Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Personal Values

This past weekend, I spent my time at a Weight Watcher leader training workshop, BLS or Basic Leader Skills. This BLS workshop is a 3 day, 2 night, pass or fail class that brings you into the final step of becoming a leader for Weight Watchers. I'm happy to report that I passed and will begin now my 4 weeks of Leader Mentoring.

There is no doubt that in those 3 days I learned more about what this company stands for than ever. I am confident to be representing a company that cares so deeply about their members. As we learned, the meeting isn't about us as leaders, it's about the members connecting with each other. We are simply facilitators.

There are two things that I learned this weekend that really spoke to me, and therefore, I'd like to share for food for thought.

The first thing -
Out of the 30 trainees at this workshop, not one of us lost the same amount of weight. I believe it ranged from 15-150lbs. Between the 30 of us, they did mention we lost a total of over 1,700lbs. Pretty impressive! A few trainees brought up the issue regarding those who have lost a smaller amount of weight, say 15-25lbs. How do you react when members have the attitude "Well, (s)he ONLY had 20 lbs to lose. How could they POSSIBLY understand what I am going through when I have 100lbs to lose?" Before this training, I had the same attitude, sort of. I kind of felt like they had an easier time because they didn't have 70lbs to lose like I did so they didn't have to struggle as much. The insight we all gained, was NEVER just say ONLY 25lbs or ONLY 15lbs. They posed this question to the group, "How many of you joined Weight Watchers because your pants didn't fit how you wanted them too?" I'm sure you can guess, we all raised our hands. That put it into perspective. Regardless of how much weight we had to lose, we all encountered the same feelings of disgust with our bodies, uncomfortable feelings in our clothes, etc. The feelings were what someone who had 25lbs to lose could relate to the person who had 100lbs to lose. And the success of hitting achieves, like starting to exercise or losing your first five pounds, they all relate the same feelings. It was all very deep, at least for me.

The second thing I learned that really stuck with me, were personal values. It is not a surprise to anyone, I like to "toot my own horn." I've worked extremely hard and everyone deserves to "toot their own horn." However, the more you make this a lifestyle, the more you begin to think you are an expert. The more you push your personal values on others, but state them more as FACT inside of VALUE. We learned that what is so great with this program is we can all come together looking for the same outcome (weight loss) but the road map during that journey is completely different for all of us. The example they offered what when they asked "How many of you exercised to lose weight along with this program?" Some of us raised our hands...not I. Showing us that although not all of us took the road of an exercise routine right away if at all, we all meet at the same destination. So to tell someone, "You HAVE to workout if you ever want to be thin" is simply a personal value. It is not a fact. I lost the first 50lbs or so without lifting a finger, I chose to begin working out on my own. Not because someone told me I had to. We are so quick to say things we do or believe in as a fact, when IN FACT, they are likely a personal value. I am going to try to be conscious of this in my everyday life when talking to friends and family about whatever topic. I know I tend to push personal values rather than offer suggestions.

Moving on...

I wanted to share that I tried something new today with a friend. I tried Bikram Yoga. For those that don't know what it is, it is a Yoga class set in a room that is 105 degrees and is 90 minutes long. Throughout the 90 minutes you complete 26 poses. Let me tell you, 105 degrees is HOT. I was soaked head to toe. I was proud that I made it through the 90 minutes, completing each pose. My balance as improved a great amount throughout this journey and although I'm wobbly at times I recovered nicely. I am looking forward to going back and getting stronger. I have an unlimited amount of classes for the next 30 days. While I am completing those classes I will start thinking of something new I can try next month! Have you tried anything new lately? If you haven't, what would you like to try that is new and how can you go about doing it?

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Size Matters

Just a quick post. 
I wanted to share that I found my largest pair of jeans I fit into, size 13/14. I found these while going through bins of old clothing for Goodwill this morning. I will not give these jeans away. These are my "DO NOT EVER FIT INTO THESE JEANS AGAIN" jeans. 

Left: Size 13/14 Right: Size 1/2

You can really see the difference when they lay on top of each other.


The jeans I compare them to are my current (and smallest pair) jeans. 

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Bustin' Through

Finally, after months of battling a plateau, I've lost over 60 lbs. Last night at my weigh-in, I was shocked to see 126.2lbs after weighing in last week at 131lbs. I lost 4.8lbs. It was amazing. I've officially lost 61.8lbs total and now I am contemplating changing my goal weight from 120lbs to 118lbs for a solid total of 70lbs. I will have to get some updated pictures. We have been having camera trouble lately, but I'll work on that. 


