7M- Week 4 (W)

This week our little Jr turned 5….5. I can’t believe it. I am the mother of a 5 year old. So amazing; birthdays are a time of reflection and boy, has it been a journey. The journey of parenthood has frankly been the biggest thing to happen to me ever. We had a birthday party for the little guy and he really enjoyed himself.

This week I also tried a spin class. My butt hurt so badly for days afterwards and for some reason I did not get as much of a sweat out of it. Maybe next time I try it, I should dress warmer and check out another trainer that may have a more challenging routine. After the birthday party and pigging out on pizza I had to HAM at the gym on Sunday. I did an hour on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the Stairmaster. That Stairmaster is the business, I was huffing and puffing through it all. I think I have found the “kick-in-the-butt” routine. I also want to focus on doing more weight training, I managed to get that done twice this week and I think that helped knock some pounds off.

In Summary,

Weight: 203.2lbs

Distance: 11.1 miles

#of active days: 4

7M- Week 3

The mess with the scale has started again; my weight has been going up and up. At this rate I will not meet the goal of being under 200 by Thanksgiving. I did take the rest of the month to recondition my body and then start to get ready for more intense workouts.

The other thing is that since I have been going to the gym, I have been able to work out on the elliptical and that does not show on the mileage that I have run. I want to keep on with my running even though I have more cross-training options with the gym. I think cross-training will help bust the plateau and it will really be good for my muscles. I have always had it easy working on the elliptical; it gets my heart rate going while being easy on my knees too. I did join the 100km challenge with the Nike plus ladies. To be honest I will be glad if I finish with 80kms and that it really because I am doing other activities at the gym.

In Summary,

Weight: 206.4lbs

Distance: 5.6 miles

#of active days: 3

7M- Week 2 (W)

I have been enjoying the last of the beautiful fall weather. We finally signed up for the gym and hopefully I will be able to make a successful transition to working out in the gym. I took the 7 day trial at Gold’s gym and I actually like their gym. It’s a shame that they are so expensive but their machines are adequate. Running on the treadmill is like not running outside; it bores me to no end. I am really struggling with this. I think going to the gym with a partner would really help but right now I have gotten into the routine of waking up really early and with these freezing temperatures….wooow, it’s tough.

In Summary,

Weight: 206.8lbs

Distance: 14.4 miles

#of active days: 4

7M- Time flies when you are having fun

I can’t believe that our little prince is 7 months old already; he is growing into a fine young man full of laughs and giggles. It has also been a full 5 months since I have been working out and it has not been easy but I am chugging on. The weather is starting to change and it has been hard to get outside but I will keep trying.

In Summary,

Weight: n/a

Distance: 13 miles.

#of active days: 4

6M- Week 4...Reset. (W,G)

This week I knew the scale was going to be tough on me because of Jalapeno Fest 4. Traci hosted this amazing food party and boy, I went crazy. I ate too much and drank too much and the scale reminded me of that. That being said, I was able to run my longest run, 8 miles. I ran 6 of those miles. I thought I would have blisters when I took of my shoes but I survived it.

This week coming up will be damage control. I set myself back to 8 pounds to the goal but no wahala, it will be fine. IJ and I have challenged ourselves to be 6 pounds lighter by Thanksgiving which is 175lbs for him and 198lbs for me. As much as I was not a good girl, I looked good. I found this old picture from our trip to Washington DC for a side by side. Granted it was not the best picture but it did make me feel good about my progress!

In Summary,

Weight: 206

Distance: 17.4 miles

# of active days: 5

6M- Week 3....A luta Continua (W)

The struggle continues for sure.

I am so glad that I am finally out of the slump. I managed to lose another 3 pounds this week and it feels awesome. I am 5 pounds away from 199. This is so exciting; I sure hope that I don’t stall before I make it to that mark. Adding more vegetables has been helping cut the calories I was consuming and I am getting stronger as my 5K runs don’t take as much out of me anymore. I also started taking Fenugreek to help me with making milk and though I have not seen a big increase, I am glad Ishe is not as hungry lately.

This week I had some pain in right hip, I thought it was my new Asics and had to rest for 2 days. I did get back on the pavement and the pain was a lot better. I need to take advantage of the heating pad, extra stretches and switch up my running shoes.

In an effort to mix up my workouts, I brought out the Kinect Zumba game. I had really missed it and did the routine like I had been doing it forever. I am going to be doing that as my evening workout. There are 20 minute and 45 minute sessions so I am going to mix up the 20 minute beginner classes for the next 10 days and then move on to the intermediate sessions. Hopefully, this will help shed some inches in the places that I need to lose.

