Non Scale Victories

I am loving how active I have become and I'm loving the results I'm seeing.  This past week was a week full of activity and non scale victories.  I didn't have a scale victory this week though. Those pesky 6oz came back again.  I had a good talk with my new WW leader and she thinks I'm not eating enough.  She wants me to eat either all of my weekly flex points or at least half of my daily activity points.  I'm having a hard time doing this as I've never used them before unless it was for a special occasion but I'm going to give it a shot this week to see how it goes.

Let's start with the Activity part of the week. 

Monday: 5.81 km Walk   30 minute Beginners Yoga - Yes me and Yoga!  Who would have thought that one!   100 squats

Tuesday: 5.22 km Walk with the dog in the morning.  1.77km walk to lunch and back with a friend.  Had a great walk, great sushi lunch and fabulous conversation.  105 Squats.

Wednesday 3.75km Walk with the dog, beginners Yoga...yes, tried it again, maybe eventually I'll be able to do the downward facing dog instead of the playful puppy but I'm trying :) 110 Squats

Thursday 3.88km Walk with the dog.  No Yoga and rest day from the Squat Challenge, my legs needed the break!

Friday 3.32km Walk with the dog, 130 Squats and a 30 minute kickboxing session on a new dvd I picked up called Punch! (Thank you to the ladies at work who gave me a gift when I left to use towards my weight loss, I used some of that gift to purchase this!)

Saturday - Walking around Vancouver with my husband including a mad dash for the skytrain, and walking back to BC Place. 15,325 Steps for the day.  135 Squats.

Sunday - A variety of activity with no true way to measure it.  Volunteering at the Abbotsford Triathlon - set up and tear down of the Transition area including the fencing and bike racks, walking around the area and assisting the public and athletes.  Arrived at 630am and left at 1230pm.  My feet are crying so yes I'm counting it as activity, according to my pedometer I walked 13, 219 steps.  140 Squats.


Non Scale Victories for the week

Tuesday - walked to the restaurant for Sushi with my friend and slid into the booth, something I couldn't have done 7 months ago.  Wahoo!   Did I mention WALKING to the restaurant...not something I would have considered doing 6 months ago!

Wednesday - I did Yoga, for the 3rd time.  I'm not the most flexible person in the world and I worked hard at it and I stuck to it.  I didn't pause it, I didn't modify it, I did it!

Friday - Kickboxing DVD.  I worked hard in that work out, doing the steps, doing the hand movements, bobbing and weaving.  I didn't pause it, I didn't fast forward it, I stuck with it.  I sweated what felt like buckets but it felt so good to accomplish that.

Saturday - This one was HUGE for me.  Truly only someone who has had this predicament in the past may understand why it was so huge for me but for some other people it's probably a no big deal thing.  I went to a White Caps FC Match with my husband....I sat in the seat...I FIT IN THE SEAT... I wasn't crammed in with my sides spilling over the arm rest.  I was COMFORTABLE in the SEAT!!!!   I FIT INTO A STADIUM SEAT!!!!!  This was truly huge for me.  It made me feel so good and so satisfied that I'm making progress. 

Sunday -  This one honestly made me want to cry.  I volunteered at the Abbotsford Triathlon today, the largest size shirt they had was an XL.  I haven't been able to wear an XL t-shirt in probably 15-20 years.  In all seriousness.  I took the t-shirt and when I got to my area with my husband I decided to try the shirt on just to see.   Well hot diggity damn IT FIT ME!!!!  An XL shirt fit me, on top of the shirt I was already wearing.  My husband gave me a high five, a hug and a kiss and told me how proud he was of me.  I have to say...that t-shirt fitting me....made my day!

Coping

It's been a rough week and a half for me.  I'm hanging in there and I'm really proud of how I've done.  In April of 2012, I left my travel job to take on a new opportunity for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, a cause that I support 150% and always will.  It was originally a 12 month contract that was extended to 16 months.  The end of the 16 months came on Friday.  It was my last official day as a contract employee with CBCF and it was a hard day.  To be honest it was a hard week.  I loved working there, I loved the people who work there, I love the volunteers that work there and I loved the interaction with my co-workers on a daily basis.   I've made some wonderful life long friends working there and I've met and made some wonderful friends on the daily train ride in.

