Dub Dub Weigh In

{Week Twenty Two}

+2.2 lbs

Change since week one: +1.2 lbs

Change since 2006: -28.8 lbs

WW changed their website to automatically update your weight when you weigh in, which I'm not too happy about because I like seeing the pop up that tells you how much you lost or gained and says "You've lost this week!" or "You gained a bit this week". So this means that the tracking on here will change visually :(

Well I finally went back to Weight Watchers after a month long hiatus.

The first week I skipped, if you remember, because I just needed a break from the scale and the pressure and the stress that I was putting on myself to perform and lose. The next week I was at Lawrence Welk. The third week I was exhausted and I had to get ready for Blog Sugar so I skipped because I didn't want to drive all the way out there (Long Beach) only to drive back home to get ready, then drive in the same direction again to attend Blog Sugar.

For being gone for three weigh ins, going out of town twice in those three weeks (and if you've been reading my WW journey you'll know how difficult going out of town is for me when it comes to tracking and staying on program and I always gain a stupid amount of weight no matter how great I think I did), and for not really tracking much at all in those three weeks I'd say I didn't do too bad. I could have gone crazy and gained 5-10 lbs. It has happened before, unfortunately. But I didn't, which is awesome. 

I went to weigh in last Sunday really dreading it, convinced that I had gained at least five pounds and feeling so anxious to just get it over with and try to get back on track so I can lose this weight I keep gaining. I stepped on the scale and the lady gave me a look of pity (I really hate when they do that, or when they seem judgement, which they're not supposed to and they usually don't), and that's when I knew it. I knew I was right. I knew that I had gained a stupid amount of weight and not only do I have to start all over again, I have to take a bunch of steps backwards...

But then she said, "You're up 2.2 lbs" and I nearly cheered. Instead I just said, "Wow, that's better than I thought!"

I don't think I've ever been so okay with gaining 2.2 lbs. EVER. I mean, I was gone for three weeks, didn't track my points, didn't really exercise much, ate out more than usual and I only gained 2 pounds. I realize that in those three weeks I could have lost up to 6 pounds, but I'm not going to stress out about it because that will only keep me where I am right now and won't help me lose the weight.

I'm still really disappointed in myself that it's been over a year and I keep yo-yoing these 10 pounds, but I can't let myself get discouraged or I'll just give up.

I have some pretty big weight loss goals and it's just about time that I get them accomplished. I started a combination of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism. I'm not going to go crazy and do it every single day like I did the Shred in August/September, but I'm going to do it at least 4 times a week, I'm getting back on tracking and I'm just ready to finally lose this weight. I realize that the holidays are swiftly approaching and this coming season is my favorite of all in terms of weather, food, holidays, clothes, etc., but I've lost weight during the holidays before and I think I can do it again... or at least maintain, which is always better than gaining. 

I'll be on a women's retreat with my church this weekend, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to weigh in. I'd like to find a WW location where we will be so that no matter what I eat while we're at the retreat (we're not allowed to bring our own food so I have no idea what I'm going to be dealing with... awesome, right? I hate not being in control, food wise... or other wise, haha) I'll still be able to be accountable. We'll see how it works out.

So wish me luck for this week which might be a struggle and for this journey that it can get back on track for good. Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement. It really means a lot to me and helps me feel like I can do it and I'm not alone <3

i did it.

Today was my last day of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.

I skipped the last two Sundays because both of those days were just way too busy to even think about SHREDDING, so instead I added an extra two days to the 30 days just to make sure I completed it.

I was a little disappointed in myself that I didn't do it straight through, but the feeling of accomplishment in finishing this grueling workout regiment far outweighs that little disappointment.

I've never felt stronger. 

I can do things now I never imagined I could.

My legs have never been stronger, my abs have never felt like this before, my arms can carry my weight, I can now do "full on Rocky-style sit ups", lunges are now ridiculously easy, my calves have never been so defined in my life, my shoulders are taking shape.