One thing that I have changed is my working out. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I rarely worked out throughout this whole process. 90% of my weight loss has come from changing my eating habits. Now that I am thin, I want to be toned. The only way to tone is to workout. At first, I became obsessive over working out for long periods at a time. I worked out for 2 weeks straight anywhere from 60-120 minutes a day. Both weeks, I gained on the scale. So I thought I'd take a week off. I tried that for about two days and started to feel soft and squishy so I changed my workout habit to a little bit everyday.


Now, using Fit in Six for PlayStation 3w/Move (also available on Wii), I work out everyday from anywhere to 30-60 minutes, depending on what muscle group I am working on and the intensity. I feel great and I saw a huge loss on the scale.

This workout focuses on 6 basic elements: Cardio, Balance, Upper Body Strength, Lower Body Strength, Core Strength and Flexibility. Every workout is broken down into each of these elements.
"Fit in Six workouts are individually tailored, and can be expanded through a wide range of included and downloadable workouts, keeping you involved and motivated. The workouts have been developed by experienced fitness professionals, to ensure that every move is performed precisely and effectively. You will always know you are on track thanks to clearly explained verbal and visual responses, combined with synchronized animations and music to the beat – you can even use your own tunes. Observe and track your progress with fun and motivating statistics. "


I love that I can track my statistics. It tracks every workout, what elements I did, how long I did the workout and any goals I reached. Today, I worked on Lower Body Strength and Core Strength. I reached the fitness goal that was set for me and tomorrow I will start my goal that focuses on Flexibility and Upper Body Strength. It takes sometimes just one day to reach a goal or other times, two or three days, depending on the intensity you are at. The longer you do the program the harder it is to reach goals as your goals are increased.



I love the Pilates workouts. Flexibility is a big goal of mine. You can see in the bottom left hand corner, there is a countdown clock. That is a feature I love. It helps me keep going when I'm getting tired. Whereas, I may quit otherwise, having the clock allows me to tell myself  "Okay, only 10 more minutes, I can do this!"


  
I do a TON of kickboxing. It's my favorite form of cardio since working out with this program. It really helps with my balance when performing kicks and learning how to Jab and Uppercut really has helped ton my arms.


At any rate - I thought I would write a little on how my workout habits have evolved since losing weight. I absolutely love working out to this program. Even if I choose to run outside for my cardio exercise, I'll come in and work on some flexibility exercised with this. It's really versatile and I high recommend it. I've posted the game trailer so you can see it in real time.    

Friday, June 17, 2011

It's a Real Mind Game

Gosh, it's been about two weeks since my last post. I have been trying to come up with topics to write about, but my mind has been blank. Perhaps it is because I am struggling with a plateau currently so I don't feel like I would have anything "wise" to contribute to this blog and didn't want to sound like a downer.

I thought this was entertaining....I wonder where I'd land.
I've always known that losing weight was more of a mind game than anything, but that has really come to life for me in the past few months as I've bounced between 129 lbs and 131 lbs for so long now. I am scale obsessed. Along with a scale obsession comes number obsession. Honestly, I don't care how I look or feel, if I see I'm in the 130's I freak out. I do not want to be more than 10 lbs from my goal. Ironically, however, the closer I get to my goal, the cockier I become with food and drinks. Thinking to myself, "I'm in the 120's now so I can have that extra drink" or "I've been doing this for so long that one day of tracking won't mess me up." But it does. I am also now strict with working out daily and if I don't get some form of exercise in, I feel soft and will be disappointed. I suppose this is all because I just want to hit my goal so badly, and I suspect it will subside once I hit my goal. I'd much rather bounce between 118 lbs and 125 lbs than 129 lbs and 131 lbs.

Last Saturday morning, before my Graduation party, I weighed myself. I nearly passed out when I saw 126.1 lbs. That was 4.9lbs less than I weighed in at on that Monday! No way! 5 lbs in one week is amazing and just what I needed. As the weekend carried on, I drank a bit at my Graduation party, didn't eat much but had about 5 s'mores that evening. I was really bummed about the weather and the next day I went to a friends' house for a Pampered Chef party and emotionally ate and drank all day because it was a perfect day and I felt I had to "make up" for the crappy weather the day before. At my weigh in on Monday, the number was exactly the same as it was the week prior. Here is where the mind games come it. If I hadn't weighed myself on Saturday I would have been thrilled that I maintained over the busy social weekend. But, instead of being happy I didn't gain I was depressed because I could have been down 5 lbs if I would have had a normal weekend sans parties. So I've been struggling with that thought all week. This week, I made my darling husband (DH as we say in WW) hide my scale. As long as I weigh in the same or less than last week I'll be okay because I can't compare it to another number that I saw this week. Weighing myself daily is not good for me. Once I hit goal, I think it will be okay but for now I'm so obsessed with the number and hitting goal that weighing daily isn't a great thing.

