Updated Measurements

Just wanted to get a more global perspective on my progress

Weight - 166.4 lbs (down 67.6 since I started)
Waist - 36" (down 8 inches since I started)
Hips - 43.25" (down 12.75 inches since I started)
Bust - 40" (down 11 inches since I started)
Chest - 32" (down 6 inches since I started)
Right calf - 15" (down 1 inch since I started)
Right thigh - 24" (down 7 inches since I started)
Right bicep - 10.5" (down 2.5 inches since I started)
Right forearm - 8.5" (down 1.5 inches since I started)
Approx BMI - 28.6 (down 11.6 since I started)

I just went on a 5 mile training run this morning and will be running a 15K this Saturday. It's 24 degrees, 11 with the wind chill. There was a time when I wouldn't want any part of being outside in weather like this, much less run in it. Talk about going through changes.

I'm hard on myself but was given a different perspective

In last week's blog, I mentioned hitting a plateau and being down about it. Yes, there are things within my control that I could do better but every day is an opportunity to start anew.

I've spoken to my Weight Watchers leader on a number of occasions over the past few weeks and yesterday, she gave me a different perspective on my plateau. She told me that it's tough to stay within a given weight for a certain period of time and she commended me on my ability to do so considering all of the "crap" I've been dealing with in terms of a crazy schedule and other personal circumstances. Yes, there are things that I could've done better in terms of tracking and food choices but due to my level of physical activity, I've been able to not regain a considerable amount of weight.

I'm 25 pounds away from getting to Lifetime status at Weight Watchers.

Plateaued and it's nobody's fault but mine

Over the past few weeks, there hasn't been much progress on the scale. In fact, the scale has teetered around one number. It's frustrating but the fault lies within me. I haven't been making very smart food choices but fortunately, I have maintained a decent level of activity.

The next six weeks are going to be challenging because of Thanksgiving, Christmas and all of the holiday-related activities. At a Weight Watchers meeting a few weeks ago, one of the attendees said it's a holi-day, not a holi-month. With that in mind, I will need to make a better effort to be more conscientious with my food. I am training for a half-marathon so activity is not a problem but it's not license to pig out.

Getting stronger/faster

I ran a 5K today and it was personal best so far. When I did my first 5K in 2011, I was basically untrained and my pace was 15:08; I wasn't disappointed with the time considering it was my first race and I didn't put a heck of a lot of effort with training. I was thrilled to see that today's race was done at an 11:24 pace, which means that I trimmed almost 4 minutes from the pace of my first race. My previous PR was hit in August for another 5K at a pace of 12:11. This will be my last 5K until March 2, 2014. I'm registered for other races between now and then ranging from 4 miles to a half-marathon. A lot of my training over the next few months will focus on longer distances. I will be curious to see what my pace will be in March.

Latest numbers. Another 3-1/2 months have passed.

I'm supposed to take my measurements on a monthly basis but that hasn't happened. I took some measurements yesterday & noticed the following changes:
Hips - 46 (down 3.5 inches since March)
Bust - 41 (down 6 inches since March)
Waist - 37 (down 5.5 inches since March)
Right thigh - 24 (down 4 inches since March)

A lot of folks have noticed that I've lost a significant amount of weight. In addition to the kudos I've received, some are bold enough to ask me about my boobs; yes, they've gotten smaller but I'm not flat-chested.

Going for a run. How did that happen?

I'm training for my first half marathon and have been using RunKeeper, an app on my phone that maps out a training program and tracks my progress. The objective is to get you ready for a half-marathon in about 4 months; you will build your endurance and slowly add distance to make it to 13 miles.

I started the program after I completed my 10K in July. Yes, I should've been done by now but I was working on a project that got me off track with training. I was looking to do my first half either this month or next but that didn't happen.

My first half-marathon will be the Manhattan Half on Janary 26, 2014 and I will make two loops around Central Park (hope it won't be too cold). It's funny how a new activity becomes part of your life. When I was doing my 6-mile run earlier this week, I thought "a year ago, if you told me that I would be logging in a 6-mile run today, I would wonder what you're smoking." My pace isn't great but I'm getting it done.

I'm not doing straight running yet but I'm getting there. I did notice that I will do better at an event than when I'm by myself. I have a 5 mile event on Sunday. I knocked out a training run of a similar distance last Sunday in an hour and 4 minutes. It might be a hoot if I can knock this out in an hour.

Enough with the celebrities who lost oodles of weight in a short period of time.

I'm down 65 pounds so far and it's been a tough road. I just have to put it out there that I am sick and tired of seeing celebrities getting front page coverage for losing 50+ pounds on 4 months.