And I never thought that I'd be more proud of the fact that I'm stronger, with weight loss being just a bonus rather than the main goal.

I mean, I'm not gonna lie, weight loss has always been the focus, but now that I see what I'm made of and what I'm capable of, it has shifted my point of view a little.

I may not have lost anything according to Dub Dub, but I know that I have because my clothes either fit me now or are getting too big for me.

I'm going to keep exercising. I'm starting Jillian Michaels' Banish Fat Boost Metabolism this week, so I'm not quitting, but I'm just so proud of the fact that I stuck with this thing and saw it through.

I did it.

square one

Prepare yourselves, I'm not happy.

This isn't an "official" WW post, because those are reserved for Mondays, but I just need to rant.

So remember how I wrote that right before we started Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred that I weighed myself at home? Well, according to my scale (which if it's ever off or wrong, it's only off by a pound or so) I was 156.5, which means that I only gained 0.5 on my trip to the east coast. I was stoked because I really worked out A LOT, while we were gone. I used the treadmill, the bike and the elliptical every day except for two travel days. I was surprised that I didn't gain more at first, but the more I thought about it I realized that that seemed about right. I watched what I ate as much as possible. I never cleaned my plate or ate more than half of what I was served (except for one meal), so it made sense to me that I pretty much maintained while traveling.

So when we started Jillian's DVD I thought to myself that it might backfire on me, and here's why:

Every time I start a new workout regiment that includes any kind of weight/strength training, I gain weight.

And I'm not talking about 0.5 - 1 lb, I'm talking about 3, 4, 5 or even 6 lbs. 

BUT

In addition to SHREDDING, I did a ton of Zumba (cardio) this week as well. I'm on day 6 of Jillian's 30 Day Hell and this whole week I did an extra 4-5 hours of Zumba as well as staying well within my points for the week. I didn't even use half of my weekly points allowance. In the recent past I've used almost all of my weekly points allowance and still lost weight, so I thought, "Maybe I'll be okay. Maybe with all of this Zumba and great tracking, I'll have avoided the dreaded weight gain of starting a strength training regiment."

Guess again, Andrea.

No, it wasn't the pie, or the ice cream, or the birthday dinner for Dave. I ate like a bird at Dave's BBQ. I pretty much just ate two pineapple slices, 5 tiny little shrimps, a few steamed broccoli florets and 1/3 cup of mashed potatoes. I ate half my slice of pie and had two bites of ice cream. I was DISCIPLINED this week.

So according to WW this morning I had a 5 lbs weight gain since Monday.

Really? REALLY??

Am I REALLY back to square one of this whole documenting-my-weight-loss-journey-through-my-blog crap?

Yup, I sure am.

Thanks Jillian.

I mean, I do know that you cannot gain 5 lbs just from strength training for 5 days. I know that there has to be something else going on here. Water retention? Sure, why not?

I looked this up on Livestrong.com: 

Overview

You feel great! You cleaned up your diet, renewed your gym membership and knocked out your first couple of killer workouts. Never mind that you're so sore you can hardly climb on the scale. It's worth it just to see the numbers go...up?! Before you throw up your hands in despair and break out a pint of Ben and Jerry's, take a deep breath and relax. It's just a little water retention caused by DOMS.

DOMS

DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, is a common phenomenon marked by muscle pain ranging from mild to debilitating and manifesting 24 to 48 hours after your workout. Besides muscle soreness, other symptoms of DOMS include loss of strength, decreased range of motion, decreased neuromuscular function, mild inflammation and an increase of two to three pounds or more in body weight. DOMS is common in individuals who are new to resistance training or as a response to a change in exercise routines, such as adding challenging, new exercises or increasing weight loads.

Yeah, it also goes on to say that it only lasts a few days, and this is day 5 and I'm not nearly as sore as I was a couple of days ago, but still 5 lbs in 5 days? I don't think so.

