All is Quiet on the Homefront

The past week has been a tad quiet in terms of my journey, but not in the madness region.

The noro-she-devil-virus-sickness laid claim to not one, but 3 people in my house…myself included. That was a hell I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. My ribs, stomach and chest muscles took the brunt of the pain from the evil that is the noro-virus. My daughters and I inadvertently spread the devil virus love to a few family members that do not dwell in our house (sorry guys!). Crossing my fingers that it stays far away from my hubs and 9mth old son. So far, so good!

Tomorrow marks the 25th day of my lifestyle change. Here’s a short list of changes that I have noticed thus far:

• I have so much more energy than I did before I started…it’s strange, but a good strange.
• I do not feel like I am starving to death.
• My mental clarity is a little better.
• And my favorite…my pants are getting too big. This is a slight problem, but it’s a great problem to have if I do say so myself.

I know there are many more changes that I will notice in the next few months and I’m excited!

On another note, I found this picture on Pinterest (ericame3, if you want to follow me) with the caption: 5lbs of fat next to 5lbs of muscle! This is why you should never allow a scale to determine your fitness progress…

If you are like me, then visualizations like this will speak volumes to you. Just because the scales aren’t screaming huge weight loss numbers, it doesn’t mean you aren’t doing the right thing. Keep on keep’n on.

Until next time…

-Erica

Down in More Ways Than One

After week 1 my impatient self decided I'd hop on the scales to see if by some miraculous miracle I had dropped any weight. Not so much. 

To my disbelief, I had actually gained 2lbs. GAINED 2lbs after 4 days of working out, 7 days of eating right...this can’t be correct. Automatic shot to the new and improved ego. 

Granted, I hadn’t worked out in years and hadn’t done any kind of strength training since high school, but who really wants to put in that kind of time an effort to gain weight? I could find many easier ways to do that with little to no effort involved; eat a big mac or 12, drink my weight in sun-drop, eat all of the kids leftover Christmas candy…the list is endless. Thank goodness there is a reason I gained the first week:

“When someone starts a new exercise program, they often experience muscle soreness. The more intense and "unfamiliar" the program, the more intense the muscle soreness. This soreness is most prevalent 24 to 48 hours after each workout. In the first few weeks of a new program, soreness is the body trying to "protect and defend" the effected or targeted tissue. Exercise physiologists refer to this as delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.

This type of soreness is thought to be caused by tissue breakdown or microscopic tears in muscle tissue. When this happens, the body protects the tissue. The muscle becomes inflamed and slightly swollen due to fluid retention. This temporary retention of fluid can result in a 3- to 4-pound weight gain within a few weeks of a new program. Keep in mind that muscle soreness is not necessarily a reflection of how hard you worked. In fact, some people feel no signs of muscle soreness, yet will experience the muscle protection mechanisms of water retention and slight swelling.”

Makes sense. Improved ego returned.

When week 2 of my perilous journey came to an end, I was very hesitant to hop up on the scale. My impatient behind had learned a lesson the previous week - undoubtedly my impatients prevailed again and I hopped back on the scale.

Had I gained another 2lbs? Maybe dropped back down to my starting weight?

Heck no…I had dropped 4lbs! Woop woop!

I was all prepared to start my new binge diet of big macs and sun-drop had I gained again, but no such luck ;) Maybe next time? i kidd, i kidd.

So here is a photo of my 2 week transformation…

Baahahahahaha. if only it were that easy...

-Erica

One Full Week Down

Yesterday marked a small milestone in my journey; 1 week down.

There may be many more left to go, but at least I know:

1. It won’t kill me. (but the trainers might)
2. I CAN do it.
3. I can live without diet soda/juice/but not alcohol…j/k I can live without alcohol.

If I can eat right and workout 4-5 times in a 7 day span…then I can do it long term, no questions asked.

Today I came across a photo of me holding my oldest daughter at 7 days old. I recalled my weight at that particular time and shockingly realized that I weigh close to 100lbs more today than I did 7 days after giving birth to Lexia. Made me sick. to. my. stomach. To think, I thought I was super fat then….geez. I’d give one of my kidneys to be back to that size right about now. More motivation I suppose. I guess it’s not such a bad thing that I can find way more reasons to get healthy than stay overweight. 

Here’s a GREAT reason to get healthy…

This comic strip is displayed on the wall at Next Level Fitness and is a very sad reality that I am slowly but surely, coming to terms with.

Which one fits your schedule better?

-Erica

And so it begins...

 Started my “lifestyle change” on Monday and I must say, it’s a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I have cut out my diet sodas completely. I figured by now my caffeine deprivation would lead to a murder/mangling of someone…but so far so good! Keeping my calorie count around where it should be. I’m not starving or depriving myself of normal meals just controlling my portions. I am finding this way a lot easier than cutting myself off completely from the goods and watching my family continue to eat pizza/pasta etc. If you knew how terrible my eating habits were before than this alone would blow your mind. I’ll put it to you this way; a bag of chips would become an empty bag WHILE I would be cooking dinner. No bags have been emptied by me in the last few days, or even touched for that matter. My sweet husband, after my extreme workout mind you, goes and buys a cook-out milkshake and eats it in front of me. That was a true test of my willpower. I passed! I had my own sweet treat of honey nut cheerios and light almond milk. Take that cook out! (I still love you but not in the i-want-to-eat-you-everyday way).

