new driver, another high school senior, and a 17 year old, we have reached a new high with my 17 year old's anxiety and things have literally been nonstop.

My sister got married on the 4th of July. I don't know what happened that weekend, but it was a huge turning point for me. I don't know if it was the complete lack of responsibility, the speed boat, the water, or the alcohol. Maybe it was a combination of it all.

But, I spent 7 days by a lake, tubing, speed boating, swimming and on occasion, partying. It was nothing astounding or mind blowing. My sister made it so I didn't have to do any driving, cooking, babysitting, nothing. I was able to totally relax.
For me, this is an incredibly rare thing, I have only found one other place I was able to completely clear my head and that is on my motorcycle. But, after riding a bike, the bustle of everyday would come back quickly and seem as if it never left.

But, this 4th of July weekend, still lingers. I came back with a renewed sense of something. I am not sure exactly what, but I am not questioning it. I have decided to embrace the way I felt that weekend and run with it.

Since I was in upstate NY I decided to visit Niagara Falls from the Canadian side and the US side. So after the wedding I drove the Canada and spent the night. Spent absurd amounts of money (since this is the one and only time I will ever be this close) that I would never spend, on a hotel room....
 with a fantastic view....

 ordered breakfast in....
 and then spent 6 hours walking around Niagara Falls in Canada.



When I got back home to Colorado, I realized that I had been exercising 3 days in a row at this point, swimming, walking, hiking, so the day I got back I continued....Day 4....
And kept on going......
Day 7
And going...
Day 15....
And going....Day 25....
And then suddenly....
Day 30....
And then it happened....Day 31!
31 days in a row of moving!

Conclusion.....In the past I was trying to workout a specific number of days, for a specific amount of time. 1 hour 4-5 days a week. 2-3 rest days. When I got busy and missed a day, I was miserable. I would beat myself up for failing. I got off track and gained 45 lbs back of what I had lost.

I have come to realize, that nothing stays the same. With the girls I am constantly on the go and this routine just doesn't work. SO....I workout now, every morning, whether it be for 10 minutes or 90 minutes. I move, I sweat, I keep fighting.

I was looking into a band revision, but that doesn't look like its going to work out unless I do it on my own. My band is in a great position and nothing is wrong with it. So....I begin again....

Today was day 31, today my workout consisted of dancing with boxing gloves on, kickboxing and moving for 60 minutes.

I do 50 squats and 50 sit ups every day...I do the C25K program 3 days a week, work out with friends 2 days a week, bring my daughter and my dogs along at times, swim, ride my bike, kick box, go to the gym, work out with a trainer, and weight train. No regimented schedule, just whatever I feel like that particular day.

I have not made history, or broken any records, but I am down 8 lbs in the last 31 days. The scale is moving again. I am busting my butt, but I am making progress.....and I am about to tip the scales to the down side of 250 for the first time in 12 months!

My first long term goal, to be under 200 lbs by February 2016 so I can go skiing again! My second long term goal, to lose 100 lbs by August 2016 and run my second 5K. But for now, I concentrate on today, one day at a time, one pound at a time.

In the end, the uphill battle, the depression, the stress, constant struggle, will all be worth the fight. I have learned to survive; every hurdle that I have been faced with, I have managed to overcome. So I fight, for every pound, one day at a time....
; Always Keep Fighting!
Not going to promise a daily blog entry, not making any promises at all, but I won't stay away so long this time around. I just needed to find myself again.....Here's to a new beginning!
 
Cheers
~Chris

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Hey!

Howdie everyone!

Yes, I have been away again. It's feast or famine over here, I'm tellin ya!

In early April, shortly after my last post, I took my daughter to Illinois to visit her future college. My oldest is graduating this year. Scary stuff. Then we had prom, that was a big to-do! Then I was having more problems with my band!