In Summary,

Weight: 204

Distance: 16.25 miles

# of active days: 5

6M- Week 2...It moved. (W)

Finally, the scale moved. Imagine my excitement when I got on the scale and I had actually dropped some pounds. I think the plateau is over and I am 8 pounds away from my short term goal. I thought my eyes were deceiving me for a moment but no, it’s true. I double checked today and it is still going down. Looks like my half plate of vegetables is working already, yay. To be honest, I really didn’t do so well once the weekend came but baby steps, the fridge is stocked up with vegetable and so this ought to be better. I received my order of Fenugreek and have been taking it. Hopefully I will see an increase in my milk supply soon.

I clearly and losing the weight completely differently this time around. I don’t know if it’s because of my childbearing hips but the last time I neared 200lbs, I was already squeezing into a size 12. This time, there is almost no noticeable difference in my size 14 jeans. I am really hoping for a significant transformation of my body, especially my shoulders. I still think I look like a linebacker. I will keep going at it and hopefully one day, I will get the look I am hoping for.

In Summary,

Weight: 207

Distance: 15.1 miles

# of active days: 5

The frustration...(W,M,G)

At 6 months, little Ishe is the cutest thing ever but the plateau is sucking the joy out of my life.

210 is going to be the death of me. I am staring at my short term goal of 199 and it seems so out of reach. My other goal is to reduce inches so I can possibly fit into this dress IJ promised to buy me if I get to a size 13…

Goal Measurement (inches)      Actual Measurement (inches)

Chest   40                                           41.5

Waist   32                                           36.5

Hips     41                                           47

This means I have 12 inches to lose to get to that goal. I am going to aim to get that done before my birthday. I am really feeling discouraged that my body actually can change. It seems like I am just destined to stay a size 16 for the rest of my life. Sooo frustrating. I wish I could just stop eating but someone else depends on me to eat too. I look at the amount of fat on my belly and I can’t understand why it won’t even budge, not even a little. Until I see a change I am going to be doubling up on my workouts, I keep hearing this mess about gaining muscle nonsense. While I may be gaining muscle, isn’t this muscle supposed to be burning more calories therefore increasing weight loss?

I read this article and I am going to note everything in it so that I can make some changes. I am really desperate so anything will help.

http://www.builtlean.com/2012/05/22/weight-loss-plateau/

I also determined my ideal weight based on another article on the same website, after the calculation I have deduced that my ideal weight is 167lbs….which puts my new long term goal at 167 pounds which means I have 43 more pounds to lose, yikes….

http://www.builtlean.com/2010/05/04/ideal-body-weight-formula-how-to-calculate-your-ideal-weight/

No more sugar, no more creamer, I am going to eat carbs at breakfast and lunch only. Dinner will just be meat and vegetables. Everytime I feel hungry I am going to drink 8oz of water first because I am also hungry nowadays. I am also going to stop taking pictures of myself. I really don’t look any better so what is the point. I am also going to get IJ to sign up for the gym this weekend, it is getting cold anyway so it is time to take my workouts inside. The sauna may also do me some good too.

6M- Week 1 (W,G)

Back on track. I am soooo sick of being stuck at 210…I really am. This week I pushed myself to get back into my morning routine. The weather is changing, it is getting colder and there have been more showers than usual but I did not let that stop me. My new matra is “f$#K 210”, I really need to bust this plateau or else I am going to be forever mad at the scale.

This week I went to Creve Couer park for the first time. The trail is 3.74 miles and when I started, I thought I was just going to walk. I started jogging about a 1K into it and kept going for 8K. It made it my fasted 10K ever at 1 hour and 24 minutes. I seem to remember setting a goal for 1hour and 15 minutes by my birthday and after that run, that goal is more within reach than I ever thought possible. So even though I very discouraged by the scale, I want to get strong enough to run a 10K in 1:15:00 by December 16…

In Summary,

Weight: 210.8

Distance: 17.86 miles

# of active days: 5

5M- Week 5

I came back from Peoria with a cold. My throat was killing me and then my muscles started to ache and all I wanted to do was lay in bed. I tried walking but my body was just not having it. This was the least active week I have had in a long time. Couple that with the very rich bbq we ate there, it was a recipe for disaster. I saw the scale climb with 3 more pounds and I was close to tears. I really could not get my body to heal sooner and decided to just let my body rest. Hope the next few weeks will be better and can get me back on track.

