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

4 comments:

Anne said...

I've been doing a lot of reading on the Metabolic Effect lately. It's all about the body's hormonal response to food and exercise. It's still pretty paleo and overlaps pretty closely with Whole30-style eating. But, it really is giving me a better framework for exercising to lose fat specifically. I have a degree in Exercise Science, so I enjoy the more scientific approach to fat loss. I love it! Isn't it nice when you find something that works for you? Glad you've hit a milestone. Those make the journey so worth it. My next milestone is my driver's license weight. ;) 10 more pounds!

ClaraB said...

I'm so NOT scientific. LOL! I love that you've found a spark in that particular plan. I've not read much about it. But overall, everyone's metabolism is different! So why would one thing work for everyone? Love that your degree is in exercise science! You should become a personal trainer. :) Getting into the 160s for me will be EPIC. And my driver license says 165 (this is the first time I've lived in a state that required that!) so I need to match that number too...was going to try to weigh less than the hubs but he weighed 158 today! what a punk! :)

Unknown said...

Hey Clara! How do you get so much protein in? I'm having a really hard time getting past 80g. A lot of times I eat a very small lunch but even if I am eating a full lunch I still can't get past 80-90g. At least not consistently. What does your average day look like food wise?

ClaraB said...

Hey Courtney! Sorry for the delay in responding, my blog doesn't tell me when someone comments! :) If you look over my facebook page, September, you will see my food log daily which shows I added egg whites to my 2 regular eggs in the morning, and basically added in lean protein wherever I could. Lunch might be a larger than average serving of chicken breast, or sliced turkey. I am not afraid to eat meat, though I balance it well with LOTS of veggies so my kidneys and liver stay healthy. I think the recommendation is 1g of protein for every pound you WANT to weigh. I want to weigh around 155-165 so that's alot of protein...but less required for people who have different goals than me. :)