Here's one of my guns! I've been showing them off all week. I'm pretty proud! Sorry, I know it's silly, but I think they're fun. :c)
I hit another major milestone this week, I'm down to 205 pounds, which means that I've lost 81 pounds. It doesn't feel real to me sometimes.
I have these conflicting images of myself in my head right now. I know that I'm not the morbidly obese person I was, who struggled to fit into restaurant booths and tried her best to hide and be as unnoticeable as possible, but that girl is still stuck in my head, looking out through my eyes, and is surprised at the reflection in the mirror. I feel like my face is constantly changing. My mom said the other day that my teeth look bigger now. It's a strange land to be in, I can tell you that.
Adding to the strangeness is clothes shopping. Like a magnet, I am drawn to the plus-size clothes. I have to keep telling myself that I don't need to look there anymore. I dreamed and dreamed of the day when I wouldn't have to shop at Lane Bryant again. It's odd to not belong there. I don't want to say that I miss it, but it is strange. There are so many things in my life that have changed since January.
This week I was talking to someone about just what kind of changes have happened in my life since I started losing weight. One of the first things to go was watching television and using the internet for hours on end. I spent inordinate amounts of time doing both, now I maybe use the internet for an hour or two during the week, and really never watch t.v. period. I used to stay up late for no reason at all, sometimes staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning despite having to work the next day. Those days are long gone. I go to bed at 10 most nights, even weekends, and get up between 5 and 6, again even on the weekend. I eat slower now, I just ate without really thinking or enjoying it before. Now I take my time, chewing and taking smaller bites.
Enough of that for now!
The boot camp competition was moved to this coming Friday, so I have an extra week to work on my skills. I'm pretty stoked for Friday! I can use all the positive thoughts I can get this week, so send them my way!
I am chasing down 200 pounds, and can't wait to get there. As strange and fast as this weight loss thing has been this time around, I am so glad that I'm here, that I'm doing it, and that I'm being successful. I feel like I've been helped on so many fronts, that I know now is my time. Thanks and have a great week!
So, I've been looking back this week at some of the pictures of me on my profile and came across this little gem from last November. It was a bit shocking. It's difficult for me to believe that that picture is of me in some ways. I've been trying to figure out what I was like then, how I was different. It was only six short months ago that I was that girl chugging along in the way too tight XXL shirt and shorts. Was I happy? I'm not sure, but it is unnerving.
This week marked the end of school for the summer. Thank the heavens! I am looking forward to being able to get more done in my day than just working out, working, and sleeping. I am taking some professional development classes, but for the most part hope to make some jewelry that I can sell when I head up north in June.
Next week I am planning on picking up swimming again. I have a competition suit (size 14) that I bought several years ago (I wanted to do triathlons) as a motivator that never ended up being motivation enough. I tried it on yesterday and it fits! Now I am going to put it to good use. Looking forward to it! Perhaps I'll join a Masters team around here. That would be tons of fun.
I clamped down this week on my diet. My next goal is to hit 200 pounds by June 15th. I am 9 pounds away from that goal right now. I want to stay on track! I went to my friend Sarah's birthday party this week, and was pleasantly surprised that the food was all healthy in honor of Sarah taking control of her eating habits. I'm so proud of her! It was great also to not be tempted to eat something I would have struggled with.
This upcoming week also brings Cameron's boot camp on Friday morning. Cameron is one of the trainers at Pure Fitness. He teaches a morning class that I go to three days a week. He is having this boot camp on Friday and whoever beats him head-to-head gets 6 free personal training sessions. Well, now that I have discovered just how competitive I can be, I could not let that one go. I plan to wipe the floor with him. I've been taunting him for weeks about it. I know for sure I can beat him at three of the things on the list. They are the sit ups, the level 15 treadmill for 10 minutes at 3.0 mph, and quite possibly the leg press 2x your weight. He I know weighs 250lbs, which means he needs to press 500 lbs. I'm not exactly petite, but legs are my strongest asset. I tried pressing a bit more than 2x my weight, and as long as I maintain proper form, I will do just dandy. The items I might struggle with are the trainer-haters and the push ups. They both are about upper-body strength, and that's one of my weaker spots. I think I'll be able to make up for it with my strong areas.
Oh, I nearly forgot! I went shopping yesterday with my friend Charity. Lane Bryant was having a ginormous sale, so I figured I should replace my bras, which were too big of course. I had no clue what size I might be or even where to start so I had the lady do my measurements. The first thing out of her mouth was "I think you might be too small." I nearly died! The final verdict was that I am now a 38 D. Yes, D as in dog. I was completely and utterly shocked! I started out at a 44 B. I was so happy! The lady said to me, "I think I need to give you a hug!" And we did! I hugged the bra lady! So not typical Sarah behavior, but a whole lot of what I do now is not typical Sarah behavior!
It's been another big week for me. Let me just say, THAT I RAN A MILE IN 10 MINUTES! Woohoo! That happened on Friday. It felt amazing! There's just something about it that makes me feel like a legitimate athlete. I know it's not very fast or anything, but I feel like I've climbed a mountain. So cool! I've not really thought of a new fitness goal yet, but I'll keep you posted. I'm thinking it'll involve running consecutive miles. I'd like to start doing more 5k's and want to do a half marathon by year's end, so consecutive miles is a good goal to pursue.
