Progress report #10

Wow... I haven't posted in almost a week! I guess I'm learning how to balance everything now that hubby is home. Before, all I only had to worry about making sure I had a sitter so I could go to the gym, and feeding myself dinner once I got home, I can eat the same thing several days in a row, so I would prepare something and then reheat it for 4 days without a problem. Now hubby is home, so I make sure that most days of the week we have a hot, fresh meal on the table. I figure it's the least I can do, since I'm a SAHM and he works his butt off every day to take care of us. On top of that, add in meeting with our realtor and looking for houses. Unfortunately, blogging has taken a back burner to all this until I learn how to balance it all. But, rest assured, I have been going to the gym all week, with the exception of Monday (met with our realtor for a few hours), so I'm not slacking!

Biceps: 13.5" (↓ .5")
Bust: 44.75" (↓ .75")
Under bust: 36.5" (↓ .5")
Waist: 34.75" (↓ .25")
Belly: 37.75" (↓ .25")
Hips: 44" (↓ .5")
Thighs: 25"
Calves: 15.5"

Here are this week's pictures compared to last week's:

Last week
This week
Last week
This week
Last week
This week

I have one more physical therapy appointment approved by my insurance. Unfortunately, my trapezius are is pretty much back where it started, minus the bad nerve pain in my arm. It was feeling better, then last Friday I started feeling that twinge in my neck again, then when I got up Wednesday morning, I moved my arm and felt something slide over something else in that area. It was nasty. I get a little bit of tingling in my hand/fingers from time to time. The physical therapist said that my next step is to get an MRI and then, depending on the results, see an orthopedist or neurologist to look into it further. Wonderful. I don't have the money for these co-pays.

40 pounds lighter!!!

I hit 188.0 this morning (then went down to 187.6), so I am officially 40 POUNDS UNDER MY PRE-PREGNANCY WEIGHT!!!!!!! I'm 59 pounds down from the day I delivered. I'm EXTREMELY proud of myself.

I did a modified lower body workout today (boy, was my left hamstring TIGHT). Here's what I did:

Bike 15 min @ 110-115, 5.6 mi
Hip adduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Glutes 1x15 @ 60, 2x20 @ 30 (per side)
Hip abduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50

Progress report #9

First of all, I'll start out with my CT scan results: all clear. I guess it's just the stronger BCP that's giving me the headaches. My OB called in a script for a lower dose pill (I guess it's somewhere between my old one and my current one), but I wasn't able to get to the drug store today to pick it up. I'll grab it tomorrow and see if I start feeling better.

Here are my measurements. Since I've been at this for 8 weeks now, I thought it would be fun to also see how many inches I've lost to date:

Bicep: 14" (To date: ↓ .75")
Bust: 45.5" (This week: ↓ .5", to date: ↓ 1.75")
Under bust: 37" (To date: ↓ 1.5")
Waist: 35" (This week: ↓ .75"", to date: ↓ 3")
Belly: 38" (This week: ↓ 1.5", to date: ↓ 3.5")
Hips: 44.5" (This week: ↓ .75", to date: ↓ 3.25")
Thighs: 25" (This week: ↓ .5", to date: ↓ 3")
Calves: 15.5" (To date: ↓ .5")

Here are this week's pictures compared to last week:

Last week
This week
Last week
This week
Last week
This week

And now I'll compare this week's photos to the end of my first week in the gym:

8 weeks ago
This week
8 weeks ago
This week

No workout today- my knee is still feeling a little crappy. I'll hit the gym tomorrow but not go as hard as I normally do.

Oh, and I hit 188.8 pounds today. A few more ounces and I'll hit the 40 pound mark!!

I broke 190!

I weighed in this morning at 189.4! I was stalled at 191 for several days, so I'm really happy. Now I weigh less than I did when I graduated high school. I'm now 39 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight! One more pound and I'll hit another milestone - 40 pounds! If you told me a year and a half ago that I could lose 40 pounds, I would have laughed in your face. I honestly never thought this would be possible, but here I am. We'll see what tomorrow brings...

I had PT today. I only have 2 visits left- one next week and one the week after. I did a bunch of shoulder/trap work while I was there, then hit the gym for the rest of my upper body workout. I didn't get on the bike today because my knee isn't feeling too bad and I didn't want to aggrivate it, since I have to do lower body tomorrow. Here's what I did today:

Triceps extension 1x15 @ 30, 2x20 @ 20
Biceps curl 1x15 @ 25, 2x20 @ 12.5
Chest press 1x15 @ 40, 2x20 @ 20
Pulldown 1x15 @ 50, 2x20 @ 30
Row 1x15 @ 45, 2x20 @ 25
Triceps press 1x15 @ 70, 2x20 @ 35
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50

"...it can happen if you step out of your own way."