In Summary, (9/9)

Weight:

Distance: 6.18 miles

# of active days: 2

5M- Week 4 (W)

This was labor day week. I tried to stay active as I was planning to leave town to go and visit Uncle Kwane. Everytime we visit him, he goes all out with the cooking and what not so I know this is going to be bad for me next week. I did drop below 210 on the scale so that is a really good sign. I am still very discouraged because I have been stuck for a month now. This is getting ridiculous.

In Summary, (9/2)

Weight: 209.8 (weighed in on 9/7)

Distance: 12.68 miles

# of active days: 4

5M- Week 3 (W)

One pound down with 5 days of activity. That is a little better but still discouraging. I am still stuck on doing the before and after pictures and that kinda helps to see how far I have come but right now that really means nothing to me. I was very excited when I went to the basement and found a shirt with tags on it. I don’t even remember when I bought it but I am pretty sure I put it down there because I could not fit it. I put it on and it fit perfectly, no buttons popping or anything. It was an amazing feeling.

In Summary, (8/26)

Weight: 211

Distance: 16.10 miles

# of active days: 5

5M- Week 2 (W)

The scale is back up again, I don’t know what I am doing wrong that is making me gain weight. IJ keeps pushing me to do weights and I will really try but my days are just so full. We will wait and see.

In Summary, (8/19)

Weight: 212

Distance: 19.81 miles

# of active days: 5

5M-Week 1 (W)

This week has been a recovery week.I have been behind on my goal of 80 miles and I have been trying to catch up. It turned out to be the most number of miles I have done in a week. That being said, I added 2 pounds on the scale. Uggghhh, so annoying. While everyone kept telling me that I am probably gaining muscle and it may be true, I am really annoyed by it. Now I have to lose 13 pounds in 6 weeks which is really a stretch. I really need to find time in my schedule to add strength training to my workouts. IJ has suggested that I wake him up in the morning so he can help me with the weights. I guess I could try that but since I wake up at 5:30am already, when will I have time for that? Maybe after my August Challenge is over, I can reduce my running route to 2.5 miles/ 3x week which I can do in less than 30 minutes and do 15-20 minutes of strength training. That would be a good goal for September.

I also noticed that I am now addicted to before/after pictures. I keep looking at old pictures of me trying to see the difference in my body. I must admit, while I see some change, I can’t help but feel like it is not enough. Clearly I still have a long way to go. I am down to my post-Jr weight which means I still have to get to my pre-Jr weight.

I am now 5 months through my 9on9off journey. I am really glad that I have been able to keep active for this long. I only have 4 months left and I am excited to see what the end product (mwa) will be. I have been obsessing over my weight and weighing myself constantly has been demoralizing so I asked IJ to hide the scales in the house. My next weigh in will be on September 30th….I am going to work very hard to get under 200…

In summary

Weight: 212.0

Distance: 23.67 miles

# of active days: 4

4M- Week 4 Birthday week. (W)

 

This week was a tricky one for me. This is the week were my vacation started and nothing good comes from laying on the couch all day. To make matters worse, IJ was out of town so I did not have someone to watch the kids so I could go for my runs. I did make it to the basement and got the Gazelle out for some indoor walking. This really did help to get me somewhat active. I also made sure I was not bingeing since I did not have my run.

All seemed well because I finally got on the scale for IJ’s birthday. I made it to 210lbs which was my revised goal for his birthday. I really wanted to be below 200 but that’s okay. That is my goal for September 30th….so its on, I want to lose 11 pounds in 7 weeks. It can be done!

In summary

Weight: 210.6

Distance: 16.87 miles

# of active days: 5



4M- Week 3

 

This week has been one of my most inactive weeks. I have had a bad case of runner’s knee and yet I kept running on it hoping the pain would go away but of course it was not going to happen. So I took 4 days off to rest my knee and waited until the pain was gone. It really did help but I felt so empty and was afraid that the scale would start going up again. I was also concerned about my blood pressure but all seemed well.

I was able to get back on my feet on Thursday which felt really good.