It was a week full of challenges, from not eating through my emotions (very difficult for an emotional eater like me), to having lunch out with my co-workers on Thursday, to dinner out with my husband because I simply wasn't in the mood to cook!

I didn't get all of my walks in during the work day but I still got a lot of activity in.  When I went to my new WW meeting place on Saturday,  lo and behold I was amazed to see I had lost 1.3lbs.

I'm pretty surprised by that, I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I'll take the loss any way I can. :)

I'm also glad to know that I've got the coping skills to get through the week the way that I did.   It was a hard week, leaving such wonderful people behind! 

Mixing it up a bit.

It's  certainly time to mix things up a bit.  I had weigh in on Friday, and once again, those pesky 6 ounces reappeared as a loss this week.   I was a little frustrated with how things are going.  I'm not the most patient person in the world and I really had set myself a goal to be at 75 pounds lost by this week and instead I've spent five weeks playing with the same six ounces over and over and over again!

I had a good talk with my leader Paul.  I really love his style of leading he's so blunt and honest and thoughtful as well.  We discussed my exercise and how your body gets used to doing things.  Yes I'm walking, but I've been walking for six months and my body has gotten used to the exercise I'm doing so it's time to switch it up.

I had my husband get my bike road ready for me this weekend so that I could take it out, but I have to admit, the last time I rode it I fell off it and I'm a little nervous abut riding it.  I hate that as I used to love bike riding when I was younger.  I would get on my ten speed and ride for an hour or two without thinking about it.  I did go to ride my bike on Saturday evening when my husband was at a soccer game but I couldn't find my helmet so I didn't go.  I will rectify that one night this week and get out for a bike ride.

I did however do my first Yoga session.  I have never tried Yoga before, I have several co-workers who love Yoga and go all the time.  I thought I would give it a try, but instead of doing a class or a group session, I found some beginner Yoga sessions on Youtube.  I did two of those sessions on Saturday morning and quickly realized that I was very glad I wasn't doing this in a group session as I am not flexible at all!  I hurt in places I didn't know you could hurt, just by stretching!  Ah well.  I will continue on my Yoga quest and perhaps one day I will feel comfortable enough to go to an actual Yoga class.

Planning for a Challenging Weekend.

This past weekend was a long weekend here in BC and it made for me a few challenges.  First of all, it was my husband's birthday weekend which included lunch out the day before his birthday, and Birthday dinner at his favorite restaurant The Keg.  It was also his cousin's 25th Wedding Anniversary party and BBQ.  Then we also had to have birthday cake.    A lot of challenges with a lot of not necessarily good for me food so this is what my plan was, account for everything, get a lot of activity and don't sweat the small stuff!

Saturday morning - as soon as I got up, I got dressed, and grabbed the dog, to my delight my husband decided he wanted to come with us for our walk so the three of us headed out for our 5km walk.   We did our 5km in just over an hour.  Not bad for an early Saturday morning walk with my husband and the dog, without music. 

After we were done our usual Saturday morning chores it was time to take my hubby for his pre birthday lunch.  I knew that I was treating him to lunch  at Ledgeview Golf Course Bar and Grill.  I had been there on Friday for a cheque presentation for work and they are featuring a sandwich that the proceeds get donated back to CBCF so I knew we were going to have lunch there so I could try out the Cranwich, which was absolutely delicious!  It's a  Roast Turkey Sandwich served on Cranberry Bread with a side of Seasoned Fries.  I planned for the Fries, and they were worth the points they took to have them.  They were hands down the best french fries I have ever had!  If you live in the Abbotsford area, you have GOT to TRY them out!  Kevin at the Ledgeview Golf Bar and Grill, truly is a fabulous chef!  Here is the link to their website if you're interested, http://www.ledgeviewgolf.com/blog/?page_id=4537

The Cranwich at Ledgeivew Golf Bar and Grill, you have to have this!

