Exercise and Life Update

Well, life is definitely busy. It’s Friday night as I am writing this about 9:52pm and I have been snoozing on the couch for about 2 hrs. I am just exhausted after a long week. Sometimes I feel like life has gotten the best of me and I could do better, but most days I pat myself on the back and know I am killing it being a single mom. Somehow in the span of a week I manage to keep my kids fed, clothed and to school on time, work out 3 times a week, keep the house mostly clean, work 40+ hours, put countless hours into my new product line that I am launching in a couple months (for my baking business), do laundry, cook, walk. I could go on so yea, I am doing dang fine! Tired, but fine!

Exercise is sooooo hard!

I ask myself and my friends often does exercise ever get easier or more fun. I think the general consensus is NO! BUT it changes. For me it is hard every single time I go, but I see so much improvement in my capabilities that it pumps me up and pushes me to continue. I am going to exercise with a gym called Fit Body Boot Camp. Their classes are 30 mins and they are intense. Like you don’t stop for 30 mins. My mind is still blown that I am there and being able to do the things that I am. Yes, I am modifying exercises to my abilities, but I am still working hard and my muscles are letting me know that they are moving and getting stronger and stronger. I am going Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I am wrapping up week 3 tomorrow and I am just so proud of myself. I am seeing some muscle definition in my arms and legs. My core muscles are the weakest, but they will get there eventually.

Think about this. I could literally not even walk from my car to my apartment without getting out of breath just six months ago and that I haven’t exercised at all in about 5 or 6 years! Look at me now. Getting up and down off the floor, doing planks, squats, jogging, modified jumping jacks and more. Me! That is me doing these things and torturing myself on purpose! HAHA

A week ago or so I was having the thought that I needed to do more. I think it was the adrenaline from how good I was feeling. I talked it out with my friend and she helped me to make the decision that 3 days a week is enough for now. In fact my doctor told me the same thing. She said just to do some more cardio on the off days, but to not exercise more than 6 days a week. My body needs to rest at least one day a week. I will admit on my off days from boot camp I have not been getting in as much cardio as I would like. It’s been raining and cold so its been hard to push myself to get outside at night to do it. Well, things are about to get even easier. My friend is giving me a treadmill!!! I am so excited to have my own treadmill so I will have no excuse to not get in my cardio no matter the weather! Thanks D!!

Weight Update

I haven’t updated much on my weight. In fact I had to go back through my posts so see that it was one month ago today that I last posted my weight. I had hit 299.8 I believe. I can still remember the emotions of that day like it was yesterday. If I had a regular scale I would be freaking out right now because as of this morning my weight is 291.5. Only lost about 8 lbs in a month. Yea, don’t fuss at me for saying only because 8 lbs in a month for the average person is great. It just feels a little disappointing after losing so much weight in prior months is all. BUT I also know with exercise that my body composition is changing. My dad sent me an early birthday present and bought me a WITHINGS scale! I LOVE it. It is so much better than my last no name scale that was definitely not accurate on the body composition numbers. Here is my numbers for the last three weeks:

So, since I started weighing on my scale you can see my total weight has gone down by only 3.8 lbs, but my fat has gone down by 7.1 lbs and my muscle up by 3.1 lbs. I didn’t put bone mass which is the 3rd component of the total weight but it stays right about 7 lbs. I also keep track of the water weight because it’s definitely important to not get dehydrated. To be honest I don’t really know what good targets are yet, but I know enough to know that my numbers are heading in the right direction.

I am kinda bummed out that I keep forgetting to get them to measure me. I am definitely going to get that done tomorrow before my workout. I know that I am losing inches, but it would just be nice to quantify that with a number.

My thoughts are starting to realign!

One of my biggest challenges of being super overweight is dealing with a lot of negative thoughts in my head. I truly can see that it is getting better. I still have negative thoughts, but they are definitely going down and I am being less harsh on myself. I used to not want to eat in front of people because I felt like people were thinking mean things, but I can definitely tell that it doesn’t bother me any more. I hate to say this, but I don’t feel like a walking freak show any longer either. I know I wasn’t, but at over 400 lbs it just felt that way. It’s nice to feel like I have some pep in my step and I am not walking like an aged old lady because moving made every part of my body hurt. Now I feel great when I am walking around. I can walk “normally”. I use the word NORMAL loosely. What is normal anyway, but you know what I mean.

I feel like people aren’t staring at me anymore either. I feel like I blend into the crowd and I am just fine with it being that way. I am not shy but I am not naturally a super outgoing person and don’t want to be the center of attention.

Overall I am HAPPY! I feel great and I am excited to lose the next 113.5 lbs!!! Thanks for sharing in my journey!