In summary

Weight: n/a

Distance: 8.30 miles

# of active days: 2

4M- Week 2

I meant to update the blog but I have been so busy and did not get a chance to. I just have the summary

In Summary

Weight: n/a

Distance: 18.6 miles

#Active days: 6

4M- Week 1

The past week has been a really challenging week mentally and physically. Work has been spiralling out of control and we took a financial hit which threw everything at home out of balance. These are the issues that really hinder my weigthloss and more importantly, raise my blood pressure. I really need to look into some stress management exercises. One thing I did not realize is how stress affects production of breastmilk. When I am upset, the milk does come out: it hinders let down. This highlights the importance of mental health in my overall well being. I cannot ignore it and it has to be addressed. Pounding on the pavement helps a little...lol.

Andrea's wedding was this is weekend and I had so much fun. The bride looked so amazing and she braved that heat in her fabulous blinged out gown. I was really looking forward to this wedding and the fact that it was exactly 4 months from the day I had Ishe made it more of a milestone. I really wanted to look good and I knew for a while that I was wearing the dress I wore to Shorai's wedding and I wanted a really drastic before and after picture and I got one...yay me. The change was so noticeable I actually posted it on the FIT group on Facebook.

Even though I am sure the scale does not support me, I really enjoyed receiving the compliments and now I am looking forward to the actual 9 month check-in. I would really like an even better before/after/after picture...

I also managed to stay away from the scale as promised. I hope I can see progress without the scale. I am sure if I stay active I will be fine. I managed to complete the challenge to get 18K Nike fuel points, I really had to sweat to get that done because of the few days I skipped in the middle. But I did it. I am going to wait until August 1st to start a new goal. I am thinking increasing pace???? We will see.

In Summary

Weight: n/a
Distance: 19.84 miles

#Active days: 6

3M- Week 5 (W)

Last week has really been about damage control and it is amazing how easily I derailed myself. It is clear that my short term goal is out of reach but I still have to take it one day at a time. My physical appearance is not changing at all and that is really discouraging. I have to keep reminding myself that it is 9 months on, 9 months off but my need to instant gratification really takes over. I was able to shed those extra pounds I gained over the holiday and get back in the workout routine.

I have not been able to stay off the scale like I said I would. I just wanted to make sure that I was making progress. Now that I know I am, my next weigh in will be on IJ's birthday, 08/12/2013.

In Summary,

Weight: 216.8lbs

Distance: 16.95 miles
#Active days: 5

3M- Week 4 (W)

This last weekend was a serious derailment of my fitness goals; we went to the lake for the holiday weekend and between the barbeque and poolside drinks, I completely obliterated the maximum number of calories to be consumed. I completely over-indulged and I am already regretting it.

Other than the over-eating, I found myself in a group of women who were so much smaller than me, made me feel like I had not made any progress at all in my weight loss. I just kept thinking, how would I felt if I was still 240lbs as opposed to 220lbs? It was hard but I had my kids to focus on and we got through it. Now they are planning a trip to Miami in March and I really hope I can go and be at least 50lbs lighter.

For now I am staying away from the scale. I definitely feel so much bigger and I want to improve my diet and stop snacking. I am back to running but it is amazing how my muscles quickly became tense just after 4 days of no exercise. I also want to look into joining the gym, IJ has been feeling like he is so unfit and I think it will be good for both of us to hit the gym since the heat is really taking a toll on me.

In summary

Weight: 218.4lbs

Distance: 9.4 miles

#Active days: 4

3M- Week 3 (W)

Another week gone by and I actually don't have a vanity picture. This week was challenging because it really looks like I am not making any progress. I really had to remind myself that whatever I am doing is better than doing nothing. I went to Andrea's bridal shower and had a blast. The above picture is from the party and look how skinny Drea looks next to me, lol.

This week I was able to get active everyday. I also tried to keep up with the 30 day Ab and squat challenge. Earlier in the week I could barely walk, I had to lean on the sink in order to use the tiolet. It did get better at the end of the week. Even my abs were not burning as much. I am seeing a difference on my belly, I have gone from looking 5 months pregnant to 3 months, lol. I also saw some change on the scale too. I was really hoping to be losing bigger numbers but not so much. Today I weighed in at 217.6lbs. I was hoping to be at 200 by IJ's birthday but unless I detox or something, it is not going to happen. We will just see how far I get up until then.

In summary 

Weight: 217.6lbs

Distance: 18.8 miles

#Active days: 7

3M-Week 2 (W)

Made it through the busiest week since Ishe joined us. I worked for 7 days straight this week and I am glad that I was able to exercise for 6 of those days. Other than the long work day and Sunday, I think I handled it quite well. I do have that extra energy and I really think it comes from the walks/jogs.