There's another possible contributing factor I've yet to mention, simply because of it's personal nature:

According to all of the forums I've read in the last hour or so, women tend to gain anywhere from 2-10 lbs before and/or during their cycle. I knew a few lbs was normal for me, but 10? I don't envy those girls.

Also, if I gained 5 lbs, why are my clothes looser?

But you know what? I'm gonna stick to it. I'm gonna keep SHREDDING. With my luck I'll stay the same until this 30 Days is over and then lose 10 lbs so fast. That's usually how it goes for me. I work out with a trainer, strength/weight train, gain weight, keep doing it, keep staying the same or gaining and then as soon as I stop the training I lose weight so fast I almost don't even realize it (well, I totally notice, but you know what I mean).

I am so not looking forward to tomorrow's Dub Dub post.

Whatever, I'm gonna do it because I made a commitment to documenting my journey. 

Thanks for reading my ranting. I'm just hormonal and irritable.

Has anyone else experienced this?

SHRED

So today was my fourth day of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.

I could barely walk for the last few days. Today was the easiest since we began and I wasn't as sore, but man  is my body shocked. I've had some crazy hard workouts before, but this one is so killer.

David is doing it with me and I hope we both stick to it. I know I'm in for the long term, but I can see that I-want-to-give-up-and-die look in his eyes and I worry.

Last night we went to dinner at Sue, my mentor/director of The Hiding Place/former professor's, house and David didn't have time to SHRED (from now on I shall place "shred" in caps and italics because it is that hardcore) before we left, so today was his hardest day.

There is just something about the third day that makes it the worst. Yesterday I wanted to collapse and die, but today I was right there, in it, keeping up and I'm actually looking forward to more. I hope that's what it's like for Dave tomorrow (his birthday!), if he decides to keep SHREDDING.

(see how affective the caps and italics are?)

Speaking of Dave's birthday, it's tomorrow. He's going to be 25. From now until January I'll only be two years older than him instead of three (yes!). Today I made Pâte Brisée, a fancy French term for pie dough, so that I could make David's favorite dessert, apple pie, from scratch. I also prepped the custard for homemade vanilla bean ice cream (his favorite flavor) and will be making that tomorrow as well. 

He's stoked.

We'll be going to Famous Dave's for dinner. He loves BBQ so that's where he wanted to go. I have no idea what I'm going to get, but that doesn't matter, it's his day and he can have whatever he wants.

So back to Jillian and how she's out for blood, particularly mine and Dave's. 

We decided to start this thing because I mention to Dave how I've seen a lot of before and after photos of people floating around who have done it and he decided he wanted to try it so I jumped all over that. 

The thing about this workout that's so effective is that, although it's only 20 minutes (the longest 20 minutes of your life), it combines strength, cardio and abs. There's a warm up, then 3 circuits of 3 minutes strength training, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs, then a cool down/stretch.

Example:

Circuit One, Strength: two different strength building exercises alternating for 3 mintues

Circuit One, Cardio: 30 seconds jumping jacks, 30 seconds jump rope, alternate for 2 minutes

Circuit One, Abs: 30 seconds crunches, 30 seconds reverse crunches

Circuit Two and Three are pretty much the same with different strength building exercises, different cardio and different abs. Oh, and did I mention there are absolutely no breaks? You jump right into the next move over and over again. I have almost zero seconds to sip water during the workout or wipe the pools of sweat from my eyes.

But when it's done I feel like a champion... well, maybe not, but someone on her way to becoming a champ running up steps in her sweats.

{Have you done the 30 Day Shred? If so, I'd love to hear all about your experience!}

So today I looked up motivational quotes and photos on Pinterest and this is what I found:

this is the move in circuit 3 that kills me. KILLS me!