As my husband's cousin Kevin and his wife Judy were holding a 25th Wedding Anniversary Party on my husband's actual birthday, I also took him to dinner on Saturday evening.  For his birthday dinner he chose to go to the Keg,  I looked up the points online before I headed out and I knew that I was going to be going over my daily points allotment, but strangely I was all right with that.  I knew that I had them and although I try not to use the weekly points I figured this weekend, I was going to have to dip in to them.  Birthday dinner at the Keg was great, I made the bet choices I could, including passing on the rice and potato and ordering double steamed veggies instead.

A birthday toast!  Happy Birthday!

Sunday Morning dawned bright and early and away we all went on another 5km walk to start the day, with it being another jam packed day of celebrating I knew I had to get my activity in.  Once again, my hubby joined Angus and I on our walk.  I have to say, I loved having Gary along for our walks, usually he's on a bike ride when we're walking on the weekends but it was great to have him along.  I do have to admit though, I need my music to keep my pace up.  The weekend walks were a little longer than they should have been due to walking without my music.

A man and his dog finishing up a Birthday 5km walk.

On Sunday afternoon Gary and I headed into Langley to Kevin and Judy's place, it was fabulous to be able to celebrate their anniversary with so many family and friends there.  It was wonderful to see Gary's cousins and Aunt and to meet some great new people and say hello to other's we have met over the past several years.   There was  a great selection of food at the BBQ and I had to really keep myself in check.  I made a plan to have a salad before we left for the BBQ so that I wouldn't be overly hungry and I could steer clear of temptation.  Gary brought his iphone with him and with the WW app I was able to track my food right then and there so I would know how I was doing for points.  I knew full well that I would probably have to dip into my weekly points again but all in all I did really well!  I only had to use 3 weekly points towards  a piece of birthday cake.

Birthday Cake on the front deck

On Monday morning as it was a holiday, you probably know how I started my day.  Gary went for his bike ride and Angus and I suited up and headed out to meet Gary where he parks the car for his bike rides.  I decided to do intervals and low and behold Angus was cooperative for the most part.  I decided that instead of using timed intervals, I would use the power poles on the road.  I would run/jog (I never know if I should say I'm running as someone has pointed out previously that I do more walking than running) from one pole to another, walk to the next pole and  I alternated that way for the majority of the road.  I was absolutely thrilled with our time!  We did the 31/2 km's in just over 30 minutes.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/354146596  (I forgot to turn my watch off when we got to the car so I'm going by the moving time on the page not the actual time.  Oops)

All in all it was a great weekend, over 14km's were walked including intervals, and I had a plan in place for all of the celebrating that was going to happen.  If there's one thing I've learned so far on this journey is that failing to plan, is planning to fail.  I don't want to fail, so I will always have a plan!

Patience is a virtue, right?

The past month has been a study in being patient.  I'm not a patient person by nature.  If I see something that needs to be done, I get it done.  If I want something, I need to go get it now!  If something is taking too long,  I tend to get fidgety.  Go through the Jiffy Lube and it takes more than 10 minutes for the oil change, I'm itching to get out of the car to see what's taking so long.   I want to lose weight, I want to see consistent losses week after week.

That isn't happening right now.  I've spoken to my WW leader about it and simply having lost 64 pounds in six and a half months is a lot.  He thinks my body just needs to catch up with what I've done and what I'm doing.  My problem is I set that pesky goal for myself a month or so back that I wanted to hit  75 pounds lost by the end of August.  (I guess I got a little cocky there huh?)  My body seems to be telling me, not so fast lady.  Have patience.  You'll get there when you get there.

I have to remember that this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon and as anyone who runs will tell you, you have to pace yourself for a distance run or you'll hit that wall.   I don't want to say that I've hit a wall, not yet.  I'm not considering these pesky 6oz up and downs to be a plateau.  I'm not sure what I'd call it but I do have to keep myself in check.  I have to have patience, and boy sometimes, that, in and of itself is the struggle right there!

6 ounces!

