Saturday, September 14, 2013

Acceptance Speech...I'd Like to Thank the Renegades...

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

This morning I weighed 179.6.  This is not a huge loss from last week, less than 2lbs.  BUT.  I haven't weighed in the 170s since high school!  WOW!  Here are my stats:

Weight: -1.8lbs (total 105.4 lost, -46 since I met Nate!)
Chest: -1 inch (total -2 since T25 started)
Waist: -1 inch (total -6 inches since T25 started)

Arms: same (total -1 inch total since T25 start but definitely better shape!)
Thighs: same (total -8 inches total since T25 started!)
 

DID I SAY I am at 179.6??? I have not weighed in the 170s since HIGH SCHOOL! (16 years ago).

So yeah, to say I'm excited is a bit of an understatement.

Acceptance Speech - "I'd like to thank my fellow Renegades...for pushing me, helping me tweak my nutrition, encouraging me and holding me accountable.  Having to post my workouts every day, getting an inspirational video from my coach, Nate Trenteseaux,  and just overall pushing me toward success. These people, many of whom I've never met in person (yet), are part of my recent successes.  THANK YOU!  Each one of you has been part of this exciting day.  BEAST MODE YO!"

Now you may think I'm making too big a deal of reaching 179.6.  I mean, after all, I'm still overweight, right?  Well.  Yeah.  DUH.  But this is a tremendous milestone for me given how long it's been since I have weighed this.

And in the FOUR YEARS I've been on this weight loss journey, my scale NEVER showed me a number lower than 182.  

So yeah, roll your eyes at me.  I'm jumping up and down like a little kid.  OK.  Not literally.  But I'm super duper excited and don't really care if I'm alone in that!

105.4 pounds lost!  Tremendous!  

This morning I went for a run pre-weigh in.  Had a great feeling about today.  It was GORGEOUS outside.  Some parts were hot but not terribly.  I ran 2.08 miles without stopping, which is a feat as I only run on Saturday now.  I could have kept going according to my lungs...but my IT band said no way.  Blah! Foam rolling tonight and will just wait to hit 3.1 miles again next weekend.  Nice to know I haven't lost much conditioning overall, as I'm still working out like a fiend.  But just need to get my legs back there.  Oh and new shoes.  Maybe next month I'll invest in new shoes! It's way past time.

Did I mention my hubby weighs in the 170s?  I actually have an opportunity to weigh less than him.  He was in the 150s when we met, even at 6 feet tall. Yep, he's a skinny preacher.  Doesn't fit that "mold" haha.  Anyway, I am excited to weigh less than him and I can absolutely see it happening now! He is getting on the scale later today so I can see just how far away I am from this goal.  


Wendy took this picture of me at Kohl's earlier this week.  I found a size 24 dress, which was my size at one time.  Same dress, just have more than half of it gathered behind me in the picture on the right.  Awesome difference!

Took this picture before church last week!


Some of my food for this week.  See my Facebook page for details!

More food from this week. :)

A new before/current picture I made the other day when trying to encourage one of my fellow Renegades. 

One thing I've changed this week is I am tracking my food on Sparkpeople, just for this week. I know I KNOW!  Trust me, I HATE doing this and it won't be forever, just a few weeks to get into a good habit.  But, in analyzing my food, I came to realize (with some help) that my fat was too high and my protein too low.  Now, I've been getting results, but not necessarily as good as they could be.  So this week I shot for the following:


Calories: between 1,500 and 1,800 daily
Carbs: between 50-75g (and only from fruit/veggies)
Fat: between 50-70g (and only GOOD fat)
Protein: 125-150g





(doing all of my stat tracking via SparkPeople which is a great website! lots of great tools, recipe calculator, and supportive people in case you're looking for an online community to join...oh and FREE!)

Happy to say that MOST days I hit this goal! It is definitely challenging to increase protein without increasing fat, especially since I cannot do protein supplements (I just don't tolerate them).  Which is OK as I'm happy to do this weight loss thing using ONLY whole foods.

Because it can be done my friends.  It might not give lightening fast results, or happen overnight, or be effective without exercise, due to  pills, shakes, or whatever the newest miracle out there is.  For me, I'm doing it the right way for my body, the lasting way, and I will have zero chance of gaining this weight back at the end of this journey.  Because I can maintain the way I eat now forever.  I don't feel deprived, sad, upset or impatient. 

I FEEL GREAT!  OH and someone asked me about extra skin the other day.  I don't really have any.  A little on my tummy.  But losing weight slowly and naturally will not cause excess skin issues if you're young enough and elasticity is still there.  Thankful for that!

Find what works for YOU.  It may not be Whole 30, Paleo or any of the other eating plans out there.  We all have different metabolism and different struggles.

But I will tell you the one thing I am SURE of, after trying just about everything out there.  NUTRITION is responsible for 100% of your results.  Change your food, change your outcome.  Period.

Let me know how I can cheer you on or support you in your journey!

Peace out,
Clara

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Happy STATurday!

Hey!

Here to post my weekly weigh in results - super quick update as we're in a rush to go out to dinner then grocery shop.  Exciting times in my house. :)

So here are the stats for the week:

Weight lost: -1.8 lbs
Inches lost:
-1 inch: waist
-1 inch: thigh

Woohoo! Was hoping for more weight lost but have surprisingly actually had a cycle this month (haven't had them regularly for years) and I'm still a little bloated.  That said, my nutrition has been on point, I have nailed every workout and even snuck in an additional 3 mile walk the other night.

I now weigh 181.4.  I have not weighed less than 182 this entire journey.  And honestly it was probably right after I got married, 13 years ago, that I weighed in the 180s at all.  I'm super close to another milestone - 179!  I have not seen the 170s since high school!  Total lost so far? 103.6 pounds. 

And I'm getting so close to those 170s!  If I have another awesome week, I may hit that next weekend!  That's the goal for this week.  To stay focused and kick that goal in the tater this week!

Friends, this whole thing is all about consistency.  When I consistently follow my nutritional guidelines, I yield good results.  I keep learning and tweaking what works for my metabolism.

PROGRESS IS PROGRESS PEOPLE! NO MATTER HOW SLOW. 

 Now you know I don't believe in tracking my food regularly.  The BEST thing about the way I eat today is I don't count one calorie, point, fat gram, carb, etc.  I eat in balance and until I'm full and again if I get hungry.  EASY!  Well, the other day I tracked my food for curiosity's sake.

In a normal day one day this week, I consumed:

1800 calories
86g carbs
103g fat
111g protein

WOW!  If I ever hit 100g of fat "way back when" I was scared of fat, I would have probably died. But keep in mind it's all good, healthy fat I am eating.  And in the meantime, I am LOSING FAT.

The Standard American Diet is "SAD" for a reason.  It touts low fat, and makes grains and dairy seem like a necessity.  And what has happened is we have so desperately recreated treats and junk food into "healthy" treats and junk food and Americans got fatter.

Uhhhh...

Anyway, that vent brought to you by MY RESULTS.

By the way, my daughter is now taking dance and this morning challenged me to do a backbend.  She was SO SHOCKED that I could! (honestly, so was I!).  She took this picture:



Want to see my food recap?  Go to my Facebook page and like it.  I've got it all posted, each day with descriptions!  Out of time for today.

Keep on keeping on!!!

Clara