The other day at the library, I checked out Queen Latifah's new book Put on Your Crown, but had another book to finish before I started it. Well, tonight I cracked it open and it's great! What I love about Queen Latifah is that she's down to earth, confident about herself despite criticism, and really speaks the truth. I would kill to be able to hang out with her for just an hour.

The last few days, I've been feeling really down about myself. I don't know why. Maybe it stems from the new birth control I'm on? I think part of it comes from the fact that my weight loss has been stalled for several days now, even going up a little, even though I haven't exceeded 1400 calories on any given day, and I'm working my ass off every day at the gym. It's so stressful, and I've just been feeling so blah the last few days to the point where going to the gym has almost felt like a chore. I feel better once I'm there and am into my workout, but the motivation to start has kind of been lacking lately. It probably doesn't help that I've been having wicked headaches- that's enough to make anyone feel lethargic.

Here's today's workout:

Bike 15 min @ 100-120, 5.66 mi
Back extension (bench) 2x15
Hip abduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Hip adduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Leg press 1x15 @ 70, 2x20 @ 35
Leg extension 1x15 @ 30, 2x20 @ 15
Leg curl 1x15 @ 40, 2x20 @ 20
Calf extension 1x15 @ 70, 2x20 @ 35
Glutes 1x15 @ 60, 1x20 @ 30 (per side)
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50

When I was on the back extension bench today, my feet ended up too far up the foot plates, and I pulled my hamstring a little behind my left knee. I've got ice on it now, and will hit it with heat later. No back extension bench tomorrow. Good thing tomorrow is upper body so I won't have all that stress on my legs...

Splitting headaches....

Yeah. That's right. It sucks. When I still had fluid and blood on my brain from the subdural hematoma, they didn't want to put me on a birth control pill with estrogen (estrogen is the reason for the blood clot warnings in the BCP ads and literature), so I went on a progesterone only pill and it SUCKED. Once the hematoma cleared up, I went on a low-dose pill with estrogen for 2 months, and that sucked too. I was bleeding every 2 weeks for no reason. It wasn't strong enough to regulate my cycle, so I couldn't put any faith in it to keep my endometriosis at bay. So, a week and a half ago, I started on a stonger pill (I had been on this one before my pregnancy). However, after a couple of days on the new pill, I started getting bad headaches almost daily, in the same spot where the hematoma used to be. I'm getting them every day now, that same metallic feeling I had when the hematoma was still clearing up, so I'm going for a CT scan tomorrow to see if there's anything going on in there. I really don't know what to do with the birth control situation. Right now it's looking like I have 3 options:

1) Keep switching pills and ride a hormonal roller coaster until I find something (if anything) that works, all the while having a fucked up complexion, no sex drive, and more than likely putting on some weight, or at least not losing any. Oh, and possibly have a blood clot or stroke;

2) Have a hysterectomy and most likely go into menopause, even if I keep my ovaries. Still, probably means hormone replacement therapy. I was in a medically-induced menopause 2 years ago, and I don't know how I made it through without killing myself or anyone else. The hormone replacement really fucked me up;

3) Go off the pill and just deal with the endometriosis. I won't be able to go to the gym. I won't be able to chase Marius around. I won't be able to even walk any kind of distance without being in debilitating pain.

So these are my choices, and it's looking more and more like a lose-lose(-lose) situation.

Here's today's workout:

Bike 15 min @ 100 rpm, 5.6 mi
Biceps curl 1x12 @ 25, 2x20 @ 12.5
Chest press 1x15 @ 30, 2x20 @ 20
Triceps extension 1x15 @ 30, 2x20 @ 20
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50
Back extension (bench) 2x15
Fly 1x15 @ 45, 2x20 @ 25
Pulldown 1x15 @ 45, 2x20 @ 30
Row 1x15 @ 45, 2x20 @ 25
Triceps press 1x15 @ 70, 2x20 @ 35
Back extension (bench) 1x15

Today's workout

Bike 15 min @ 100 rpm, 5.6 mi
Calf extension 1x15 @ 70, 2x20 @ 35
Leg curl 1x15 @ 40, 2x20 @ 20
Leg extension 1x15 @ 30, 2x20 @ 15
Back extension (bench) 2x15
Leg press 1x15 @ 70, 2x20 @ 35
Hip abduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Hip adduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Glutes 1x15 @ 60, 2x20 @ 30 (per side)
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50

Saturday's workout

I hit the gym with the hubs for the first time yesterday! He showed me some things to incorporate into my workout that will kick my ass and make me sore, but do wonders for my abs. So, I did a couple at the end of my workout yesterday, and will implement more on Monday. I also tried back extensions on the bench instead of the machine, and it was so much more beneficial, because I had to force my body to use more muscles. I'll definitely be doing that instead of the machine from here on out.

