Another good day

I'm loving going to the gym! (Both for the exercise and the people watching). Yesterday, I saw a really obese man on the recumbent bike. You'd think "Good for him!", right? Wrong. He was just sitting on the bike, feet on the floor, doing nothing but watching TV for over half an hour (could have been longer, but I stopped paying attention. Plus, he was there when I got there.) And then there was the other end of the spectrum- the aneroxic girl. I'm not kidding. She looked like a Holocaust survivor. She was on the treadmill the whole time I was there (an hour), fully inclined, about 4 mph. You could see all the vertebrae in her upper back and neck where her tank top didn't cover. Her shoulders were bony and knobby, and her "biceps" were the size of my wrist. Perhaps "biceps" is the wrong word. Maybe "humerus" would be better, since it didn't even look like her bones had any muscle on them. She was holding onto the bar in front of her while she power walked up her steep hill, and I was so afraid that the ball joints in her shoulders were going to pop out, and her arms would be torn from her body as she flew off the end of the treadmill. I could just picture a crumpled, armless heap of bones on the floor, and a pair of arms hanging from the bar on the treadmill.

Anywho.... here's what I did today:

Bike 15 min- 85-100 rpm; 5.4 mi
Calf extension 3x10 @ 50 lbs
Leg curl 2x10 @ 50
Leg press 3x10 @ 70
Hip adduction 3x10 @ 90
Hip abduction 3x10 @ 100
Glutes 2x10 @ 60 (for each side)

For the first 2 weeks, I'm working on building some muscle. Then, I'll switch to lower weights and higher reps to go for stamina, endurance, and muscle tone and definition. But if I want definition, I need something to define first, hence the heavy lifting now. lol

Oh, and I forgot to mention - I'm at 200 pounds today, was 201 yesterday, so tomorrow might be the day I hit 199. I'm so excited to weigh myself in the morning!

Missed a day, but back on track

Yesterday, I was sick as a dog. I woke up feeling like I was gonna puke, and did. Once. Then a short time later, started getting stabbing pains in my stomach and abdomen that lasted all day. I threw up again (once) before I went to bed. Today, my belly hurt, but it was more of a sore hurt, like from my muscles contracting so much with the pains.

But I hit the gym today and did upper body. Here's what I did:

Bike 15 min @ 85-100 rpm; 5.5 mi
Triceps press 3x15 @ 50 lbs
Biceps curl 3x10 @ 40
Shoulder press 2x8 @ 30
Row 3x10 @ 40
Lat pulldown 3x10 @ 50
Chest press 2x10 @ 40
Fly 2x10 @ 50

My arms will probably feel like noodles in about an hour. lol

First time in the gym since 2/8/2008!

And DAMN it feels awesome!!! It feels so good to be active after being sick and sedentary for so long. I tried my best to start out "slow", but I find it hard not to try and give it my all. Here's what I did today:

Bike 5 mi in about 10 min
Calf extensions 3x15 @ 30 lb
Leg press 3x15 @ 30 lb
Leg curl 3x15 @ 30 lb
Leg extensions 2x15 @ 30 lb (I could feel this one in my basketball knee, so I didn't push it.)
Treadmill 5 min @ 3mph, incline 5; 2 min cooldown

I feel like I could have done more, but it's been so long since I've done anything, and I didn't want to mess around and hurt myself, since I don't really know what kind of shape my muscles are in after all this crap I went through. Hey, it's a start, right? Tomorrow: arms and chest.

Progress report #1

I was going to number this by week, but didn't really have a starting point. I guess I could've started from the point where I got down to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I don't have a picture of that. I have a picture from 3.5 weeks postpartum, when I was 9 pounds down from my pre-pregnancy weight, so I guess I'll use that as my benchmark for pictures. I don't have measurements from then, though.

Today, I weighed in at 202 (26 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight, and 45 pounds down from my last day of pregnancy. I'm 10 weeks postpartum.)

Here are my measurements:

BICEP(if you can even call it that lol): 14.75"
BUST: 47.25
UNDER BUST: 38.5
WAIST: 38
BELLY(taken at largest part of belly): 41.5
HIPS: 47.75
THIGHS: 28
CALVES: 16

And the pictures: (I'm wearing the same jeans every time for comparison. I'll call them the "benchmark jeans" lol)



(One day, there's gonna be definition here. I swear.)