Time to poke holes in this crap. I don't have a personal chef who will take care  of my 3 daily squares and I don't have a personal trainer who will make house calls to work with me 2-3 hours per day, 7 days a week. Another thing to put out there is that when you have a baby, you will lose not only the weight of the baby but you will lose the amniotic fluid, sac, etc. and that can be between 15-20 pounds.

Yes, I do know somebody who did lose 45 pounds in 3 months but she busted her ass to make that happen and she continues to bust her ass to keep that weight off.

This is a lifestyle change.  When you take out certain foods or put in other restrictions, you're running the risk of putting on the weight you lost when you get back on "real food."

It took me 7 months to drop 50 pounds. In my younger days, it was easy for me to drop 20 pounds pretty quickly by hitting the gym for a few weeks or cutting out some stuff but as quickly as I lost it, those pounds found a way to get back on.

Rant over.

Random thoughts during my first 10K

I did my first 10K yesterday. I started training in March after I did the Coogan's 5K. Until recently, I trained exclusively on the treadmill and I developed a level of endurance by doing so. Going in, I knew that I would be happy if I completed within an hour & a half but I was thrilled to learn that I completed in an hour & 26 minutes.

I'm on the hook for an hour and a half so random thoughts come into play.
Waiting to start: "I'm stuck in the slowpoke section & I can't see the starting line."
Beginning of race: "Where is the starting line?"
Starting line: "Let's do this."
1 mile mark: "OK. We're making progress."
2 mile mark: "There's the one-person cheering section & her dad."
Somewhere between the 2 & 3 mile mark: "Hey, there's my car."
3 mile mark: "We're getting there."
5K mark: "If this was a 5K event, I can get out of dodge."
Somewhere between to 5K mark & the 4 mile mark: "Aye, aye, aye."
4 mile mark: "I still have a way to go."
5 mile mark: "Almost there." I also saw a friend of mine drive out of the park shortly after this point; she finished 25 minutes before me.
Somewhere between the 5 mile & 6 mile mark: "Are we there yet?," "Why am I craving hot wings?," "There's Mister Softee."
Just past the 6 mile mark: "These last point two miles are killing me. I can't see the finish line."
Finish line: Feeling great & accomplished.

The camaraderie was awesome. I met all types of folks along the way. Considering the heat wave that plagued the area last week, I couldn't have asked for better weather. That's done & now I'm on a mission to knock out half-marathon training.

Validation

I notice a difference in my clothes and my measurements but when other people notice your changes, it's pretty exciting.

My Weight Watchers leader has been very encouraging in terms of my progress but when you hear "wow, you look great" from other folks, it feels great.

A few days ago, I ran into a couple of my neighbors and one of them told me to get out of my car because he "heard that [I] was thin." I asked him where he heard such a thing and he said on Facebook. So I stepped out of the car & told him that I was down 50 pounds. He's not the only one that's commented but it's just awesome to hear and it gives the inspiration to keep going.

I hate to shop but have to bite the bullet

I hate to shop. I don't know how the aversion to shopping developed...maybe it's bad memories of shopping with my mom growing up or general dissatisfaction with selection, prices, etc. The irony is that I have a considerable amount of clothes. My approach to shopping is that the less time I spend in a store, the happier I am which means that I tend to go to stores that group clothes by size or genre in a small area; with that said, I have minimal patience with department stores where I have to go rack to rack for an outfit. In recent years, most of my clothes have come from Walmart and Burlington Coat Factory because I can hit a few racks, find some clothes that I like in my size, try them on, pay for them and get out of dodge.

I am looking to lose a considerable amount of weight and recognize that I will need to buy a few "transition" wardrobes along to way. Doesn't change the fact that I hate to shop. I'm also not crazy about the fact that I need to buy clothes that I know I won't be able to wear for more than a few months. Whatever. Fortunately, I work from home (or wherever I happen to be at a given moment) so I don't have to keep an extensive "work" wardrobe so I can get by on shorts. I basically buy dress clothes on as as-needed basis since I gave away a lot of clothes because they are too big.

Tonight, I'm meeting up with a group of folks I haven't seen since last summer. A number of them keep in touch with me through Facebook but we don't see each other in person. I wanted to buy shorts that fit so I can show off my weight loss (they've heard about it on Facebook & Twitter) so I went to Old Navy last night. I was annoyed by the slim pickings of larger clothes (must be the given location or all the bigger folks shopped there before me) and since I'm in between sizes, I usually try an item in two sizes & pick from there. I couldn't find anything in a size 18 so I grabbed a size 16 and hoped for the best. I was thrilled to see that the shorts I tried on fit and what I mean by "fit" is that I was able to zip them up & have room in them. What an awesome feeling!

