Journey With Me

I made this goal I want to hit by my surgery anniversary date (aka “surgiversary”). Although I haven’t said much about it lately, I’m still wanting that goal. After last night, now more than ever.

Yesterday I registered for the Oak Apple Run 10k, to be held in Royal Oak on June 2nd, 2012. I am so excited for this because Amy Cremen is going to run it with me, and Mark has informed me he’ll be there yelling encouraging things like “MOVE!!!”. I also registered for the Detroit Free Press 5k on October 21st, 2012. My cousin Tina is running the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon the same day. I’m not doing a half, but I figure I can cheer her on when I’m done!

I’ve started doing leg-work again. Squats, lunges, I hit the stairs. I also threw my sneakers (more about that some other time). I started the C25K program, and I have a B210K (“Bridge”) which will pick up at the of the other. THEN…I spent about an hour setting my schedule up in Outlook – which is leashed to my phone – for the gym. Mostly because I have something on Mondays through April that shifted Monday things to Tuesdays. And, I like to know what I’m doing (plus, it makes my calendar looks BUSY!).

• Mondays – Rest day. I have something after work I can’t change.
• Tuesdays – Training with Mark. Elliptical. C25K.
• Wednesdays – Training with Mark. Spin class with Blair.
• Thursdays – Elliptical. C25K.
• Fridays – 5:45 a.m Spin with Blair. Elliptical in the p.m.
• Saturdays – Elliptical. C25k. The Boot Camp with Mark.
• Sundays – Spin with Blair, followed by Abs with Blair.

It leaves me with plenty of evening to sit with God even though I can’t physically get to the church on time during the week (there’s a joke in there somewhere). I do follow mid-week service online. The Whosoevers are live every Friday night, and I’m at service every Saturday night (just about). Also…I’m putting myself on restriction from going out to eat once a week (more about that in the other blog).

This is so different, considering the biggest event going on in my life a year ago was watching Spartacus on Starz (I know…major fail), the 8 DVD’s out-at-a-time from Netflix, Moose Tracks ice cream, and hiding in my flat. I’m excited.

Oh…before I sign off. Mark decided to teach me how to duck. Obviously, I failed because he nailed me with a full-on plow straight to the forehead. I have a knot and a bruise brewing.

Toodles!

-Traci

Last February I was making tentative plans to have weight loss surgery. My surgeon’s office had been told by my insurance company they would have to resubmit my file after I reached the “six month’s of supervised visits with a weight loss doctor”. Fairly standard requirement. I wasn’t shocked or surprised. Plus, I was half way there. The waiting didn’t seem so long at that point.

Backing up to the beginning of January 2011: I had taken my very first spin class. The cycles were arranged in a circle, each rider could see one another. I was so nervous I dropped my water bottle onto the floor, it exploded and created a puddle that was about four feet in diameter. I was also the biggest person in the room. I spent the entire hour parked on my bike. I couldn’t stand up, let alone do a push up, climb hills, or do sprints. I could…pedal. The instructor spoke with me after and encouraged me to come back. I didn’t.

Walking was a chore, typically it’d cause a spasm in my lower back. I couldn’t do stairs as an activity, you should have seen me when I climbed the stairs to my flat! I wouldn’t go near the elliptical. A very angry man made that machine. No way. So in short, I wouldn’t do much of anything in the scope of physical activity.

My inner-me voice would go through this whole dialog with my brain as to why going to the gym wasn’t an option. People aren’t clean. It’s a long drive (it’s under four miles). It’ll cut into my “time”. There’s a movie on Starz. Something got recorded on the DVR. Maybe someone will call for dinner (so they could be completely put out by my limited seating options). Pajamas were more comfortable than the tight pants I had on. There’s ice cream in the freezer.

The list went on.

I had no motivation. Even after my surgery. At three months my doctor got on my case about my activity level and the need to increase it. Admittedly, I had this warped thought the weight would just magically fantastically fall off. Yeah, no. Weight loss surgery provided me with a necessary tool to change my eating habits. I had to make other changes.

