More and more changes:)

I love shrinking.  It's much better than GROWING!  Of course, growing emotionally or spiritually is good, but physically?  Not so much!  I'm STILL surprised by how loose all my clothes are.  I've been the same size for SO long, I hesitate putting on certain pairs of jeans because I know they're going to be tight ... only they're not!  I got a hair cut, and every single person that's seen it has been extremely complimentary and had nothing but nice things to say:)  I just feel very sassy and alive!  Glad to be making positive changes, and looking forward to actually having REAL abs and arm muscles.  I've had legs before ... they're always bigger than most other women my size, but they've been firm.  I've never had abs before!  I can't wait to see them take shape.

Check out this pic:

Now check out this one:

The first one was back in March.  The one above is today:)  I haven't been able to wear this shirt since I bought it.  I bought it un-tried on and figured it was a L, therefore it would fit.  Um, NO!  It was too tight everywhere; I could barely squeeze my arms into it.  Today?  I wore it.  All day:)  My boots fit SO much better!  I zipped them up with barely a tug, whereas back in May, I had to use hay string to thread through the zipper to pull them up.  

Feels good!  Keeping things going.  Insanity is kicking my butt this week; 3rd week in a row, and on my "day of rest" I decided walking 4 miles with my SIL was a good idea.  Quite frankly, my legs are sore and it's tough to push through, but I'm DOING it:)

C e l e b r a t i o n

You know that song?  "Celebration ... Let's all celebrate and have a good time!"

That's the song that was going through my head today as I slipped on the shorts I've tried on about half a dozen times since June ... and I FINALLY wore them!  They're a 12 ... but they're definitely not a generous 12!  I have been able to physically button them now for about a month or so, but HUGE puffy muffin top.  Today, they fit perfectly comfortably with no visible protrusion on the top:):):)  ALL of my friends can tell you that in the many years they've known me, they've NEVER seen me in a pair of real shorts.  It's capris, always.  My fat lumpy thighs embarrass me, so even if I wear a skirt or dress I make sure it comes down to just below the knees at the shortest.

Today, I wore those shorts with no embarrassment whatsoever.  There is still lumpiness in the thighs, but it is MUCH reduced ... another round of running (increasing from where I left off), plus another round of Insanity will turn that fat to muscle, sure enough.  I'm not ready to prance around in a bathing suit yet, but June 2013?  Watch out!

I am getting SO much stronger.  I can do many of the exercise sets from the Insanity program without stopping now.  I haven't made it through "Pure Cardio" with no breaks yet, but I'm getting better.  My boss was complimenting my weight loss and asking how much I've lost.  I honestly have no idea, and don't really want to know yet.  I'll be honest ... my starting weight was 190.  That was what the scale said when I went for my gyn appt. back in November, and I'm pretty sure I maintained that until June when I began to change my lifestyle.  My boss thinks around 15 lbs.  That would put me at 175.  My book keeper thinks more like 20 ... that puts me at 170.  I'll be honest, for the amount of work I've put into it, I would HOPE I'm more like 160-165, but I don't know.  I'm for SURE down a full size ... if I were to go jean shopping, I would be shopping in the 12's.  Only one more size to go before I'm truly HAPPY ... 2 more sizes will REALLY make me happy:)

I'll be honest, I need to sugar detox a little bit again.  I've been controlling my calories like a I have been, but I've been having some sort of refined sugar dessert every night.  I need to cut those down to once or twice a week for right now, then cut it out even further.  A moment of proud realization?  Since June, I have consumed exactly ONE fast food burger.  I had a whopper jr. with no mayo and no cheese back in August. No fries;  I don't think I had any sort of side with it at all.  Pretty good considering during a "normal week", I'd do McDonalds/Wendys/Burger King/Zaxbys.  And that's a QP meal at McD's, a whopper meal at BK, a Bacon Deluxe meal at Wendys, and a fried chicken finger meal at Zaxby's ... ALWAYS with either a Coke or a sweet tea.  My eating habits have come a LONG way!

Positive progress!  Always a good thing:)

Getting FIT!:)

I feel so amazing.  I WAS feeling a little bit like a loser last week because I did my Insanity Tues-Thurs like a good girl, but on Friday I was stuck on the xc course for TWELVE hours.  I was not expecting that at all.  I knew there were a lot of horses to get through the course, but 12 hours worth??  So I didn't leave the horse show until 7:30 at night, and didn't make it home until 9:00 and I was FRIED.  There was not a single lick of shade on the entire course and despite copious amounts of sunscreen, I was as red as a lobster and pretty dehydrated.  Needless to say I did not do my workout.