The Color Mob 5K NYC. Fun but a mess.

On Saturday, I participated in my fifth 5K. The Color Mob is a relatively informal event that doesn't issue D-Tags or have a timing system in place to measure one's progress so I used MapMyRun to get my results. I'm thrilled to say that my pace is faster than previous races so I'm pretty psyched about that.

I had somebody take my picture after I finished, posted it to Instagram and linked the photo to Facebook & Twitter. The responses to my picture have been positive.

Next Sunday, I tackle my first 10K.

New numbers 3-1/2 months later

I'm supposed to take my measurements on a monthly basis but that hasn't happened. I took some measurements yesterday & noticed the following changes:
Hips - 48 (down 1.5 inches since March)
Bust - 43.5 (down 3.5 inches since March)
Waist - 39.5 (down 3 inches since March)
Right thigh - 25.5 (down 2.5 inches since March)

50 down, 50 to go (give or take)

This post is a tad overdue but I was thrilled when I weighed in at Weight Watchers to see that I am down 50 pounds from my highest weight. As I mentioned in my blog description that losing 100 pounds isn't the end all & be all goal but I was striving to a better level of fitness and health.

I like the flexibility of Weight Watchers. I knew that I couldn't deal with the "restrictiveness" of other programs for an extensive period of time. Ideally, I would & should pre-plan my meals but life has a tendency to get in the way and that doesn't happen. Yes, I have gone to McDonald's, Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, etc. and as long as I log in the point value of what I ate, it's all good.

Physically, I'm making strides. I'm doing a 5K tomorrow and a week from Sunday, I will be doing my first 10K. I am also starting half-marathon training and hope to be able to do the Philadelphia Half Marathon in November. There are a number of other races that I will be doing this year.

It's great to have experienced this weight loss but I hate shopping and it's come to the point that I need clothes. The problem with women's clothing is that you can be one size under one label but a different size under another label; in the words of Sweet Brown "ain't nobody got time for that." With that said, I consider shopping to be a chore but I'm beginning to feel ridiculous in loose-fitting clothes.

Let's get something straight, a pound of muscle & a pound of fat weigh the same

It really annoys me when I hear people say that muscle weighs more than fat & that's why they can't lose weight. Yes, it does get discouraging to spend a lot of time at the gym & make better food decisions only to see slow (if any movement) on the scale. Some folks will say "why bother" and abandon all efforts.

A pound of muscle & a pound of fat weigh the same but they take up different amounts of space. Here are some images that can break it down for you.

If that's not enough, here's something that can serve as motivation to keep going.

One that that I learned a few months ago is that when muscles are being developed, there is a tendency for them to retain water and that may contribute to the scale not moving "too quickly." Just keep at it and the pounds will go away.

30 day challenges

In recent weeks on Facebook, a number of my connections have been posted various images for 30 day challenges they are planning to undertake. I guess it's in preparation of the warmer weather & the need to want to firm up certain parts in anticipation of wearing clothes that require less coverage.

I have been placing a heavy focus on cardio (especially the treadmill) and have been doing weights about 2-3 times per week. I understand the need to perform weight-bearing exercises to help speed up my metabolism. I'm about 40 pounds down & the inches have been melting away but my abs remain problematic and that's annoying when I try on pants that fit well everywhere else on me except my gut!

I found this set of ab work to be straightforward.

It's been a while since I've done serious situps (at least 20 years) and I have been treating crunches as an afterthought but I'm forced to tackle both exercises here. I was introduced the planks when I was seeing a personal trainer before I got married but I wonder if I'm doing my leg lifts properly.

I look forward to the results that should be there at the conclusion of the 30-day period but one thing to keep in mind is that abs are made in the kitchen & not the gym. I realize that a lot of folks have been following this program but if their eating habits are horrible, the results won't be as great.

I'm also doing the squat challenge. I have been doing a considerable amount of lower body exercises on weights but I have been told that any exercises that rely on your own body weight will produce greater results.

I do the squats on the same day as the abs exercises.

A few weeks ago, I was at a thrift shop to pick up some clothes (since buying a series of new wardrobes during my weight loss is cost-prohibitive) and I saw an Alfred Angelo evening gown (which I can use for an event at the end of July). The label said that it was a size 16 and I tried it on out of curiosity only to be thrilled that it fit in most places but my boobs were too big! I did a search to see what exercises I can do to reduce my bust line and learned that push-ups would be the way to go. Every other day, I do 6 sets of 15 push-ups.