Four months ago and forty pounds I still couldn’t do stairs. Friday I did four flights. Yesterday I did a freaking truckload of squats, a handful of lunges (careful lunges), played catch with a ten pound medicine ball (truth be known…I actually whined about being left out on that one). Most days I do five miles on the elliptical (or a little over). I average 17-19 miles in spin class (I eventually went back). Today I did 21.7 miles in spin class and started running. Running. If anyone told me a year ago I’d be running, let alone committing to a TEN-k, I would have fallen into hysterical laughter with an ice cream scoop in my hand.

I’m going to tell my therapist the same thing I’m about to blab to all of you. I have had a lot of changes over the past nine months, most of which my brain hasn’t caught up with yet. I look at that list of what I couldn’t do and the one of what I am doing (oh…and the fact I’m suddenly getting hit on by men)…I see myself in several mirrors every day and think, “Look at me! I’m no longer a hot-fat mess.”

And nobody gets to tell me I “can’t do” whatever “it” is. I’ve tossed myself over a huge hurdle: me. Soon I’ll be scaling mountains.

(Sort of…I’m really not interesting in mountain climbing. I like sleeping in a bed.).

-Traci

For you no-ops out there, an NSV is a Non-Scale-Victory. For everyone else, Phat means “great, wonderful, terrific” (not to be confused with “fat”, which is a word never to be uttered about my cute self ever again!).

Back in October I weighed about 40 pounds more than what I weigh currently. My trainer seemed to love the stairs, but for the life of me I couldn’t master them because my knees would just bawk in the most painful utterances you could imagine (okay…I could imagine – you know, like they called me names and cussed me out). Anyways, we stopped doing stairs and moved onto other things (like boxing!).

I had been itching to get something else incorporated into my routine, but tweaking my knee held me back a week. So today (the day after I did 19.4 mile in spin class) I took to the flight of stairs at back entrance of the gym. I jogged up once, then down, then back up. I did this four times. Took about a 45 second break, did the routine four more times. Took another break, and again four more times. I was pretty freaking proud of myself. Seriously, four months ago – only four – I couldn’t bounce up those stairs. And tonight, girlfriend here bounced!

My second little NSV came through a private messaging session with someone on Facebook. We were working out some details about a thing next week, and I mentioned I decided to do the Oak Apple 10k Run on June 2nd. I asked if they had any pointers for someone like me new to running (I am planning to get to Hansons to get fitted for runners within the next week). I was completely thrilled at the reply which included, “Count me in for the 10k!”. I felt like a rock star. I know, it’s silly. Understand, a year ago…I couldn’t get into a booth and I didn’t exactly have a line of people who wanted to hang out with the fat lady. Now…dude! Rock star! I have no idea how this will work, all I know is it’s six measly miles. I do five on the elliptical most days and almost twenty in spin twice a week. I already feel like a rock star! So..bring. It. ON!

Finally, the third and final NSV (which left me freezing my butt off outside for almost half an hour tonight) came through bumping into my neighbor when I got home after the gym. I got checked out, head to toe to head to toe again. He said, “What are you doing, chisling it off? Look at you, skinny!” Aaaand we spent the next 25 minutes flirting. Which really sucks because although he’s gainfully employed, owns his own house and car, he drinks too much. Setting that aside, it was absolutely THRILLING to be called all but hot. He commented on my face, my neck, kept pointing at my legs.

Yes, total Gloat Post…and I loved every minute of it!

After having an evening of disgust at the gym, I thought I’d share my own list of “Do’s” with you all (aren’t you just dying to see them???).

1. If you pee, wash your hands with soap AND water. The fact I even have to put this in print is disgusting. However, tonight I was at the sink after I peed and vigorously washed my hands (anyone who’s seen my dry, cracked knuckles knows I’m a teensy weensy bit OCD about this). A staff member from the gym peed, pretended to squirt soap on her hand, turned on the faucet, ran her fingers under the water, dove for the paper towel dispenser (I swear she did), then left. That took all of ten seconds. I washed my hands for 30 (in case you were wondering). 