I am rapidly falling head over heels for the woman.

i'm baaaaaaaaaaack

and this time for good...

well at least for the rest of summer.

no more extended trips, no more airplanes, no more eating out every day for every meal (thank the lord!), no more living out of my suitcase.

it is SO GOOD to be home.

as some of you may already know, we were in Europe for a little while, then came home for about a week or so, then flew off to New York, Long Island and Connecticut for about two weeks. we flew back to LA on Thursday, but then David and I drove up to Lake Arrowhead for the weekend on Friday.

so that makes today our first day of being back home for good and I am so happy about it. 

don't get me wrong, I am so thankful for all of the opportunities we have to travel and see different parts of the country and the world, but after a while it gets to become too much and your own bed starts to feel like a luxury (which it really is, but we all take it for granted, of course).

I am so glad to be back to my routine of diet and exercise.

although, I did get in a lot of cardio on our most recent trip. I used the gyms at every hotel we stayed in every day except for two travel days that didn't allot me the time to do so. even when we went to Lake Arrowhead, I took my Zumba DVDs and danced up a sweat. I knew that with all of the food we'd be eating that if I didn't get some exercise in this trip, I'd gain another 5 lbs and that would have probably sent me over the edge.

as far as food went, I did a lot better on the east coast than I did in Europe. the only time I ate more than half of the portion I was given was at Shake Shack in Time's Square, and I already planned that. I knew ahead of time that I wouldn't have been able to resist devouring that entire mushroom burger and crinkle fries. I mean, could you?

I also ate my own breakfasts (yogurt and fruit or cereal) except for two mornings and I think that made quite a difference. at least I hope it did. 

Side note: by the time we got to Long Island and Connecticut and Dave and my mom were doing business a lot, I spent all of my time in the hotel room reading (I read two and half books and started another!) I ended up finishing The Maze Runner on the flight to NYC, then started The Scorch Trials, finished it in Long Island, read The War of Art (no, not The Art of War) and finished that, then I started on The Help which I'm about two thirds through now. All fabulous books, except I was a bit disappointed in The Maze Runner, but the sequel (The Scorch Trials) more than made up for it.

I haven't gone to WW since we got back, but I'll be facing the music on Sunday to see what the damage was. I did weigh myself at home today and according to my crappy, unreliable scale I only gained 0.5 lbs. I am PRAYING that that is the case. I honestly doubt that I was able to maintain, just because my history with traveling and dieting has never been good (except for last Christmas when we went to NY and I lost a lb, but we were trekking through SO MUCH snow that I think it made up for my indulgences), but who knows? I'll have to just wait and see. I want to hope for the best but expect the worst so that I don't end up getting so pissed off and discouraged this time around.

today David and I started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and it was KILLER INTENSE. I've done some pretty hard work outs in my days what with the various trainers I've had over the years and the intense Tae-Bo videos I did in high school that helped me lose 70 lbs, but this 20 minute workout was brutal. Dave and I were drenched in sweat, there were times when we both had to stop for a tiny 5 second break here and there and by the end we were both walking funny, but we did it and we're gonna do it tomorrow and the next day and the next until it's done... and then we might do it again.

I also did an hour of Zumba this morning before my chores and I plan to combine the Shred with the Zumba as much as possible so I can finally get back to my goal weight. I predict Dave and I will be extremely sore tomorrow. I already am.

sometime soon I'm going to sit down and edit all of our photos from our travels and share what we saw, but for now I need to just get back in the swing of things.

I hope you all don't think I dropped blogging or that I'm not going to start reading my favorite blogs again. it's just that being away from it makes it hard to get back into it. I hope you all still follow! thanks for being followers <3

here are some iPhone shots from the trip:

mojito at the Bryant Park Back Porch bar

meyer lemon meringue tart I shared with my mom at Sarabeth's

sitting in Central Park, reading

Shake Shack mushroom burger. yes, that mushroom is oozing out delicious cheese.

6th Avenue street fair

hanging out with Derek Jeter at the Yankee game. NBD.

Connecticut

returning to the city to catch our flight home

driving up to Lake Arrowhead

and Bogart crying in the back seat

my mom's sense of decor humor

taking a walk

Queen cover band called Queen Nation at the Lake Arrowhead center.

by the second set, our fist pumping was out of control.

our family condo <3

so many memories