And I Even Ate Pizza

Ok let's be honest,  I thought the weigh in this week was going to be a disaster.  I had pizza on Friday, and ate out again on Saturday having not only pasta, but ice cream for dessert!!! So imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale this afternoon and had lost 4lbs from Thursday.  Seriously I was shocked! I had worked hard all week exercising and I had also hit my calorie goal everyday (except Sunday). It just goes to show you not to second guess your trainer when he says you need a certain number of calories and your body will burn more fat he means it.  I feel awesome!  I'm also finding my clothes are fitting better and I have more energy. Ready for more big news? I upped my weights again on almost all my leg exercises. I'm up to 250 on the leg and calf presses and 130 on the other leg exercises. Everyday I'm getting stronger and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's cardio workout.

Unexpected Result

As its Thursday  today was a cardio day. I figured I'd do a quick weigh in before hand and low and behold I have gained a pound. I have been working so hard this week to meet my calorie goal, getting my workouts in, etc. I really though I would be down another pound atleast not up a pound. It's perplexing and a bit discouraging. 
Oh the plus side I did 40 minutes on the treadmill and got up to an incline of 9% for a few minutes. I made fajitas for dinner and found a healthy alternative to sour cream. Nonfat greek yogurt tastes delicious on a fajita.

Double or Nothing

So today I decided to do cardio in addition to my usual Wednesday resistance workout. I managed to get up to an incline of 6 today for 5 minutes. Granted it was only 5 minutes but that's the highest incline I've done so far. I'm tired and sore, but I feel awesome.
The new resistance routine I do now, is still difficult. It uses muscles that I haven't worked before, but that's the whole point right?
I was tempted to weigh myself today, but decided I'll wait til tomorrow. I'm hoping I have more progress this week.
Even though I'm not losing a lot of weight I am feeling better. I sleep better at night and my mood is definitely up.

Packing in Those Calories

Well I made it to 2300 calories yesterday, and no I didn't eat a chocolate bunny, a bag of cheetos, or a burger and fries thank you very much. I ate healthy, nutritional food. It's taking some getting used to this eating 5 times a day as opposed to one. Now my body just needs to get with the program and start burning more fat!

New Workout New Burn

Mondays I meet with my trainer, and trust me when I tell you my trainer pushes me. But then that is what a trainer is supposed to do.
So today we did a new work with a mix of machines I've used and some new ones as well. In the last few weeks I have learned a few things. The main thing being I have almost no upper body strength.  I mean seriously,  25lbs chest press is torture and the new machine I did today which was a lateral press I could barely do at 10lbs.  But I didn't give up, my muscles were screaming but I pushed through.  The only down side to this I had an almost sugar crash again.
In addition to adding new machines, we also upped my reps.  3 sets of 20 now. Whew it was brutal.  I'm definitely feeling sore today, but I take it as a good thing.

Weight lost since last week: 1lbs (I'm disappointed to say the least)

Taking the Weekend Off

It's been one of those weeks, worked extra hours at work, went to the gym Monday thru Friday and worked on eating healthy. I usually double up on Wednesday and do cardio in addition to my usual resistance training but it just didn't happen this week. I'm feeling a bit guilty about only gett only getting cardio in twice this week but I just have to let it go.  Tomorrow starts a new week and it's going to be an awesome week for getting healthy.
I'm working hard to get up to my 2500 calorie and my 40, 40, 20 percentages.  This weekend I'm letting my muscles recover so I'm ready to hit the ground running come Monday.

One of Those Days....

You know those days when you wake up and you already know you don't want to go to the gym? Well today was one of those days for me.  All day long I had little thoughts like "you can take one day off", "is it really going to matter if you don't go today", etc. Four o' clock came and I grudgingly changed into my gym clothes and headed to the gym.
I got to the gym and thought "well let's get this over with".... Something happened though my second set in on the leg press, I was starting to enjoy the work out. I guess it really is true that exercise releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy.
Long story short I did my usual machines and even added two more.

You Want Me To Eat How Many Calories????

