A belated (but promised) post on Muscle Works

I promised a couple posts ago to write about my muscle works class I've been taking. Here's the scoop.

I was nervous at first to go into the class for a couple of reasons:

1) Can a big girl handle it?

2) Having arthritis in both of my knees, will I die of knee pain?

I'd tried a kick-boxing class before I began all of my personal training 6 months ago, and had to bow out after 10 minutes from the intensity. I was super nervous that it was going to happen again.

I get into the classroom, and the first thing I notice is: THERE'S HARDLY ANY ROOM! The classes are free if you have a gym membership and it's only $5 to drop in for the day. And there's no sign-up necessary. I somehow manage to squeeze myself in between one of my coworkers (my gym is at work), and another lady (who was a big girl, too! Answered my first question!). Because I was running in at the last second, I noticed that everyone had a set of weights, a body bar, and a mat. With so many people in the class, there were no mats left. The only weights they had were 10lbs, and the only body bars available were 15lbs. Not the ideal weights, but my trainer has me working with about that weight, so I'll give it a go.

Class lasted 45 minutes. Grapevining in close quarters was...interesting. I had to be very conscious of not stepping on my, or anyone else's, equipment. I was pleasantly surprised with not only the instructors instructions of "go at your own pace", but also suggestions of modifications for those with weak knees (ding, ding!! 2nd Question answered!) or weak back.

We did everything from push ups, to rows with the body bars--which was a KILLER considering I had a 15lb body bar!--to calve raises, to...things I don't even know the proper terms for, haha.

The gist of the class is to help you build muscle. The only thing that was truly difficult were the excessive amounts of squats. But again, with the 'go your own pace' attitude, I took it in stride.

I was so. sore. for 3 days after taking the class. To the point that I honestly had a hard time walking for 2 of those days. My inner thighs burned so bad. But my thighs are starting to look good, so I won't complain--too much. ;-)

I've taken the class twice now. I'm trying to go once a week. It's semi-difficult to get to the class because it's during the lunch hour and 1) I like to eat, plus 2) I have to leave my desk early so I can dress out, and then have to dress back into my work clothes, which eats up an extra half hour that I have to make up at the end of the day. But like I said, legs and arms are looking good, so I can't really complain.

The first day there the instructor (who also happens to be my trainer) counted 46 people in attendance. She said it was the largest class she had ever seen, and hind-sight, she probably should have cut the class at 35 or so. The second class I've attended, there were about 35 or so. Again, I've heard that's unusual. The influx is generally due to those who have made new years resolutions--so I've heard, anyway. Maybe the class will thin out as the months wear on.

All in all, Muscle Works was a fun, tough workout and I'm looking forward to adding it to my exercise routine.

Meg

Walking in a winter ONE-derland!!!

Growing up, whenever my father would sing "Winter Wonderland", he'd sing:

"A beautiful sight,

we're happy tonight,

walking in our winter underwear."

Well, today I re-claim the "underwear" for "ONE-derland.

That's right. When I weighed in this morning I hit 199.0!!! I'm officially in the 100s!

I've still got a ways to go, though. And I'm up for the challenge.

To make my ego even bigger today, one of my choir members asked me before Mass (church) today if I've lost weight. I smiled and said yes. Made me feel like a million bucks. =)

I can do this!!!

Meg

Reaching Goals

I've been working with my Personal Trainer for nearly 5 months now. We've been doing monthly evaluations to see how I've been doing. I had one on Tuesday.

From November (we skipped December at my request because it was just bad, and I knew it was going to be), I've lost 5lbs, 3 inches in the obliques area. And 0.3% of my body fat. Since my first session 5 months ago, I've lost 1% of my body fat.

My trainer was all excited that I lost a whole percent of body fat. BUT, I've got to say, I wasn't. Yes, it's fantastic that I've replaced fat with muscle. But I look back to my first session and the goals we set. The goal was to lose 2% of my body fat in a month. It took me 5 months to lose 1%.

I know that it's mostly my doing that the weight hasn't come off quicker. I drank at LEAST 20 oz of non-diet mountain dew every day. I also ate McDonald's nearly every day. But I've been pretty darn good this whole month, and so to see only a 0.3% reduction was disappointing.

So what am I doing about it? Did I decide to give up? Nope. I'm actually working harder now, I think.

I forced myself to go to a Muscle Works class yesterday (of which I will give a review of at a later time). And I've been doing Windsor pilates nearly every day this week. My muscles are sore, but it's totally worth it.

I'm gauging my success based on the reduction/elimination of my love handles. Which is a weird way to gauge, I know. BUT, I've eliminated 1 set of love handles, and am nearly finished eliminating my second set--which means I'll have a flat back for the first time in....years.

How do you gauge your successes? Is it in the numbers or in changes you notice/how you feel?

Meg

I really want mac n cheese right now...

...with the bread crumb topping, cheese-y goodness, and scrum-diddle-y-umptous carbohydrate pasta. So I thought instead of indulging in the presumably thousand calorie treat, I'd blog instead.

Does anyone have a PointsPlus friendly Mac n Cheese recipe?

What are your guilty pleasures? How have you made them PointsPlus friendly?