2. Do your “ohmygoshigottalookcute” routine at home. Really. Nobody…and I do mean no-baw-dee…cares what you look like, how your make-up is, how big of a latte you got; nor do we desire to be suffocated in the locker room because you found it insanely necessary to share an entire bottle of hairspray with the girls…

…like it was Ultra Klutch. 

3. Scrub the machine as if you were going to claim it for your own. In other words, like you were going to lick the handles. 

4. If your gym has a no cell phone rule…follow it. I realize this is up for debate because some can carry on conversations and text like there’s no tomorrow as they’re running for their lives or climbing a mechanical Mount Kilimanjaro. However, check out the people who don’t know how to do either…they’re disruptive (loud) and they practically stop what they’re doing. Personally, I don’t text while on a machine because my coordination is in question. Just for the record…there is such as thing as cell phone karma. 

5. Park in between the lines. There’s a reason the parking spaces are marked in white, yellow, and or some other bright color. So you’ll park properly. It’s like coloring, but with consequences. If your the dipwad who parks two inches away from my truck like you did tonight, you deserve to get your door biffed. Just sayin’. 

I bought Trader Joe’s Frozen Spinach Lasagna on a whim one weekend. It sounded good, and I’m mildly open to trying something different. I also would like to add here that I’m more apt to eat cooked spinach than dry, leafy spinach (salad style). Plus, it had cheese – huge win. I love cheese. I love hot cheese and enjoy watching it get all long and stringy when it’s melting. Yep. Love cheese.

My spinach lasagna could be heated in the oven or the microwave. The boilers are on full-cook-me-in-my-flat heat mode, therefore I decided the oven wasn’t going to be an option. I’d have all the windows open in a heartbeat and my head would have been stuck in the freezer. I stuck it in the microwave for about 15 minutes and proceeded to finish cleaning the kitchen.

I got excited over the aroma. It smelled like lasagna. After the microwave dinged, I let it sit for a few minutes (per the instructions), took it out and transferred it to a bowl. The disappointment began to set in when I noticed the only cheese on this little concoction was what melted (crusted) to the top. It didn’t even string. The spinach mix was watery, the pasta was blah. No sauce. Lack of cheese. Tasted…bland.

I gave serious thought to driving my bowl over to TJ’s and asking for my money back. Truly a disappointing experience. Think next time I’m in the mood for lasagna I’m going to raid the Bariatric Foodie blog.

Toodles.

Kind of catchy, don’t you think? I should forewarn you, the reader: you may find this post a little unnerving. The title says it all.

I posted the picture which will appear at the end of this blog (no peeking) on a forum I lurk on for those who have had or are considering some form of weight loss surgery. It was in response to a thread about a picture that has been floating around Facebook that “promotes a more realistic view of body imagery” (that’s a quote – thank you N.M.!). I think the picture promotes a view of body imagery from the male photographer’s perspective, or the magazine exec’s, or the editors.

That warped perspective is plastered on every single magazine cover found in the check-out lane at the grocery store, on T.V., on radio. It’s caused significant damage to our self-esteem, and far greater damage to teenagers and young women who feel they have to live up to this stuff….they can’t enjoy life because they’re too busy trying to have the perfect body.

News flash: no body is perfect, and real women don’t look like that.

Anyway, in the thread discussion someone had mentioned they were tempted to take a picture of themselves in a tank top and underwear, but weren’t that brave. I have NO idea what came over me. Emblazoned permanently in cyberspace for like….EVER…. I had responded with: “I’ll do it! I’ll do it tonight after the gym.”

You’re thinking, “Is she inSANE?”

Maybe.

A little impulsive. But you know, real women aren’t airbrushed. Hair…uh-uh. Never looks that good without the aid of a professional (or a great wig). Also, I see real women all the time in the gym – in all shapes, sizes, colors, and clothes – they work their butts off.

So this is the real me. A real sixteen. In my tank top, next to my unmade bed,  and…uh…in my underwear.

I was going to make some crack about the song Time Is On My Side by the Rolling Stones, until I realized it is actually about a guy who is fairly convinced the girl who left him will crawl back to him (I call this “Man-Delusion”. Not much has changed in 200 years.). Now the song will be on continuous loop in your brain.

“It’s a small world after all…” 

Sorry.