UGH! I'm so frustrated. Back in 2013, when I was doing fantastic with my band, I had to have a surgery that left me inactive for about 6 weeks. OK No problem, but, towards the 4th week, I couldn't swallow, anything! Water was getting stuck.

No worries, off to the doctors, for an unfill. Bummer....
4 weeks later we head back for a refill.....ok no problem for about 2 months. Then again, back to the doctor for an unfill.....ok lets try again.... still doing ok....and then March 2014 rolls around....too tight again....what the heck? How can I be fine for months, and then suddenly not be fine? So time for an upper GI....Welcome to my stomach! Now, I had never seen this before. Fascinating!
This basically shows my band is too tight. So another unfill!
 
Anyway, fast forward, this last year has been a series of fills and unfills. My last fill was sometime in November 2014. I was sitting around 6.25 cc's of fluid in my band, and then suddenly about 3 weeks ago I started getting stuck, vomiting and having bad heartburn. Now I have had mild heartburn basically not stop since November, but it consistently got worse. So I broke down and went to the doctors. The result....
 
An unfill of 3 cc's. After not being able to eat much of anything I can now eat virtually anything. I have felt over the last 1 1/2 years that something is wrong with my band. I would go to the doctor and they would take fluid out and send me on my way. I would ask questions and not really get answers.
 
The last time I went in, they told me that fluid can get into my band and make it fuller. WHAT?!?!? Totally felt blown off at this point. SO.....
 
I found a new doctor. Saw him today. He is sending me for another upper GI. I am in the process of discussing a revision to a gastric sleeve with him. Now don't get me wrong, I have loved my band. No regrets. But the vomiting and heartburn aren't going to work for me. If the revision gets refused then I will continue to go see this doctor.
 
I told him what the previous nurse said on my last visit that fluid can seep into the band and he looked at me funny and said, "That's a new one, haven't heard of that before but ok".
 
In the meantime, he did give me a fill of 1.3 cc's which should leave me sitting somewhere around 4.25 and 4.5 cc's. My previous doctor did not keep good records.
 
Funny thing is, I am NEVER hungry! I am eating  because I know I have to. I drink water and feel full for hours. Even at this current fill level.....
 
OK I have to run, my youngest has a doctors appointment I have to run her to now. Constant I tell ya!
 
I will try to post again soon. My life is just so crazy busy right now.... And frankly, there is some stuff going on that has be depressed.....
 
But, enough about that.....See y'all soon!
~Chris


Monday, March 23, 2015

I wuz here!!

Remember back in the day when we carved "I wuz here" into everything?

Well it has apparently been a minute since I wuz here.....so...

It's 12:43 AM its been a crazy couple of weeks....I have the YoYo thing going on with my weight.....and I think water retention is highly involved in that....

But I am exhausted, kids, work, school, appointments, tennis matches, gym.....So

On that note I am going to carve those words into my blog for now....
I haven't forgotten about y'all!
 
TTFN!
Gnight!
Chris
 

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Just a quickie...

Hey Y'all! It's been kind of a crazy week. Running the kids around and work is non stop this week.

Lets see, last post was Saturday... Since then I have....

Worked out on Sunday for roughly 45 minutes.....

Daylight savings time is killing me this week. I must admit....I have not worked out since......Sunday!

It's been 3 days.....Mad Monday weigh in showed a 2.5 lb gain...sitting at 247.9....The results of my non discipline!

Totals:
2.1lbs down since 2/16/15!
26.9 lbs. down since 8/22/12 (When it all began!)
12.5 lbs. down since 10/15/12! (Lap Band Surgery)

S'ok, this too shall pass.

I don't expect this week to be spectacular either....Guess we will find out on Monday...

I must work out tomorrow! I Must Work Out Tomorrow! I mUsT wOrK oUt ToMoRrOw!!!
I MUST WORK OUT TOMORROW!!

What do I need to do tomorrow?!?!? WORK OUT!!

OK I am call it a Wednesday! Happy Hump Day y'all!
Tomorrow is a new day!