A couple of months ago I seemed to be playing around with 2oz, I would lose 2 oz, gain 2 oz, lose 2 oz and on and on it went.  Well....this time around it's 6 oz.  Since my weigh in June 21st to Friday's weigh in on July 26, 6 oz keep showing up, getting lost and reappearing!

I was up 6 oz this week!  I had a massive loss two weeks ago, followed by a little loss last week, so I was expecting to be either the same or a smidge down or a smidge up so I'm not too worried about the 6oz.  Add into the whole mix a lunch out at a restaurant on Thursday afternoon with some awesome volunteers, and having no ankles due to the heat and I'm actually glad that it was only 6oz.

I've always retained water easily.  Eat a pickle gain 3 pounds of water weight.  Get hot, lose my ankles and my fingers swell up.  It has been something I've been dealing with since high school when my feet swelled so much inside my boots that two of my friends had to cut the boots off of my feet for me!    A few weeks ago, the swelling in my feet got to be too much, I couldn't get a pair of shoes on to save my life and the water retention was causing pretty painful leg cramps.

My family doctor suggested compression socks as a resolution/aid in the whole thing.  I went to my local running store and picked up this snazzy pair of compression socks.

I love how they put a grey L and R at the toes so you would put them on the right foot!

I can honestly say I think it is the best money I have spent in a long time.  My feet have been so bad this past week, that I'm coming home from work and fighting to get them on, and once they are on I instantly feel relief.  The burning stinging sensation leaves and I'm actually comfortable again within an hour.  The other night in the middle of the night, my feet were swollen, my ankles were gone and my feet hurt so badly that I was in tears.  I managed to get the compression socks on at 2am in the dark and after about an hour was comfortable enough that I was able to finally go to sleep.

Today is another of those days.  I woke up this morning with sore feet and legs but I wanted to go for my walk with Angus, so on went the compression socks and I had a great walk.  We didn't break any speed records as Angus was not in the mood to do intervals today, although I did drag him along with me when I tried to run (tried being the operative word when you have a dog trotting along behind you moaning and groaning with every step).  After getting home and showering I was heading over to take my mom shopping and decided to just wear my regular old socks.  I don't mind the bright pink socks, but they didn't quite go with the blue shirt I was going to wear :)

Half way through our running around I told my mom that I had to stop by my house and pick up my socks for when I took her home.  My legs and feet were killing me and were so sensitive to the socks I was wearing that it was painful to walk. When we got back to my parents house, after hauling all the shopping in, the very next thing I did was put my compression socks on.  It was struggle as my feet were swollen but after a few minutes of grunting and tugging I finally had them on.  Within an hour, the horrendous ache in my feet and legs was gone.  I am so thankful that I finally found something to give me a little bit of relief.  I fully realize I need to go to the doctor to let him know that the socks are helping but that the swelling and the pain are getting worse.  It's been about a month since the severe pain started.  I just need to figure out what's happening with my poor tender tootsies!

Giving up the Gym

Recently while looking at our monthly budget, my husband and I made a mutual decision to give up the gym.  It costs us over 100.00 a month and neither of us are able to get there on a regular basis.    So I know some people are going to say, she's done for, she's going to start gaining weight, or what a silly decision giving up the gym!

But it's not a silly decision for us.  When we joined the gym, I worked just a few blocks from it and I would go two to three times a week, and every Saturday or Sunday with my husband.  When I took the contract for my current position, we knew it was going to be a waste of money but we had signed a 2 year contract so we were stuck with it.  I would go to the gym once a week for their Zumba class, until they moved it to an earlier time it wasn't possible for me to attend anymore.  Then it got that I just popped in when I felt like.

I attribute my weight loss to getting moving, my midday walks at work and my long walks on the weekends.  Add in that I'm doing starting to do intervals and I think I'm doing pretty good.  So yes, we're giving up the gym.

However,  mother nature has provided us with all of the equipment we need!

Mother Nature's Variety setting on the Stairmaster

Mother Nature's natural Stairmaster

Mother Nature's Treadmill

Mother nature's Hill Climb setting on the Treadmill

A great fitness buddy!

Who needs to pay for  a gym when you can have all of this for free?