Here's what I did yesterday:

Bike 16 min @ 110 rpm, 1 min sprint @ 140 rpm, 6 mi
Fly 1x15 @ 45, 2x20 @ 25
Chest press 1x15 @ 40, 2x20 @ 20
Triceps extension 1x15 @ 30, 2x20 @ 20
Pulldown 1x15 @ 50, 2x20 @ 30
Row 1x15 @ 50, 1x20 @ 35, 1x20 @ 30
Triceps press 1x15 @ 70, 2x20 @ 35
Run 2 min @ 5 mph
Walk 3 min @ 3.2 mph, .3 mi
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50
Back extension (bench) 15 reps

Plus all my shoulder work from PT earlier in the day.

Progress report #8

Measurements:

Bicep: 14" (↓ .25")
Bust: 46"
Under bust: 37" (↓ .25")
Waist: 35.75" (↓ .5")
Belly: 39.5"
Hips: 45.25" (↓ .5")
Thighs: 25.5" (↓ .25")
Calves: 15.5" (↓ .25")

Pictures:

Last week
This week
Last week
This week
Last week
This week


(The sweat pants are the same size and brand as the ones I normally wear, but just a different color. The other ones are in the washer right now and I didn't feel like waiting for them to get done. lol)

Today's workout:

Bike 15 min @ 100-110 rpm, 5.5 mi
Leg curl 1x15 @ 40, 2x20 @ 20
Leg extension 1x15 @ 30, 2x20 @ 15
Leg press 1x15 @ 70, 2x20 @ 35
Hip adduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Hip abduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50

Mmmm... Pretzels!!

(sorry, Sumer!)

Since my weight stalled again, I decided to get a pretzel (ok, two) at the mall today, since last time I was stalled, I ate a pretzel and the weight started coming off again. But Sumer wasn't there this time, so maybe the conditions weren't right to induce weight loss. lol Or, more likely, eating the pretzel and then losing weight was probably just a coincidence, and now I'm going to gain 5 pounds instead. lol

But, I did my normal workout, plus a bunch of stuff at PT today, and still was well under 1400 calories for the day, so I guess it's not so bad...

Here's today's workout:

Bike 15 min @ 100-120 rpm, 5.5 mi
Biceps curl 1x10 @ 25, 2x15 @ 17.5
Triceps extension 3x20 @ 20
Chest press 3x15 @ 20
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50
Fly 1x15 @ 40, 2x20 @ 20
Lat pulldown 1x15 @ 50, 2x20 @ 30
Row 3x20 @ 30
Triceps press 1x15 @ 75, 2x20 @ 35

Plus, I did lots of shoulder/triceps stuff and some work on the ball at PT.

I'll have a workout buddy this week....

'Cause hubby's finally coming home!!! Plus, I'll be getting more exercise at home, if you catch my drift.... lol The hubs is gonna help me work on my abs when he gets here, so my workouts will be changing later in the week.

Here's today's workout:

Bike 14 min @ 100-110 rpm, 1 min sprint @ 135-145 rpm, 5.75 mi
Hip adduction 1x15 @ 100, 3x20 @ 50
Hip abduction 1x15 @ 100, 3x20 @ 50
Glutes 1x15 @ 60, 2x20 @ 30 (per side)
Leg extension 1x15 @ 35, 2x20 @ 15
Leg curl 1x15 @ 40, 2x20 @ 20
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50
Leg press 1x15 @ 80, 2x20 @ 40
Calf extension 1x15 @ 70, 2x20 @ 35

Last workout of the week

I did chest press and shoulder press today, and they didn't bother me, so that's progress. Here's what I did today:

Bike 15 min @ 100 rpm, 4.5 mi
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50
Fly 3x20 @ 20
Biceps curl 1x15 @ 20, 2x20 @ 10
Chest press 3x15 @ 20
Shoulder press 2x15 @ 10
Pulldown 3x20 @ 30

Progress report #7

I went harder than usual with my abs this week, and I think it's paid off!!!

