Back in the Swing of Things

Dave and I have had personal trainers for a while now and though there have been improvements, I am not seeing the changes I need to be seeing to keep a positive outlook on the whole thing. That being said, I have since changed trainers and though at first I was a little apprehensive about my new training as I don’t like change, it is turning out to be a good thing. I have already started to lose weight more rapidly and consistently than with the previous trainer. I also feel like I am getting more out of my training sessions in that I am more tired and sore afterwards (in that good I just worked out sort of way).
But because of the length of time it took to get a point where I am starting to lose weight consistently, etc, I am going to have to rework my wedding weight loss plans. This is very upsetting to me and I feel like a complete failure if I think about it too much, but with only a year left until our wedding day (and probably about 2 months less than that until I get a wedding dress), there just isn’t enough time to get to my ideal weight or even the first reasonable weight goal I had set out for myself.
It is probably just best to set a new goal for myself and start moving towards it and not think about what could have been. Though this is very hard for me, it will be what I try to do over the next little while.

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Not as Expected

So over the last little while I have been watching what I eat (about 90% of the time) and of course, going to the gym to work out with my trainer. I have not however, seen much success in terms of weight loss. The scale and I are just not in agreement of what is good enough to get these pounds off. I have lost a few pounds I suppose, but nothing significant and definitely nothing consistent. I have however, noticed that I am much stronger – which though I will admit is a very good thing, it is not helping me look better which means I don’t really feel any better about myself. I essentially have a year left until I want to start looking at wedding dresses and just a little longer than that until I have to walk down the aisle. Though these two things are definitely not my only reason to lose weight, they are to driving points that make me want to get it done now. I don’t want a plus size dress – I don’t want to be ashamed of my wedding photos. Time to tighten the belt metaphorically so I can do it literally later on.

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Personal Trainer

About a month and a half ago, Dave and I signed up for personal trainers. I think I mentioned that we signed up at one of the many local Goodlife Fitness gyms and that we registered for the introductory peronsal trainers, but we have since signed up with them longer term (or at least, longer term). Right now our sessions will last until the end of November if we leave them at twice a week. We are thinking of bumping it up to three times a week but that will only happen if after a review of our finances, post-closing fees (house is coming in TWO days!) we are able to afford a longer contract at the three times a week frequency.

We have however, decided that personal trainers was definitely the way to go for us. After about 4 or 5 sessions both of us admitted that we would have stopped going if we didn't have a contract, a great deal of money invested in this and someone waiting for us at the gym with an appointment we can't really cancel at the last minute (not without a good reason at least). We also both really like our trainers and their individual approaches to our fitness. For those of you who know Dave and I personnally, you will already know that we are in two different categories in terms of fitness levels and what we are trying to get our of the gym. Dave is tall and pretty skinny, he has a high metabolism and before we started slacking in the last couple of years, he was pretty active. I on the other hand, am average height but overweight and have pretty much always been a non-active person. While my main goal for my personal trainer is to lose weight, his is to gain strength.

I will have to sit down sometime and give a proper review of how things are progressing and my trainer's regime to get me fit, but for now, I just wanted to say that if you are at all considering personal training to lose weight or reach any other of your personal fitness goals, do it. Sit down with a trainer and determine a schedule and payment plan that fits into your finances - our trainers were really accomodating and did everything they could to get us something that worked with our finances. We normally don't have issues with money, but considering the new house, wedding and photography business, we were a little worried about getting in over our heads and our trainers understood. It was really great. (my apologies if this isn't the best worded blog post, I am a little strapped for time these days and wasn't able to review it).

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Tasty Tuesday: Asparagus

Okay, so asparagus makes your pee smell funny, but whatever, deal with that and make this delicious vegetable dish.

This meal is really, really simple to make. First snap off the hard ends of your washed asparagus and place it in a baking dish. Lightly coat it with olive oil and garlic powder and give it all a good toss. Cook until tender (approximately 5-10 minutes depending on how crunchy you like them) in a 350 degree oven. As soon as the spears are cooked, pour a little bit of balsamic vinegar over them and then crumble feta cheese on top. Serve and enjoy.

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No More Curves

This past weekend I officially cancelled my Curves membership. I haven’t gone to Curves in months and even when I was going, I was no longer finding it enough for me to feel like I had a good enough workout. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great place and perhaps somewhere down the road I will return there, but for now it just isn’t right for me any longer.

I had been putting off cancelling my membership and as a result ending up paying for one month longer than I really had to, but it’s not that bad I suppose. Also, the ladies at Curves were pretty nice about  me cancelling my membership and didn’t harass me any longer than it took for the documents to print, better than expected really.

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And We’re Back…

I never really left my weight loss efforts, in fact that last month or so has been pretty hard core in terms of my exercising. But I did take a break from blogging and an even longer break from my weight loss blog. Sorry about that.