Meg

Sweet Temptations and Little Victories

Yesterday I fell off the bandwagon. Yup, I did. No, I didn't have a soda. I was really good for breakfast and lunch. But by the time I got to dinner (which was at a friend's house), I had 2 helpings of the meat/green beans/rice. Not so bad, right? I did, after all, have 16 points left for the day.

Then came dessert. My friend and her family pulled out all the leftover Christmas cookies. I proceeded to have one. I'll be good, I thought. After eating one, what's the harm in having a second one? From there I kinda dove in. I don't know how many cookies I ate. I believe it was in the range of 6-8. Maybe as many as a dozen.

I also didn't get my 100 oz of water in for the day. I had 80 oz at work, but failed to obtain the last 20 oz. Ridiculous, right?

But today is a new day. And I've done pretty well. I'm kinda proud of myself. Usually when I fall off the bandwagon, I give up. I usually think, "Screw it. Let's go get McDonalds." But not today.

Another little victory: I bought a shirt 3 years ago...it fit (barely) at the time I bought it. But I needed a shirt to wear to my grandmother's viewing (morbid, I know) and it was at Target, so I picked it up. Anyway, the last time I tried it on, I was miserable. My arms barely fit in it, my stomach was tight in it, and the buttons nearly burst.

This afternoon I went on a 'clean the closet' spree. I got all the clothes out of the closet I wanted to give away. For some reason, I left the shirt in there.

As I'm getting ready for my date tonight, I'm trying on clothes, "No...this doesn't look good....no, not this either...hmmm....let's try this one on from 3 years ago even though it didn't look good on me last time...." and...

TA DA!!!!

Not only does it fit, but there's room to spare!

I know you can still see some lumps and bumps, but the shirt hangs pretty well otherwise!

Hooray for little victories!

Meg

Nearing One-derland

I started up Weight Watchers again last week from a 4 month hiatus.

I gotta tell you, it's been so much easier than what I remembered. The Weight Watcher scanner app helps a LOT. Not all barcodes are in the app (my half pint of reduced fat milk wasn't in there, for example), but some things I figured wouldn't be in there actually were.

All this being said, this week I've lost 5lbs!! Which I know is not necessarily the most healthy--recommendations are 1-2lbs per week. I figure the majority of the loss is due to not drinking soda (see previous post for reasons), upping my water intake, and not eating out every day of the week. So I am prepared for not losing as much next week.

But this brings me to the title. I am nearly at one-derland. Again. Yup, I've hovered around one-derland for years. I'll get down to 190, or 196 and then I'll pop over 200 and stay there. It's almost like being over 200 is my comfort zone. I say out loud that I want to be thin. I like the way my body looks in the mirror when I'm toned; I sleep better.

So why the mental block?

I guess we'll see how it goes when I'm back in one-derland.

Cheers to positive thoughts and feelings!

Meg

Not "Doing the Dew"

Wow, it's been 4 months, eh? I've been on a bit of a hiatus, and I apologize for that.

Back in September I got a personal trainer. It's been GREAT so far. She pushes me to do things I never thought I'd be able to do. I'm currently able to bench press 15 lbs on each side of the bar (and the bar is 35lbs...so, that's 65lbs total that I'm benching!). I'm doing hammer curls and assisted pull ups and planks, and reverse sit-ups....and sooooo many other things. My weight has not gone down...but I've lost about 2% of my body fat--which is nothing to really brag about, but it's better than a kick in the pants!

Anyway, with the new year I've made some New Years Resolutions. They range from making my bed daily to saying a rosary daily, to losing 10% of my body fat. Yup, 10%. Pretty lofty goal, eh? If I attain a 10% loss, I'd still be considered obese having 28% body fat. So I still have a looooooong ways to go.

But I'm taking steps.

One thing that's really helped me: I read an article on abcnews.com that truly grossed me out. I was a fan of mountain dew. I would drink it literally every day. 20 oz at minimum. What can I say, I wanted/needed the caffeine. And the taste wasn't half bad either.

That was, until I read the article. Evidently it's a story that was way back from 2010, but the gist of it is: Pepsi's defense for stating a mouse was in a Mountain Dew (Pepsi owns Mountain Dew, btw) was that the acid in Mountain Dew would have turned the mouse gelatinous before it made it the mouth of a person. Yup. That's right. Mountain Dew can disintegrate a mouse.

GROSS, right?

That alone was enough to make me give up Mountain Dew....and all pop/soda (or coke, as ya'll in Oklahoma like to say). It made me think: if it can do that to a mouse....what the heck is it doing to my body?

Which also got me to thinking about all the other gross things I put into my body. Suddenly, McDonald's does not sound as appetizing as it once did. Or any fast food, for that matter. Or pre-packaged food. It makes me want to only eat what I grow. Only problem with that is that I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex. Annnnd, while it's currently unusually warm for this time of year in the DC area, I know that it won't stay like this for long and it will turn cold.

So from now on, I'm sticking to drinking 0 calorie coffee for my caffeine fix instead of doing the dew, and seriously considering what I'm putting in my body before I consume anything.

Thoughts? Comments?

Happy and healthy 2012!

Meg