Ok so my first meeting with my trainer was the day after I signed up for the gym. We did all the stuff I had been dreading, weighed me, took measurements,  etc.  I was horrified! Then we started talking exercise and diet.  He wanted to know how many calories I typically ate in a day. I had been trying to keep it down to 1300 or less, he wanted to know how often I wanted to go to the gym etc.  I wanted to go atleast 5 times a week.  So we input some numbers into a fancy little program and out pops how many calories I need a day, the total per day.... 2500!!! Did you just have a mini heart attack? Because I did when Colton told me that number. My head was screaming "what are you trying to do make me gain more weight!!! Lot of good this was!!!" He must have seen the look of shock on my face because he quickly started to explain why I needed that many calories.  If I were to lay in bed all day and do absolutely nothing (and who actually does that????) My body needs 2100 to function properly.  So if I'm going to be working out 5 times a week and living a normal life I would need more.  It maintain my weight I would need 3100 calories but I don't want to maintain, I want to lose so by going down to 2500 calories I am burning more calories than I am consuming and in so losing weight. 
Now the hard part, eating that many calories.  I've obviously eaten that much or more in the past or I wouldn't be the size I am now.  But I'm eating healthy now, 40% protien, 40% carbs and 20% fat. I'm not eating unhealthy cheetos and candy anymore. I'm eating lean meats, brown rice, quinoa, greek yogurt and low fat cottage cheese,  foods that are not only better for me but keep me fuller longer. So watching 2500 calories has been a big challenge. I do try though,  honestly I do. I count every calorie that passes these lips and at the end of the night when I hit that complete food log for the day and it tells me I've only consumed 1800 calories I think to myself "maybe I should have eaten that chocolate bunny".

Oh My Aching Butt!!!

I definitely worked my glutes!!!  So today is a cardio day. Monday, Wednesday, Friday is resistance training and Tuesday, Thursday is cardio. I also do a third cardio session either on Wednesday or Saturday.
I've been slowly trying to increase my stamina on the treadmill.  I started out at 20 minutes with a speed of 2.5 and an incline of 2 was exhausting.  Three weeks later I am at a constant speed of 3 and my incline starts at 2.5 and moves up to a 5 by 10 minutes into my workout of 30 minutes. The higher incline definitely works the glutes as I lay here typing I can feel my butt! Lol

The Beginning

So three weeks ago I decided to join the gym.  I debated for ages, made excuses as to why I couldn't and truthfully I didn't think I could afford it! But before I start telling you about the present let me tell you a bit about the past and why I'm on this journey.
I've never been thin, I sometimes wonder if I was born overweight. I was forever self conscience, growing up all my friends were thin. I hated school shopping because while everyone was buying the latest styles from the junior section, I was trying to find clothes in the women's section that didn't look like a 40 year olds work wardrobe.  Things got better when we got our first Fashion Bug, I was still buying plus size clothes but atleast they were cute.
I spent my entire life worrying about my weight and hoping I would magically wake up thin one day.  I did every crash diet known to man, I would eat and then throw up my food (I later learned this was actually an eating disorder), I tried the over the counter weight loss pills, but nothing worked.  I eventually gave up and my weight continued to go up. I'd go out with friends and I'd eat what they did,  I didn't want a bowl of lettuce with no dressing,  no nothing, I wanted pizza so I had it.  In 2008 I tipped the scale at 326lbs.  I hated having my picture taken, but I still wasn't doing anything about my weight.
In the autumn of 2008 I moved to the UK to start a post graduate degree. I had lots of ups and downs as all grad students do.  I went for lots of walks and after a few months I noticed the pounds started to drop off. By January 2010 I weighed 240lbs.
So let's skip ahead to March 2015, I had moved back to the US July 2011, I didn't walk everywhere anymore I drove. I sat at a desk I came home and sat on the sofa.  The jeans I had bought when I first moved back to the US wouldn't button up anymore. I was back to buying a 3X/4X. I step on the scale and about have a heart attack,  I'm back up to 321.
This was my breaking point! I'm tired of being limited in what clothes I can buy!  I hate how I look when I see myself in the mirror!  I get out of breath climbing the stairs at work! The point is I'm unhealthy!  So here is my goal,  it's not about getting to a certain size, or losing a certain amount of weight. My goal is to get healthy.
I know there are days I won't be motivated, I know there will be weeks I don't feel like I made the progress I wanted.  I've decidea to start this blog to document my journey to the healthier happier me!