 

Long story short, Dave and I signed up at Goodlife Fitness in April and have been going on average three times a week since. When we signed up we got the introductory Personal Trainer package that they offer to all first-time registrants. We both got 6 1-hour personal training sessions and really enjoyed them. In fact we enjoyed them so much that we have since signed up with our trainers for 56 1-hour sessions. I believe that works out to twice a week until the end of November. My trainer’s name is Danielle and she is very nice, but pushes me very hard. The first two sessions were more about learning about the equipment so that when I was there on my own I would be able to do more than just run on the treadmill. Goodlife has a circuit system very similar to the machines at Curves and I found that I was able to do more on them than I originally thought I could. We also did some floor exercises and talked about a target heart rate I should be aiming for during each phase of my workout.
The next four sessions were pretty intense. In fact, the third workout (the first really intense one) made me want to throw up afterwards and I hurt for a few days afterwards. Danielle has since learnt my actual limits and pushes me very close to that state each workout, but never actually gets me to a point where I feel like being sick or falling over during the workout or even have muscle pains for longer than a few hours the next morning. I am definitely getting stronger as I am able to get through more of each workout before I feel very tired and am able to do the workouts (even new ones) faster than when we first started. Working with her two days a week will be very good for me.

I have my personal trainer (PT) sessions every Tuesday and Thursday and Dave has his on Wednesdays and Fridays. We are therefore going to the gym four times a week which is awesome. With gym attendance like this, mixed with healthy eating, there is no way we will not reach our goals.

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Big Stuff

It will be a little while longer until I am back regularly, but for now you should know that Dave and I have signed up at Goodlife Fitness and it is going really well. We head to the gym any day that we aren't working on the big stuff that is going on in our lives right now. I will have to update you all later when I have more time and energy.

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Other Changes

So I haven’t posted in a little while and that is because I didn’t want to write this post for a few reasons. The first of which is that it is going to be a longer one and I have been so busy lately I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write any posts let alone long ones.
Though I was successful in losing weight during Phase 1 of the Curves weight loss program and didn’t gain weight during Phase 2 of the program, I never quite grasped the concept of Phase 2 and wasn’t able to be very successful at it. Perhaps I am just not strong enough to be that strict with my food intake, and perhaps that type of slightly restrictive plan isn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong Curves is a really well thought out weight loss program that incorporates proper eating and use of all the food groups, but I don’t think it is really for me. It was also about this time that I heard about the changes with the Weight Watchers program.
The new Weight Watchers program is called Points Plus and has changed how points are calculated. Old points used to be based solely on calories, fat and fibre, but with the new program points are based on the ‘building blocks’ of calories: fat, protein, carbohydrates and sugar. This is to encourage healthier use of your points. Also, all fruit and most vegetables are free despite their natural sugar content. So long story short, I am now using this new program.
Thing are going well, I have gotten back on track and am definitely headed in the right direction now.
I have a few other changes in the works but don’t want to get into them just now.

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Stephanie Beach Photography

It’s not really weight loss related (okay, it’s not at all weight loss related), but I have started my own website and would love it if you checked it out. Thanks!!

http://wwww.stephaniebeachphotography.com/

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Temptation

The past couple of days I have been trying my darndest to resist temptations in my attempt to stick to my diet and I HAVE SUCCEEDED...so far. Let's hope it stays that way as we head into the weekend.

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Protein

When I tried the Curves diet for the first time I was pleasantly surprised with my first week of results. I lost about 6 pounds in that first week, but then only lost another 4 or so in the weeks following that. This wasn't necessarlily the diet's fault, but it is how it turned out. When I tried it the first time I also went with the Carbohydrate version of the diet thinking it would be easier for me as I love carbs and this version had more of them than the Protein version.
This time however, I am restarting the diet (ie. starting from Phase 1 of the diet) with the Protein version. The lower quantity of carbs will be difficult for me, but I have heard from friends, Curves members and in online forums that this version results in greater weight loss. Since I need the pounds to drop at a decent rate for me to stay motivated, I thought I would give it a try. I am on my third day and things are going well...though I think they usually go well the first few days of a diet.

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New Inspiration

This past holiday season I found the inspiration I so desperately needed.
I first found it in my mom, again. She has lost 59 pounds in the last two years! She has done this using the Weight Watchers counting method and regular attendance to the weekly Weight Watchers meetings. Seeing her and how much weight she has lost was very motivating and made me want to get working towards a healthier me again.
I was then inspired by Dave. He asked me to marry him and the idea of walking down that aisle and starting our married life together at my current weight was too much to bear. We have not set a firm date, but will be working towards a Fall 2012 wedding.
I have set my goal of just under 1 pound a week until two to three months prior to the wedding (to ensure I can get a dress in time). To reach this goal I have set in place several things, firstly I have restarted the Curves diet, starting right back at Phase I. I have also started attending Curves on a regular basis again (Tuesday and Thursdays to be precise) and am going to be trying out the new Curves Zumba next week to see if I think that will help at all. I will be working out on Monday evenings, walking to class on Wednesdays and doing an intensive workout on Saturdays and Sundays. Fridays will be my day off from exercise as I know I enjoy doing nothing on Fridays.
I am not saying it will be easy, but I have a real deadline now, something that I can’t push off too long and once a date is set, I won’t be able to push it off at all. I do not want a plus size wedding dress. I do not want to be a white blob walking down the aisle.

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Curves Zumba

Curves Zumba is something that is new to Curves this year and today I signed up for the first day of it at my Curves location. It is next Tuesday (Jan 11) and I am pretty eager to try it out.
Zumba is a “latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music and contagious steps to form a “fitness party” that is downright addictive”. Let’s hope that’s right. Let’s also hope that I am able to learn the moves as I normally have a pretty hard time with dance-routine fitness programs. It is only $2 to try it out next week so not a huge investment to see if it is right for me.

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