Measurements:

Bicep: 14.25"
Bust: 46" (↓ .5")
Under bust: 37.25"
Waist: 36.25" (↓ .25")
Belly: 39.5" (↓ 1.5") w00t w00t!!!
Hips 45.75" (↓ .25")
Thighs 25.75" (↓ .25")
Calves: 15.75"

Pictures:

Last week
This week
Last week
This week
Last week
This week

If you look at this week's picture in the benchmark jeans, you'll notice that the button area is now sticking out some. It's not flush against my belly anymore!! I'm pretty damn proud of myself.

Here's what I did at the gym earlier:

Bike 15 min @ 100-110 rpm, 4.25 mi
Hip adduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Hip abduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Glutes 1x15 @ 60, 2x20 @ 30 (per side)
Leg press 1x15 @ 80, 2x20 @ 40
Leg extension 1x15 @ 30, 2x20 @ 15
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50
Leg curl 1x15 @ 30, 2x20 @ 15
Calf extension 1x15 @ 80, 2x20 @ 40

Today's first (and only) workout

While I was at PT today, I used their rotary torso machine, since there are no machines at the gym that target obliques. I just end up sitting on the ab curl machine sideways, but it's pretty uncomfortable.

Here's what I did today:

Rotary torso 1x15 @ 50, 1x20 @ 30 (per side)
Bike 14 min @ 105-115, 1 min sprint @ 130-135, 4.75 mi
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50
Triceps extension 3x20 @ 20
Biceps curl 3x15 @ 10
Fly 3x20 @ 20
Pulldown 3x20 @ 30
Row 3x15 @ 30
Triceps press 3x20 @ 30
Bike 5 min @ 95-110 rpm, 1.4 mi
Ab curl 5x20 @ 50

Yesterday's SECOND workout.

Yes. That's right. I went back to the gym yesterday, 3 hours after I left the gym the first time. I was stressed out and getting pissed off at my belly fat, so I went to do more work on my abs. Here's what I tacked onto my first workout:

Bike 9 min @ 100-110, 1 min sprint @ 130, 3 mi
Back extension 1x15 @ 80, 2x20 @ 40
Ab crunch 2x15@20, 1x10@10
Bike 5 min @ 95 rpm, 1.5 mi
Ab curl 1x15 @ 80, 5x20 @ 50

For once, I'm considered "normal"

I called my OB/GYN's office this afternoon to get my blood work results. Perfectly normal. Grrrr. So then I called my primary doctor's office to see what I should do next, and they recommended going to see a nutritionist. Ummm... probably not. I can't afford to spend $15 per week for someone to tell me I need to eat vegetables. I would LOVE to eat vegetables. I've tried to eat them my whole life. I HATE them. They taste like ass and make me gag, with the exception of lettuce and cucumbers. Even broccoli smothered in cheese sauce won't go down. It's so annoying.

I'll *think* about seeing the nutritionist.

Here's today's workout:

Bike 14 min @ 100-110 rpm, 1 min sprint @ 125-135 rpm, 5.75 mi
Glutes 1x15 @ 60 lbs, 2x20 @ 30 lbs (per side)
Hip adduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Hip abduction 1x15 @ 100, 2x20 @ 50
Ab curl 1x15 @ 70, 5x20 @ 50
Leg press 1x15 @ 80, 2x20 @ 40
Leg extension 1x12 @ 40, 2x15 @ 20
Leg curl 1x15 @ 40, 2x20 @ 20
Calf extension 1x15 @ 80, 2x20 @ 40

OK, I thought about seeing the nutritionist and I'm not going. It's gonna have to wait until I have money, unless hubby wants to pay for it, which I'm sure he doesn't.

PT and Barbie weights...

My physical therapist had me do some exercises today with 2-pound weights and a resistance band. I was bugging her about needing to do upper body at the gym, and she said I could probably try it today, but at lower weights. I felt like Olive Oyl doing my workout with Barbie weights. I mean, c'mon- pulldown at 30 lbs?? What kind of weakling does that? lol I felt like an ass. My fingers are a tiny bit tingly, but not bad. I iced my trap/shoulder area after my workout, and now I'm gonna put some heat on it. We'll see how it feels tomorrow.

Here's today's girly workout:

Recumbent bike 2.5 min @ 95-100 rpm, 1.9 mi (I wanted the upright bike, but they were all taken when I got there, so I switched when one opened up.)
Upright bike 13 min @ 100-110 rpm, 2 min sprint @ 125-130 rpm, 5.75 mi
Triceps extension 3x15 @ 20 lbs
Row 3x10 @ 30
Pulldown 3x10 @ 30
Triceps press 3x10 @ 30
Fly 2x15 @ 20
Ab curl 1x15 @ 70, 5x20 @ 40
Biceps curl 3x15 @ 10