I should be in the gym by Monday. I have a wicked sinus infection and just got put on antibiotics today, so hopefully they'll have me feeling better ASAP. Last night, it felt like my nose, cheekbones, and eyesockets were breaking, and I had sinus pressure up past my hairline and in my jaw. NOT FUN. I'm coming, Planet Fitness. I promise.

Measurements and progress pics

I've decided that once a week, I'm going to post my current measurements, and pics of my progress. Since my target area is my belly, that's what I'll focus on, using the same pair of jeans as a reference point every week. I should have started this a while ago when I began keeping track of my diet, but alas, I didn't. But I'm definitely not where I want to be yet, and you have to start somewhere, right? I think I'll take the pics & measurements on either Friday night or Saturday, since that's when I'll have the most help with the baby and thus the best chance of actually getting it done. So be on the lookout as I post pictures of my fat, flabby belly to compare week to week, and to use as motivation so you guys hopefully won't have to look at that for long!

I weigh myself every morning when I get up, and I'm losing about 0.5-1.0 pounds a day. Yesterday I was 204.2, today I'm 203.4, and I didn't "use the bathroom" yet this morning. I know I'll be down to 203.0 or less as soon as I "go". lol

In other news, I'm sick as a dog. I've had a stuffy/runny nose and sinus pressure the last couple days, but now my chest is congested and my sinuses are pretty blocked. Of course, this happens as soon as I'm able to go to the gym. I have the worst luck and can't win. I was still gonna go today, but I woke up in worse shape than I was yesterday and because it's in my chest now, I'm having some difficulty breathing (my lungs burn). Since I have sports-induced asthma, hitting the gym right now is probably not the best idea, so I'm gonna wait a few days til this clears up some more. I can probably handle a stroll around the neighborhood. It's not much, but it's better than nothing.

Cleared to hit the gym.

My post-op appointment today was seriously only 3 minutes long. Here's how it went:

Dr. M: "How are you feeling?"
Me: "Great!"
Dr. M: "Let me see your incisions."
(showed him)
Dr. M: "Looks good. Any questions?"
Me: "When can I go to the gym?"
Dr. M: "Now. Just start out slow. See you in a month."

Good thing I don't have co-pays for post-op appointments, because there's no way in he'll I'd pay $15 for that. That's $5/minute!

So tomorrow, it's on. I'll be in the gym, even though I have a cold and my nose is running like a faucet. I don't care. I. Miss. The. Gym.

Healing nicely.

I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

The recovery from this surgery went so much more smoothly than my last two procedures. I feel great. I'm down to 205 pounds, and I'm super excited about the prospect of breaking 200. I think once I do, I should treat myself to something nice, say maybe... a pedicure and a new pair of shoes? Not just regular shoes- I want a nice pair of strappy heeled sandals that I can wear on our cruise.

I've been doing really well with my diet. I ate out for the first time since I started eating well, and I think I did a pretty good job. Granted, I had to search through nutritional information online for several restaurants before I could even make a decision as to where we would go, which was a little time consuming, but worth it. Just seeing the nutritional values for foods at popular restaurants was enough to make me not even want to walk through the door. Now, when I see the fast food I once enjoyed, I don't think "Mmmmm... I wish I could eat that." Instead, I think, "Wow. Calorie city!"

I ended up choosing Red Robin. Their website is awesome- they have a program where you can customize your meal and it will calculate the nutritional value of your order, which was REALLY helpful, especially since I never eat things as they're made. It sure beat the hell out of searching through a PDF with lists of numbers. At Red Robin, I got the Bruschetta Chicken Burger, which normally has 832 calories and 48 grams of fat the way it's prepared, and that's not including the fries it comes with. I was shocked by that- I think it's easy to assume that the grilled chicken sandwich is the better choice on a menu, but it was just as bad as their loaded burgers. So I used their online Customizer to mess around with condiments and toppings and to build my meal. The way I prepared the sandwich, and with a side of apple slices, I managed to turn it into a meal with 557 calories and 18 grams of fat. That's a little high for what I normally eat, but it beats the hell out of it's original nutritional value. There are times when you have to eat out, and it's just about making the best of it.

I'm hoping to be able to hit the gym next week, even if it's just for light workouts to start. A light workout is better than no workout. I have a post-op follow up with my surgeon on Monday, so we'll see what he says.