Keeping it a mind game, in conversation this week with a friend, they mentioned that someone else had made a comment about how much I talk about Weight Watchers or food or what-have-you. In my defense, the friend commented that you can truly see that I talk about it because it is a big part of my life. And she's right. I have struggled with talking about my journey. I want to talk about it because I have accomplished a lot but on the same hand, I don't want to bore people or make people feel I'm conceited or whatever. After hearing her defense, I feel she was totally right. In the same way people talk about their kids or pets or whatever it is that is a huge part of their life, that's how my journey is to me. It's my baby. We've had our ups and we've had our downs. There is a lot to talk about and advice to give and take and emotions to sort out. The same as it is with any other kind of a relationship. It just happens to be one of the biggest parts of my life. So don't ever let anyone make you feel uncomfortable when you talk about some so important to you.

It's been a rough week. I'm struggling with finding a job, I've only had one interview and I never heard back. I'm struggling with hitting goal. Yesterday at the dinner table I just started crying for no reason. No trigger. Nothing. Just started to cry. Every once in a while I just need a good cry and then I'm fine.

I don't know what to expect at my weigh-in on Monday. I'm hoping I stay the same. It's been a week of pizza two nights in a row and drinks with friends two nights in a row. And the weekend hasn't even approached yet.

Monday will be a fresh start. To a great week.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Tortoise Vs. Hare

Which character have you emulated during your weight loss journey? I am far more like the tortoise.

I was reviewing my weight loss numbers throughout the 15 months I've been doing Weight Watchers. Unlike a lot of others, I find it much more difficult to shed the extra weight in the summertime. Winter for me, is easy to lose weight. My table chart of weigh-ins reflect this pattern. This intimidates me a bit for the summer is now steadily approaching.

I thought I would share my rate of weight loss so that if anyone reading is having a tough time with their rate, please know, you aren't alone. So let's just review...

I joined Feb 8, 2010 at 188lbs

Feb 8 - Feb 22: -5.6 lbs (2 weeks)
Feb 22 - Mar 15: -12.6 lbs (hit 5% week before Mar 15) (3 weeks for another 5lbs)
Mar 15 - Mar 29: -15 lbs ( 2 weeks for 5lbs)
Mar 29 - Apr 19: -20.4 lbs (3 weeks for 5 more lbs)
Apr 19 - May 31: -27 lbs (6 weeks for 5 more lbs)
May 31 - June 21: - 30.6lbs (3 weeks, 5lbs)
This is where it gets scary...
June 21 - Oct 4: - 37.4lbs (15 weeks for 5lbs!!!! SUMMER!!)
Oct 4 - Oct 25: -41.2lbs (3 weeks for 5 lbs. Back to normal)
Oct 25 - Dec 6: -45.2lbs (6 weeks = 5 lbs. Holiday time)
Dec 6 - Jan 17: -50.8 (6 weeks = 5lbs. Over Christmas AND my birthday...not too bad)
Jan 17 - Mar 14: -55.6lbs (8 weeks = 5lbs)
Mar 14 - Today: - 58.6 lbs. (11 weeks and counting...)

See this pattern?? Eeeek! Of course, the more you have to lose the faster you lose it. "The last 10 lbs are the hardest," yadda yadda.

After thinking about it, I'm really okay with the pace at which I've been losing. I do know some who lost 50+ lbs in under a year but I have to admit I did not start seriously working out until about 3 weeks ago. That could have an effect on my rate of loss. I have 8.6 lbs more to lose and I'd really like to see that before summers' end. It's possible. It's definitely possible.

I guess my point is...

It doesn't matter which character you decide to portray, as long as you finish the race...right? I did not get into this journey expecting to see physical changes in the first few weeks...months even. I did not set a deadline for myself because in the case I didn't meet that deadline, I did not want to give up entirely. I'm taking this as a marathon, not a sprint. And the best part is...I think I see the finish line, there in the close distance.