Gnight! Sweet Dreams! :)
Chris

Saturday, March 7, 2015

I know I know.....

It's been almost a darn week since my last post...YIKES!!
OK So here is a quick update since Monday....

Tuesday night I had an easy, EXTREMELY light workout with my trainer. He concentrated a lot on my tendinitis, carpal tunnel, and sciatica because they were all killing me!

Wednesday was a day off. Well a working out day off....Thursday morning 862 calories gone!! Was a C25K day followed by 30 minutes of kickboxing!

I did get a couple of awesome gadgets! In my never ending search for a heart rate monitor that does NOT have a chest strap (I hate these uncomfortably forever squeezing me things!). It takes me forever to make decisions to spend money so I thought about this for like, 4 days! But, I decided to purchase the Mio Alpha 2! Has fantastic reviews! I have only used it twice but so far I love it!
Anyone that knows me knows I am a total gadget geek! I have been wanting a Fitbit Aria for about 3 years. But, I had to get over that "scales are bad" mentality. (With the cost of this thing throwing it was not an option!) I do really love my Fitbit tho! So I did it! I purchased the Aria! I have stepped on it 5 times this week because I weight myself way too much, but it's cool! It is wireless and has Blue tooth (I think) and syncs with the Fitbit website and myfitnesspal (which I have been using religiously to track my food (accountability, this is a big thing for me, tracking that is)). I got black! And no that is not what I weigh LOL.
I have one more gadget I want to get and that is the Garmin swim. I want something that counts my laps cause I love to swim!
 
Ok that's all I got for now. Did I ever tell you all that I got a new furever friend last year? I am going to guess no, Meet Atlas! He's a husky! Love my furbabies!
 
And with that! I am off my friends! Have to run a few errands then come back and work out, and maybe go to dinner with the hubby, and then go see my daughter play her clarinet in pit orchestra for a school play!
 
I will post again soon! Until then...Carry on, keep plugging away, smile, and burn calories!
 
Cheers!
Chris

Monday, March 2, 2015

Mad Monday......

OK Here we go!! Back to Mad Monday Weigh In's!!
Today's weigh in......Wait for it.....So gotta get those toes done!
Super excited!! 2 weeks in a row with good losses!
Totals:
4.6lbs down since 2/16/15!
29.6 lbs. down since 8/22/12 (When it all began!)
15 lbs. down since 10/15/12! (Lap Band Surgery)
 
Looking at these totals is kind of sad, back in July 2013 I was 65lbs down.
So we are working back down that direction!
 
I have decided the quinoa pudding was not so good after it sat a day. So I will keep experimenting with that.
 
Sweaty photo for y'all today....Can  you say EWWWW!! LOL
Feels good!
Let's see, last post was 2/26/15, Thursday.
 
Took Friday off from working out, swapped it for Saturday instead. Saturday my friend I and spent a good hour working out, jogged, elliptical, swam a little, ahhhh and hot tub of course!
 
Sunday, another good day for a 1 hour workout! Today worked out at home. Still sticking with week 1 of the C25K program. I'm going to keep repeating week 1 until I build my endurance back up. I've been doing the C25K program for 2 weeks so far and I am still huffing and puffing pretty good. So, I will keep at it like before. Last time it took me 4 -5 months to complete the program, started it about this same time of year. Just keep moving!
 
In case anyone is interested, I came across this cauliflower usage thing....I have made the cauliflower pizza crust and it is awesome! I think I am going to attempt the loaded cauliflower soup this weekend! Love loaded baked potato. Always looking for healthy options. Check it out if you're interested :) 19 cauliflower dishes that will have you ditching the carbs!
I always love food suggestions! So let me have em'!
 
Tell me! What have you been up to this week?
 
Sweet dreams!
 
Chris

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Crazy!