The scale was not so kind though. I weighed in at exactly 220lbs this morning. It looks like I had a little bit more mileage than the previous week, my workouts have been consistent so there really should be no reason for the weight gain. I also asked Chipo to do the 30 day Ab and Squat challenge and we are on Day 4. It is going to be a real challenge to go through it all but I am determined. I also think being that Ishe didnt breastfeed before I got on the scale, I had some milk weight on me. I am not too worried about the scale because I had so many small victories like loose fitting clothes and really high energy. My belly is visibly smaller too. I even went to Old Navy and tried on size 14 jeans, comfortably.  I also completed my last Nike goal of doing 64 miles in 4 weeks. I set a new goal to get 18000 Nike fuel points. While I am not sure how those are calculated, I do know that the more I run/walk, the more points I get.

This week I want to see some change on the scale. I also want to come up with a list of reasons why my weight loss goals have stalled in the past and what I will be doing differently.

 In summary,

Weight: 220lbs

Distance: 15.08 miles

#Active days: 6

Happy 3 months Ishe...

Today our lil munchkin is 3 months old. Time goes by so fast when you are in love, it was just yesterday that we met our 6lb 10oz bundle of joy. He already has a strong personality. What is really amazing to watch is how big brother Jr loves his little brother. I cant wait to see how Ishe relates to him. I have a feeling they will be best buds.

This week has had its challenges as I joined a Whatsapp group with my former high school classmates. The one thing everyone could talk about is how much weight I have gained. I was really hurt by one comment but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that these people dont know me or care about my well being. I have the people in my life who love and care for me and only their opinions should matter.

Today all marks the 30 day mark before Andrea's wedding. While I am definitely fitting the dress better, I could do a little better. So I asked Chipo to do the 30 day Ab and Squat challenge. The numbers are definitely intimidating but its only 30 days, what's the worst that can happen.

3M- Week 1

This week little Ishe will be 3 months old. I cant believe our little 6lb baby is already twice his birth weight and is still nursing like a lion cub. The boy love his milk. We all had a nasty cold that really kept me under the weather for the whole week. I did manage to get out and walk 5 days out of the week, .

The other amazing thing that happened is that I finally moved the maternity jeans out of my drawers. It is so refreshing to actually start wearing my old clothes, some which I couldnt even fit before I got pregnant. I even managed to squeeze into my skinny jeans with room to breathe and ofcourse had to take a picture to prove it.

Clearly those 2 little boys did a number to my hips but I am starting to look like a female again lol. The scale was not so kind to me as I weighed in at 219lbs again, 219.2 to be exact. I lost about 0.6lbs. On the upside it means that my dip under 100kgs was not a fluke, its actually legit. Having hit the 12 week mark post partum, it is time to start adding some weight training and ab workouts. Today I did something I had never done before. I jogged the full 2.43 miles of my longer morning route.

Being that I finished in about 37 minutes, which is actually longer than my last run on this route, it is time to scratch my 1.9miles route altogether. As long as I wake up at 5:45am, I can be back home by 6:30am to get ready for work. My legs are really getting stronger and walking has become such a big part of my day. I have noticed that I have so much more energy. I am actually able to take the kids out of the house and not just lay on the couch all day. Hopefully this week will be better and I can actually see some real change on the scale!

So in summary,

Weight: 219.2lbs

Distance: 14.34 miles

#Active days: 5

The journey begins...

Now that our little bundle of joy is here, the journey to lose the baby weight has now began The real issue is that I have to lose weight to my pre-pre-pregnancy weight of 175lbs(79.3kgs). That is my long term goal. On the day that I checked in for the c-section birth of Idaishe on March 20th, I weighed a staggering 250lbs (113.4kgs) which was just 16lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. For someone who is considered obese, that was a good weight gain. That is the heaviest I have ever been and I was determined more than ever to lose weight.

The thing about having a baby is that it is a lifestyle change on its own. I know that diets dont work but lifestyle changes do so I vowed to make time for myself as we adjusted to the new love of our lives. I started walking at about 5 weeks and have worked up to the occasional jogging. My legs are getting stronger day by day. Today I finally broke 100kgs, I have lost the baby weight from #2 so now we battle baby weight from #1.

So now the journey begins, I will remember that the weight took 9 months to put on so I should not be disheartened when I don't see results immediately. It just so happens that the end of the 9 months post-baby coincides with my 30th birthday (yikes) so here's to me being a yummy mummy.

I will be blogging about my routine and progress. Today I weighed in at 219lbs(99.8kgs) and I will check in next week.