Next on the list of announcements, I am officially down 75 pounds. It was 80, but I think that was a fluke, so we'll just say 75. :c) It's awesome to be so close to 200 pounds. We're talking how much I weighed in middle school now. It is hard to believe how far I've come! I'm looking forward to continuing to accomplish my goals. I hope to hit my 200 pound goal by June 15th.
Now for the clothing department. I now fit into size 16 pants (for those of you keeping score, I started out at size 26), and can fit into size L and XL shirts. Yay! Exciting except for the whole costing me money part. Mom has been very helpful finding me clothes at the Goodwill and DI, but some things you just can't buy second-hand, you know what I mean? It's so worth it though. On my current track, I'm spending between three and four weeks at each size. Not much use in investing lots of money into something that won't fit me next month. I could have worse problems though!
On the food front, I am starting to branch out a bit. I tried soy milk for the first time this week, and didn't mind it. I'm changing up my breakfast with some different options, so this week I tried soymilk, Kashi GoLean Crunch (delicious!), and blueberries. It kept me full and going until mid-morning, which is just what I needed it to do. So, for a breakfast it gets a thumbs-up! I buy the blueberries frozen from Costco. They're pretty darn good.
To round off this week's discussion, let's talk about me seeing my family last week. They were so proud of me! My Grandma came up to me and told me she was proud of what I was doing. My Uncle Craig kept calling me a mere shadow of myself. :c) I also saw my Grandpa this week when Bug had her going away party. He said to me, "You look wonderful!" I don't think I've ever heard him talk like that to anyone, much less me. It felt so good! It's great to have such a supportive network of family and friends. You guys have no idea what a difference it makes to me!
Today is the day! I hit 218 pounds, my lowest adult weight. Huzzah! I am up at my sister Janelle's house in Utah for the weekend. We are here celebrating my Grandma's 80th birthday. I am in charge of making the cake. Yay!
It's been interesting traveling and all this week. For starters, I am sick. I've not been sick since last fall, so that's been strange and different. It's a cold with lots of congestion, so not fun! It's made things difficult. I haven't been able to keep up my level of exercise, so I've cut back my calories. Hopefully disaster will be avoided.
Food has also been an interesting obstacle to overcome. I packed a lot of meal plan friendly snacks, and didn't eat fast food (ok, so I snuck three french fries from Bug). We ate dinner at a little diner in Kanab where I ordered a turkey sandwich and salad, rather than the plethora of other amazingness available. I am saving myself for the party on Saturday. My biggest food problem has been avoiding my favorite fast food restaurant of all time, Arctic Circle. I LOVE that place. I have committed myself though, so I think I'll be ok. :c) I don't want to undo my hard work!
My nephew Scott and I had a "Healthy" date yesterday. He and I went running around the cemetery. It was great! He's very excited about what I've done. He told me that he had a picture of me in his mind and that it was like my before picture, and that when he saw me it was like my after picture. That made me smile!
Scott has always been honest with me about my weight, as kids usually are. When he was little, I called my belly my "sugar baby". He once told me that I needed to go to the hospital so I could have my sugar baby like his mom had Eva. Ouch! Isn't it interesting how insightful kids can be? I was telling Bug that when I write my book one day, it should be called "Giving Birth to My Sugar Baby". :c)
Scott and I have another healthy date planned for after school today. Yay! I am also working like a mad woman on the cake. Wish me luck! I'll update with pics next week.
This week has been full of stress and awesomeness. Crazy things are happening in my work life, which made parts of this week insane. Whitney and I took the student council kids on an overnight field trip this week, so that totally disrupted my exercise schedule. I packed food for myself to eat and ordered a boca burger for dinner (yummy! Never tried one of those before). Overall, that part of the week was darn good for the craziness of it all.
Now, some announcements to make. My mile time is down to... wait for it... wait for it... 10:44! YAY! So thrilled about that. I have been working on learning how to breathe and pace myself. Love the way that it going so far! I am ready to try out my new found running skills on the Komen 5k race my family is doing up in Salt Lake this weekend. (I'm am bouncing up and down with excitement)
Next, my current weight is 218.5. I am so close! Nearly at my lowest adult weight. I haven't weighed this little since my first bout with Weight Watchers ten years ago.
And the thrilling conclusion to my announcements for the week, I tried on a pair of size 18 pants, and they fit! In fact, they are pretty comfortable and there's plenty of room. I nearly hugged the fitting room attendant at Walmart (which I know would have been weird, but that's how happy I was!) I promptly bought myself a pair of the pants.
Whew! Big week, eh? In other news, my Mom and Leslie joined the gym this week. I am so proud of them! It was fun introducing my mom to all the people at the gym. Jose (the gym owner) said to my mom, "What took you so long to get here?" I am so happy they are going to come with me.
Here's one of my guns! I've been showing them off all week. I'm pretty proud! Sorry, I know it's silly, but I think they're fun. :c)