Can't wait to go clothes shopping at the end of the 30-day challenge.

Knocking out a 5K

I joke with people that I won't run for a bus but here I am trying to knock out distances that are greater than a city block.

In the months before my wedding, I was seeing a personal trainer and during one of our sessions, she had me do a few sprints on the treadmill. I think the last time I was actually "forced" to run (besides trying to catch a train or a bus) was when I was a freshman in college & needed to run for ROTC.

Fortunately, I walked a lot through the years so the concept of going a certain distance wasn't foreign to me but doing it "double time" just wasn't happening.

I realized that incorporating running into my fitness regime was a quick way to burn calories in a short period of time but it is hard as hell.

I found a few "couch to 5K" programs and took numerous stabs at getting started in recent years but I would burn myself out and quit after a few weeks.

Last year, I found this program and I will admit that life has gotten in the way causing my to take more than the suggested 9 weeks to finish. I am currently in week 9 of a "couch to 10K" program. I'm still pretty self-conscious and not too comfortable about running outside. I know that once I'm done with the 10K program, I will move onto the half-marathon program and I will have to run outside.

Last month, I participated in my fourth 5K. Here are the results of the various races I've done.

Date	Race	Time	Pace
3/6/2011	Coogan's Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K	45:34	15:08
3/4/2012	Coogan's Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K	53:19	17:47
3/3/2013	Coogan's Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K	42:38	14:18
4/14/2013	JFK Runway Run	40:39	13:20

For the 2012 Coogan's run, I hurt my foot before I reached the one-mile mark so I basically walked/limped the rest of the race. In 2011 & 2012, I wasn't diligent about training but I decided to get serious this year. When I did the JFK race, I was thrilled to see that I was able to knock an minute off my best pace.

I do need to disclose that the Coogan's course is quite hilly and the JFK course is flat (well, it is a runway...duh).

Revisiting my numbers

I referred to my first post and the measurements I took that day. I took some measurements yesterday & noticed the following changes:
Weight - 207 (down 27 pounds)
Hips - 49.5 (down 6.5 inches)
Bust - 47 (down 4 inches)
Waist - 42.5 (down 1.5 inches)
Right thigh - 28 (down 3 inches)

I joined Weight Watchers on February 4 and lost 14 pounds on the program so far. I came to terms with the fact that losing weight on my own wasn't going to happen. I also realized that it wasn't enough to just go to the gym but I needed to get right with food as well. I have been pretty diligent with going to the gym by doing weights & cardio. I'm currently on Week 3 of my 10K training program.

Taking another stab at this

I basically fell off the wagon. I got busy with my business which led to crazy hours and lots of time causing me to neglect my goals.

I did make it to the gym in a relatively regular fashion but the saying goes "abs are made in the kitchen and not at the gym." I told my personal trainer that I'm good with getting right with the gym but I need to get right with food.

In late October, Hurricane Sandy rocked my world. My house got messed up and my family was displaced. Fortunately, we're able to stay at my mom's place while we're rebuilding but my daughter goes to school by my house which means I'm driving at least 80-100 miles a day between my mom's place, my daughter's school and wherever I need to go during the course of the day. I've been in a funk due to the drawn-out process that has been imposed on my (and countless others) by the insurance company. I get to a point in the afternoon where I just need a drink; I just can't have a drink but need to have food to go with it. If you're familiar with bar food, it isn't the healthiest. To add insult to injury, I haven't been to the gym since I've been displaced (but the gym has been visiting my bank account)

After the New Year, I got to a point where I said "enough is enough." I'm in a funk about my house but that can get fixed. I need to get unstuck on what I'm looking to do physically. End of story.

I will be joining Weight Watchers in two weeks but I jump started my weight loss by doing other programs. I recently completed the Cabbage Soup Diet and I lost 12.5 pounds and I just started the Scarsdale Diet. Each morning (I missed a day), I do a Pilates DVD. Keep in mind that these plans have low daily caloric counts so that means that I can't log in time on the treadmill but I felt that I had to do something. Pilates will help me strengthen my core and that will be beneficial to me when I'm able to resume my more serious workouts.

I have been working on completing my 5K training even though I logged in two 5Ks in my lifetime. I'm registered for one in March and I would like to take a few minutes off my per mile pace. At the rate that I'm looking to go, I should be about 40 lighter by race time.

After I am done with that 5K, I will begin my 10K training program. I'm looking to do enough qualifying races to allow me to qualify for the 2014 NYC Marathon.

In addition to the treadmill, I will be seeing my personal trainer. To supplement those activities, I will be swimming and taking spin classes during the week.