My schedule as of late has proven to be a challenge. Actually, what has been the challenge is to get what I need to get done and get where I need to be by 7:00p.m. Like tonight, for instance. I didn’t get out of the gym until just before 7:00. By the time I got home and showered (before you ask: no, I will not shower at the gym) the clocked had ticked its way to 7:30. If I had gotten dressed and flown out the door, I would have arrived where I was supposed to be after 8:00. It ends at 9:00, I would have gotten home at 9:30. This entire thought produced a mild panic attack. Therefore, I put on my sleep shirt, a pair of shorts and washed my lunch dishes.

I think that would be my only complaint about going to the gym after work. I, in all honesty, cannot comfortably call it a complaint. For the moment, it’s the way things need to be. Mondays and Tuesdays seem to be the days where I feel pressed for time. And for those of you who know a little of what’s up on a personal level, I do not desire to feel pressed at all. For me it’s the same as being suffocated, as if the air has slowly been sucked out of the room.
Sleep has been difficult for the past couple of weeks, even with the Ambien. I’m waking up in the middle of the night (interrupted sleep), lately I’ve woken up practically daily around 4:00a.m. for some insane reason. The sleep problem has most likely added to the whole panic attack thing I mentioned earlier…which also might be an indicator I need my meds adjusted. I already have an appointment to meet with my doctor next Friday for a follow up to something else. We are going to have a chat!

On another note, I can’t believe next week will be nine months. I’ve lost 120 pounds thus far. I’m about half the person I was inch wise (a year ago I wore a 32 in pants). I own boxing gloves and bright green sneakers. I now wear a large t-shirt as compared to the 4X’s I wore last year at this time. I am about to do something daring to my hair (you’ll have to wait to see…if it comes out bad I’m not showing you). The driver’s seat in my vehicle is closer to the steering wheel than it’s ever been. I no longer eat ice cream (pick yourselves off the floor). I went from having to be put on high blood pressure medication to 110/60. How cool am I?

I still don’t recognize the woman in who looks back at me every day. I’ve been assured this will change eventually. In the meantime I’m just taking things day by day.

Oh, apparently I did have an Ambien moment. I woke up this morning to find half a tiny bottle of Diet Pepsi on my nightstand next to a cheese stick wrapper.

I remember nothing.

Toodles.

Mini-Interview: Jill R..

There are 14 years between my friend Jill and I. She’s 27 headed for 28, I’m 41 headed for 42. From time to time I tell her technically I’m  old enough to be her mother. Hey – it could have happened (my mother would have been sooo p—-d!). We were introduced to each other in a bar in North San Diego County several years ago. Jill liked car bombs. I liked whiskey (as some of you know, a little too much). Jill was confident in her ability to do just about anything (don’t let her tell you any different. She’s freaking brilliant.). I was the local smart-ass (yeah, not much has changed). We liked beer, hated our bosses, dug tattoos (on different levels), we fantasized about tripping skinny people (sorry), we loved to eat, we both were fat…

We became instant friends.

We know each other’s stories fairly well. Jill loves Kiss and The Reverend Horton Heat (two completely different sounds on a music spectrum). She used to only wear flip flops. Her husband owns a tattoo shop in Escondido (shameless plug, click here). She owns a bookkeeping and tax preparation business (second shameless plug, click here), as well as two dogs, a bird and a hedgehog.

Over the past eight and a half months, Jill and I have spent a tremendous amount of time on the phone. We both made a decision to change our lives, and we discuss it practically daily because we’re not in the same state anymore. I thought Jill’s weight loss story would make for a great blog and she obliged me. I should make it clear: we both started our weight loss journeys in May, different things propelled us to make our decisions (i.e. I opted to do weight loss surgery – which doesn’t make one magically thin). However, we both have literally worked our asses off. Here’s Jill’s words:

What led you to decide to lose weight?

I got on the scale and it said 375. I got on the scale 5 freaking times and it still said 375. That number scared the (blank) out of me. I was 27 and 375 lbs. My husband is 6’6″ and weighed 400 lbs, how the hell did I only weigh 25 lbs less than him? That is soooo not the way this is supposed to work! And more than that… I knew that if I kept going that way I’d be dead before I hit 40, I didn’t want to die. I mean I know we all got to, but didn’t want to die because I let myself get to damn fat.

