Month: November 2011

The “Before” Photos

Heavens to Betsy. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a “before” photo and goodness, this will be my last. Amen, preach it sister.

The before photo is the closest thing (other than going to the doctor, or trying to fit into a airplane seat) to a reality check that I can get. It’s like, damn girl, you’re fat. And I don’t mean that to sound self-depricating, it’s just the truth.

I spend a lot of time trying to cover up my fat. Positioning angles, deleting the “too fat” photos, and wearing layers to forget how fat I am. I go to great lengths not to let my fat make me uncomfortable. I wear a black compression tank top almost daily so that I can suck it in a little bit better. I prefer high rise jeans to tuck in the upper part of my belly. I like bras with thick bands. I fly with a seat belt extender so I don’t have to ask for one. I avoid amusement park rides, horses, boats, and planes at all costs to pretend that I’m not obese. It’s a lot of work.

And there you have it. The most unflattering photos I have ever (I think) posted on this blog. Things should can only go up from here!

I’m using the Insanity workout by Beach Body to help me get to my Minus 50 t0 29 goal and joined to become a Beach Body Coach, you can see my website here.

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General Weight Loss Tips

Minus 50 to 29

This post has been a few weeks coming, I’ve been nailing down exactly what I want to say and my plan. It’s been awhile since I’ve made any concrete weight loss goals on this blog, and I’m ready to make it happen. I want to lose 50 pounds for my 29th birthday on March 14th. That’s exactly four months, 16 weeks, and 111 days. 50 pounds for me, at my weight is totally reasonable, and of course, if I lose 40, that is reason to celebrate, but 50 is what I’m aiming for.

I’ve shied away from making weight loss goals public, because there is a little part of me that worries that people will think I’m setting myself up for failure and give me advice to just have other smaller or slower goals. To be reasonable with myself. I want to get into it and make it happen. And not just in a way that will only work short term.

While I was visiting Dole, I had the opportunitiy to stop over at the California Health and Longevity Institute which was incredible. If I ever have a spare few thousand, I’m high tailing it to California for a thorough health assessment. During my time there, I was given an hour-long healthy life consultation with a nice lady named Claudia.

Before I even sat down she had read my blog and had printed out notes for me. She was ready. I told her that I struggle with consistency in my life, in all ways. I get really excited and then I drop everything. The tool that she gave me to keep going, was so simple, yet powerful. She told me that when I have the strong desire to drop everything and flee, to ask myself how much can I do?

For example, can I exercise for five minutes? If I can, to do just five minutes. Or one minute. Whatever I can do, to do it. I told her that I struggle with that in two ways, 1) not thinking it’s enough and 2) feeling like I was tricking myself into doing more even though I said just five minutes. And then she told me something, that was a huge “a’ha!” moment for me…

It’s not about the five minutes of exercise for the sake of getting in exercise. It’s the act of doing something when I didn’t want to. She assured me that after doing this several times, I would build up confidence and the habit of doing things when I didn’t want to.

And then I got it. I struggle with lasting changes because I never get to the point of them becoming a habit. I feel like I have to go big or go home, and when I can’t give 100% I don’t try at all.

She said that when I go out and run-jog-walk for an hour, I’m setting myself up to come up with a thousand excuses on days when I can’t wrap my head around an hour spent exercising. That mentally, if I can’t do my best everyday, that I can’t do it at all, and it sets me back and I feel like a failure.

I want a weight loss goal again. I want to delve into the mode and make it happen. I’ve been coasting along with eating well enough, and exercising when I feel like it, but it’s not getting me anywhere, because I don’t have a goal. I do believe that weight loss is a result and not a goal, but having some numbers to reach for is motivating.

50 pounds, would put me at the lowest weight this blog has ever seen. It will mean smaller clothes and more mobility. It also means getting our photos taken professionally again. I told Josh I’d like to have our pictures taken every 50 pounds that I lose.

I’m getting to a place where it’s now or never. I refuse to enter my 30’s as an obese woman. I just cannot do that. I deserve more.

My plan of action is to count calories using MyFitnessPal, Lorriebee and restarting the Insanity program (with days of zumba, strength and running outside when it’s nice). As always I will use this blog to track my progress through photos, what I’m eating, daily thoughts and struggles and celebrations.

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Sagd

Tags Advice, Blog, California Health, Consistency, Consultation, Dole, Failure, fat, Five Minutes, Four Months, Health Assessment, Longevity Institute, Reason, Sake, Strong Desire, Two Ways, Weight Loss Goals, Worries

Weight Loss Exercise

Why Group Fitness Works

Whether it is Zumba, bootcamp, yoga or kickboxing, whatever your workout pleasure is, there’s nothing like a great fitness class to get you to the gym and keep you coming back for more.

That’s why major fitness chains keep eyes peeled and ears pricked for the next big thing.

Benefits of Group Fitness

Why Group Fitness Works

“The single biggest benefit is community,” said Tim Keightley, who oversees group fitness at Gold’s Gym, which has more than 600 locations around the world. “You meet a community of people so it’s a lot harder not to come back next week.”

Not only do group exercisers visit the gym more often, they are more likely to renew their memberships, according to Keightley, who said industry figures show that group exercisers use the gym about three times a week to the average gym member who goes 1.7 times.

“You throw on the music, you let someone decide the exercise for you,” he said. “It really allows people to escape, which you can’t do when you’re on a treadmill.”

Keightley said his teams put out a new schedule every month. “And two weeks into it they’re already evaluating to see what stays and what goes,” he said.

Thirty-minute workouts, military-style bootcamps, circuit training, and Zumba, the Latin-inspired dance fitness class, are currently what stays, according to Keightley, because they appeal to the 28-to-44-year-old professionals who are Gold’s core clientele.