Saturday and Sunday, I couldn't get the job done because my husband was parked in front of the tv ... I couldn't do my video.  I suppose I could have gotten out and run but it took the weekend for me to recover from Friday ... AND I went back up to the show on Sat and didn't get home again until around 8pm.    By Sunday night I was feeling like a total slacker.

Monday afternoon I started anew with the workout all over again minus the "fit test".  I was SO much better at it!  I sweated like crazy, guzzled water like a woman dying of thirst, and tightened the drawstring of my pants WAY up because they kept falling down:)  So today was the "recovery" day, and it was absolutely marvelous.  Very yoga in nature.  I'm slightly sore today, but NOTHING like last week's barely able to move stuff.  I'm always at war with myself about WANTING to start that video up, but when I'm done ... I feel amazing.  Exhausted, shaky almost, but wonderful.

I will have the weekend off from Insanity, and then next week it's back to 6 days a week.  Whew!  Tried on a cute dress I got about 12 years ago that has FIT me the entire time for the most part, but it's been super tight, which is highly unattractive.  I slipped it over my head today just to see, and it was loose and flattering:)  The best part?  It's a size 11!  And no, it's NOT elastic;)

Looking forward to the "weigh in" again!  I am just curious to see the Insanity results vs strictly running results.  I think I'm going to be happy!

Insane ...

Holy Crap.  I thought I was sore after the first time I ever took a "Body Pump" class.  Insanity is just ... INSANE!  Today I got up and did the 3rd day in a row, 2nd "real" workout.  It was one of the hardest things I've ever done.  I was SO sore this morning getting up ... to do it again at that intense cardio level.  Wow.  I was DRAGGING at the barn cleaning stalls, I am sore everywhere.  If I don't look like "Xena, Warrior Princess" after the next 60 days ... I will be crushed lol!  My body is definitely rebelling at being pushed to get smaller; it LIKES to be a size 14.  But I WILL prevail, and I WILL be in an 8!  Tomorrow's workout is called "Cardio Recovery", so hopefully it's more anaerobic vs. pure cardio.  I need a day to recover before pushing it hard for the final 2 intense workouts of the week.

I allowed myself to eat a little more than yesterday.  Yesterday I consumed cereal for breakfast, cereal for lunch, and my usual "late night" dinner of sliced ham with the soft cheese and yogurt.  I just had no appetite.  Today though, I was starving as I made my Wal-Mart run, so I got a footlong Subway sandwhich on wheat with ham, lettuce, tomato, and spicy mustard.  I ate one half of it, and half of the other half, then I got full!

Just keeping on, keeping on.  I've gotten to the point that my clients are giving me that 'look', and asking if I've lost weight.  When I confirm, yes I have then they say, "Oh yeah, you've lost a LOT!".  It will be more obvious when I go out and buy some new clothes because right now my shirts hang off me, and my jeans are held up by belts.  It's nice to put on pants that used to fit tight and now fit so loose they hang off my hips!  Helps me keep my motivation:)

Post race wrap up

I had so much fun at the race.  My childhood friend came and ran with me the WHOLE time.  When the airhorn went off, we waited for all the fast people to take off, but waited a hair too long and got a little tangled up in the walkers.  Settled into a nice rhythm though, and chatted the entire time.  In no time at all, the finish line loomed ahead and I was SHOCKED!  We sprinted through the finish line, and it was over:)  I did not walk a single step!  I did not feel the urge, even.  Yes I sweated, yes I breathed a little hard, but I was able to talk the entire time.  The course was nice and level with a slight uphill finish, but I would love to do the same one next year; it was great!

I need to pick another one so I continue to run!  I'm trying to figure out my next steps.  Stay on a running plan, or do Insanity hardcore for the next 60 days?  Insanity is 6 days a week, which means I would really need to take a running break for 60 days.  OR, should I continue to run 3 days a week, but add on 2 days of Insanity?  Agh!  I don't know!  I DO know I need to do some strength training, so I'm leaning towards taking a 60 day running break and doing Insanity.

Here's the 60 day pics.  I feel like I've lost a lot of inches in my hips/thighs, but you can't see that too clearly in those black shorts.  I am NOT posting pics of me in my underwear though, so y'all will just have to take my word for it;)  Comparing to the pics from 30 days ago.

 












You can see in the pic on the right my butt is a little more flat.  Also, the top of my thigh doesn't hang over so much.  Stomach is SLIGHTLY flatter, but still needs a lot of work.

Pic on the right, you can see my gut isn't flopped over my belly button so much, and my shorts appear slightly longer because my rear isn't so wide:)

Fat rolls on the left, reduced fat rolls on the right, 'nuff said!  So ... guess it's time to see what kind of results are produced by Insanity.  Excited to have completed my 5k, excited to do something new, excited to run ANOTHER 5k in the not too distant future!