Crazy! Until about 3 weeks ago I didn't know what Quinoa was. I first had it in a soup at Panera bread. The soup flavor was good, a little too much lemon and a bit too many kale leaves, but I did like the quinoa. I am probably the only person on the planet that hadn't had this stuff!

So I decided to buy some and see what I can do with it at home! A 1/4 cup of this stuff cooked is awesomely filling!! And good for you too! And its not disgusting! Last night I went pretty basic. My sister said to try cooking it in my rice cooker, which was actually a great idea! Last night I had it with a little butter and garlic salt. Love the texture!

Tonight I decided to try something different. Teriyaki quinoa with chicken, green pepper and onion. YUM! And in my continued quest for low fat, low calorie, quinoa pudding! Kind of like rice pudding! It's chilling, but it tasted pretty good warm! There are so many recipes for this stuff!
 
OK, done with quinoa :)
 
I have been staying on track! Excited about that too! Tuesday I worked out with my trainer, Wednesday I took the day off, today I did day 2 of the C25K, 20 minutes of kickboxing and 10 minutes on the elliptical!
 
So how are you?
 
I'm off! And going to bed! Sweet dreams! More to come!
Chris


Monday, February 23, 2015

And so we begin again.....

And so we begin again. One of the great things about life is that we can start some things over. Weight loss is one of them. So I begin again. But first, I've been thinking about some positives to help keep me going!

1) I started this journey back in April 2012, almost a full 3 years ago. At the time I weighed 275.

2) I made it all the way down to 208 in August 2013. That was 67 lbs. from where I started so I know I can do this again.

3) I haven't gained all of the weight back!

4) And probably the most important point, I haven't given up! I am still fighting, granted I fought lazily over the last 1 1/2 years, but I was still thinking, and working towards a goal. I had just forgotten what that goal was.

I know I haven't weighed in, but I have been weighing in, if that makes any sense at all. I started blogging again on Monday February 9, 2015. That Monday morning I weighed in at 250.2 I believe it was. I don't remember the exact number so I am just calling it 250.

On Monday of last week my weigh in was unchanged, rightfully so. I had done absolutely nothing to create change. And I acted and ate like it was the end of the world. OK. the past is the past. Time to start leaving it there.

Progress since last Tuesday? Every Tuesday I work out with a trainer. He comes to my home and really helps me get my sweat on. Most times I feel like he's gonna kill me, but I feel fantastic when I am done. So Tuesday the 17th was no different. I worked by butt off! We'll I am hoping that is where it comes off first! :) Eating wasn't horrible, and I was working on my water intake.

Wednesday I worked till like 10, Thursday I was inundated with homework (back in college, have I mentioned that?), Friday I was just lazy, and Saturday I was too. Lots of excuses! Sunday however, I met my friend at the gym. We worked out for about an hour, was a good day! Eating was spot on! YAY!! I have  fabulous friend. When we do things together we are great! Good or bad! She's amazing! So we can up with a plan! Sunday's we are meeting at the gym around 10 am, Monday morning I will work out at home, Tuesday night I will work out with my trainer, Wednesday and Friday afternoon around 5 I will meet my friend at the gym. Thursday's and Saturday are going to be my rest days or light days.

So I begin again with the pictures, because I know you all want to see my workout progress and my toes badly in need of a pedicure. Of course I will incorporate progress pictures and sweaty shots too.

I did work out this morning, I completed day 3 of Week 1 C25K
followed by kickboxing and dancing for 20 minutes. I feel accomplished! And I feel great too!

My implemented improvements this past week have paid off too! My weigh in?
And we begin my totals again:
2.6lbs down since 2/16/15!
27.6 lbs. down since 8/22/12 (When it all began!)
13 lbs. down since 10/15/12! (Lap Band Surgery)
 
I am currently struggling with this: Although, I am really not bored (I don't think anyway)...
 
And I really need to work on this!
 
 
So to solve this small problem I am having right now I am going to bed! Sweet dreams fellow bloggers and friends!
 
Cheers!
Chris