If you are wondering about my new workout excursion at Next Level Personal Training, here is the breakdown of my first “boot camp”…

• The trainers were phenomenal. I never once felt out of my comfort zone (which wasn’t very big considering I haven’t worked out in years)
• The exercises which consisted of using ropes, weight sleds, resistance bands, medicine balls, kettle bell weights and other tools, were very user friendly. Most of them sound intimidating but they truly were not. I’m not going to lie, I was terrified when I walked in early and saw what the earlier class was doing. I broke out in a sweat just watching them.
• The other members were super supportive and approached me with a brief synopsis of their relationship with Next Level. They were very inspiring and welcoming.
• The time flew by and I felt like I had really accomplished something at the end. I felt it all over my body. It was awesome and I am definitely looking forward to round two tonight…I can see how people get addicted to this kind of stuff. 

My sister in-law is the one who pushed me to check them out and we endured it together. I’m sure she would agree wholeheartedly with the above. Here is a link to their FB page if you are looking for an out-of-gym experience https://www.facebook.com/NextLevelPT

On a less exciting note, yesterday I had to go to my endocrinologist and was told what I didn’t want to hear “you will have to be on thyroid medication for the rest of your life.” I’ve been praying for the alternative, that the thyroiditis hadn’t damaged my thyroid to the point of no return…but, everything happens for a reason. Oh, and my vitamin D is still entirely too low…in other words I need a warm, sunny beach stat. or just take a larger dose than I’ve been taking. I’m sure my husband would go for the more vitamin supplement choice unless the beach trip would be free. Ehh, not happening :)

So far so good. Just gotta keep pushing myself. I don’t have the courage to post my starting stats yet, but I know I will gain the needed courage as this whole thing progresses.

Until next time.
-Erica

One Last Hoorah

Like a woman spending her last day in her 20's/30's etc...I spent my last day of not caring what my body consumed in a celebratory way. Big "e" went out El Amigo style with the biggest, cheesiest burrito I've ever attempted to eat. For a moment I was in foodie heaven. I was quickly brought back down from cloud 9 by tryin to pry my fat rear out from the dreaded booth...a fat kids nightmare. To norms the booth is nothing more than a place to sit to eat, but to a large an in charge it's more like a form of russian roulette. You fit, you fit, you fit, damn...you don't fit and gotta move to a chaired table. One of the things I definitely will not miss when I'm back to being healthy. Even a chair in some restaurants is sketchy...you never know when your going to hit the floor all shallow hal's woman's style. Good thing for me those worries will soon be but a faint memory of what use to be. In my last post I mentioned I would be making drastic healthy changes without a gym membership, yet. Well...starting tomorrow I will be one of the newest members at Next Level personal training. My sister inlaw and myself went for an assessment yesterday and let me just say, I feel like I competed in a triathlon but literally did 3 squats and 2 push ups. That's it. I'm so out of shape it's not funny. Tomorrow after my first session I am probably going to fall out and go to sleep in the parking lot before I can even raise a leg to get into my car...it is that bad folks. How awesome will it be to say "I worked out today, and I don't feel like I'm going to die!" seriously, it hurts my arms to type this now all because I hoisted my big self up off the ground twice. Not 20x's, but twice. Embarrassing, I know. What is that saying? Pain is weakness leaving the body? So far I have fully verified that I am one super dee duper weak being. Not for long :) Until tomorrow... -Erica

I love food, but the feeling isn't mutual.

For about 95% of the people I know, it's easy as pie (no pun intended) to eat what they want without gaining any noticeable amount of weight. As for my self, part of the 5%, I can have a thought about a piece of cake and gain 5lbs. Needless to say, imma big girl.

Since I was in the fifth grade I've been built bigger than most women an I grew to be ok with that. I mean, there isn't much you can do about being tall except maybe have part of your shins removed and I feel like that just isn't my style...I like being somewhat proportioned ;)

Nowadays, after having 3 perfect little bundles of joy, I have stats that resemble those of a Carolina Panthers linebacker. It's not good and I have plans to make them resemble a Top Cat...j/k...maybe more like a running back...I'm trying to set realistic goals here.

After giving birth to my son 8mths ago I started shedding weight pretty fast, too fast and too easy thanks to nursing. Unfortunately, as soon as I stopped so did the weightloss and I started regaining the weight I had effortlessly lost. I did however, start losing other things....my hair, my patience, my memory and basically my mind (not that I had much left to lose in that region). It was not a great time in my life. I cried, was scared and couldn't for the life of me, understand what was going on. I started having night sweats and headaches again. I blamed them on my hormones and figured they'd work themselves out. Nahh, I was wrong. My Dr did some blood work and discovered some weird numbers when it came to my thyroid levels on top of a severe vitamin d deficiency. He sent me to an endocrinologist who discovered that I have thyroiditis...not sure if it's hashimotos or post partum yet but either way, my body hates me. I'm currently in the process of getting my meds on point which takes multiple doc visits over a span of time. My thyroid levels currently have me placed in the hypothyroidism category and ain't nobody got time for that. I need my metabolism now more than ever. With that said...my new journey will begin.

I'm going to basically use this blog as an accountability tool to help me stay on track along with the My Fitness Pal app (i've used it other times and it helped tremendously) so if you have it, add me and tell me to go do some sit ups or jog if you see any unhealthy choice pop up under my diary and I'll do the same. I will be making healthier choices, exercising more and setting realistic goals. No pills, no gym membership (as of yet) and no fad diet. I have to lose weight. No getting around it. I am also borderline diabetic, my back hurts daily, my bones sound like a bonfire popping and cracking from the pressure of my size...and I definitely ain't got time for none of that.

If you want a good laugh, maybe even a tear every once in a while, then follow my journey starting 1/6/14...because I can guarantee it will be one for the books...
-Erica