What did you do when you started going to the gym?

When I started going to the gym, I could barely walk without being out of breath and miserable. I would walk maybe 10 minutes on the treadmill at a speed of 2.0 and then do maybe 15 minutes on the exercise bike. After that, if I felt up to it I would lift weights. I usually did seated dips (20 lbs, 3 sets of 10), tricep extensions (15 lbs, 3 sets of 10), seated rows (10 lbs, 3 sets of 10), lat pulldowns (20 lbs, 3 sets of 10), chest press (25 lbs, 3 sets of 10), and leg press (50 lbs, 3 sets of 25).

What do you do at the gym now?

I do the elliptical for an hour (burning between 1500 and 2000 calories), then I will either do the stair machine for 30 minutes, or run on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I usually rotate the stair machine and the treadmill. After I’m done with cardio I do situps. I use one of the bosu balls, and I’ll do at least 250 situps a day (sometimes as much as 500). When I’m done with my situps, I move on to weights. I do both leg and arm weights every day, my trainer HATES me for it, but it works for me so thats what I do. I do Bicep curls (20 lb free weights, 3 sets of 15), seated dips (100 lbs, 3 sets of 15), tricep extensions (75 lbs, 3 sets of 15), seated rows (50 lbs, 3 sets of 15), lat pulldowns (90 lbs, 3 sets of 15), chest press (105 lbs, 3 sets of 15), shoulder press (50 lbs, 3 sets of 15), pull ups (using the machine that helps you, I put the counter weight at 100 and do 3 sets of 15), leg press (250 lbs, 4 sets of 25), squats on a bosu ball (I usually do this with 15 lb weights in each hand and do bicep curls while I am doing squats. I do 4 sets of 25), and push ups on the bosu ball (flat side up, 4 sets of 10). There are other exercises I do, but for the life of me I dont know what they are called. I’ll try and explain them as best as I can… One of them I will sit on a bench, put my hands right next to my butt, then slide my butt off the bench, keep my legs straight and dip down until my elbows make an L and go back up. I think its pretty close to the seated dip, but man it burns those triceps. I’ll do 4 sets of 25. On another one of them I stand up, back straight, bring my elbows to my sides and using one of their free motion weight machines I pull down until my arms are straight, then go back to them being at a 90 degree angle. I’ll do 3 sets of 15 of those. There is more… but I could sit here all day going on and on. That is the bulk of it.

What’s a typical day of eating look like? 

Breakfast 8 a.m.= 1 cup of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal or 1 packet of instant oatmeal or a Nutri-Grain bar AND protein.

Snack 10 a.m. = if I get hungry between breakfast and lunch I’ll grab and handful (like 10) plain almonds, or a piece of fruit

Lunch Noonish = 3 days a week I do just fruit. So maybe 1/2 a bananna, 1/2 an orange, a kiwi, couple strawberries and some lemon (i LOVE lemons). The other days, I’ll do either 1/2 of a boneless skinless chicken breast and veggies, sometimes 1/2 of a turkey sandwich on wheat bread, and sometimes Healthy Choice soup.

Snack 3 p.m. = cheezits with cream cheese and sliced jalapenos (12 cheezits no more, no less), or a handful of almonds, or a piece of fruit AND protein.

Dinner between 6 & 7 = Grilled boneless skineless chicken and veggies, just veggies, turkey burgers (no bread!!!), turkey tacos (no fried shells), or really any one of a million other things. I just try to keep to Chicken, Turkey and Veggies. 

If I get hungry after dinner I’ll usually grab a sugar free popsicle, or 1/2 an apple.

I do the Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein – Vanilla Ice Cream Flavor. I do 1 1/2 scoops in the morning and 1 1/2 scoops in the afternoon. 

(We have a disagreement over Cheezits. I think they’re gross now.)

I don’t spend nearly as much time in the gym as Jill does (she reminds me she doesn’t have bad knees). We each had a different approach, each with the same results: rapid weight loss. Jill started her journey at 375. Today she’s at 193.5. That’s a total weight loss of 181 pounds in eight and a half months (I’m seriously jealous and tell her so. Her response is always the same: “Dude…you’re taller than me.”).

Making a lifestyle change is always difficult and requires an incredible commitment. Those who have never struggled with obesity (which is different than carrying around an extra 30 pounds) do not understand the things we as fat persons have dealt with throughout our lives. Jill and I talk about that very topic often, and recently we’ve talked about looking in the mirror. Generally speaking, large weight loss is experienced over a span of years. The individual has time to adjust to the changes. With rapid weight loss, the changes are so quick the brain doesn’t have time to catch up. This is what Jill says about the mirror:

Most of the time I feel like I am looking at someone else. I think I see me as the fat girl in those pictures. It’s like my brain hasn’t caught on yet. Maybe disbelief is a better word.

Here are Jill’s before and after pictures. She looks amazing.

I am a firm believer God created things out of the needs which arose in the midst of those He loved:

Physicians (no brainer). Water pots. Shrunken staffs (canes). Togas. Indestructible shoes. Food raining from the skies (no, Sony Animation didn’t think of it first). Fireproof clothing. Wood that floats.

Deodorant.

Seriously. Could you imagine what the stench must have been like for the poor shepherds who had to herd sheep in the desert, under the hot sun, in togas and turbans? What about the disciples? Bible says they washed their feet, I don’t remember anywhere it says they took a bath.

“John.”

“Yes, Peter.”

“Could you sit over there on that empty pillow at the table?”

“Is there a particular reason?”

“An odor emitteth.”

I arrived at the gym today just before 5. After I changed I eagerly climbed onto an elliptical, fumbled with an app on my phone, set the level thingy on the machine display and
proceeded to do my thing. Not even two minutes passed before I caught a waft of an odor.
While it hung out like Casper the Friendly Ghost, I scoped the mirrors to find out where it came from. Which really could have been anywhere, the ceiling fans did not help the situation at ALL. Whomever it was, they smelled like they were workin’ on the railroad…

…and warehouse…and freeway…and…

Enough about the stinky person.

I have gotten a little bored with my play lists I put together for my workouts. I love the music, but to have to listen to the same songs over and over is annoying (I have this same issue with the radio. Solution: Pandora, Slacker…). Yesterday I learned of an app where someone mixed a whole mess of music with beats as part of their podcast, and they update the play list every week. So I found it in iTunes, then discovered two things: 1) it’s an iPhone app and I do not own an iPhone. 2) To eliminate the 60 second business blip at the start of every song one must upgrade to Premium. I searched to see what that looked like. It’s not even available yet! Grrrr…

So I searched the Android Market and came across this free app called FIT Radio. Their website said, “FIT Radio puts fast-paced, club-inspired mixes at your fingertips, available on-demand. Whether you’re breaking a sweat at the gym, bored at the office, or busting moves with friends, FIT Radio enhances any occasion.”

Well, it was free. I figured if I didn’t like it I could always delete it.

This thing is the BOMB!

FIT Radio is a small music player which has genres (i.e. Top 40, Hip Hop, Rock, Indie Rock, Electronic Dance Music, Dubstep, Party, Indie Dance, Lounge, Open Format), and over twenty stations (i.e. iClub Radio, Back in the Day, House Sounds, Live from XS, Live from Opera, etc.). Small note: there are a couple of genres and stations which have the word “Explicit” in the description. Means the listener won’t get surprised by the station. I appreciated the heads up.

FIT Radio does have advertising. However, I only heard the one which said I was listening to FIT Radio. Major score there. In my opinion the most fantastical thing about FIT Radio is the music stream itself. Each song moved to the next flawlessly. I’m serious! No skips, jumps, long pauses, or cut-off endings. It was so great.

So if you have given thought to switching up your workout music, I highly recommend you
check out FIT Radio. It’s free and quite nifty.

(***No, I wasn’t paid to share my opinion…actually, they have no idea I am posting this. Hopefully they won’t be too offended Stinky Person appeared first***)

-Traci