NSV & New exercise class

Friday night, after having been told by a co-worker a couple of days earlier that I needed to go buy new slacks as my butt was all baggy, went and bought size 14W slacks and they fit well! NSV! I am now down 12 sizes in pants, from a 26W to 14W. I'm quite excited about that, considering how my scale has hovered around the 220-222 mark for two months now.

I did a new exercise class last night at the Y: Kick n strength. It's an hour long class that combines kick boxing and strength training. Kristi teaches it, along with several other classes at the Y. She is also my favorite zumba teacher. But back to kick n strength, we did about 30-35 minutes of kick boxing routines, followed by 25 minutes of work with a weight bar. I'm not sure how much my bar weighed as I didn't see a label on it, but we lifted it with our arms several different ways, did squats with it (Kristi loves squats!), then laid on the floor, and did several different lifts, both with our legs, our arms, as well as the back of our knees (that was hard since I was sweating so much it kept slipping). We then did some (what am I talking about, we did lots!) of crunches. After the class, walking out to my car which I usually park quite a way from the door, I was just dragging! It felt good to know that I worked really hard in class.

Tonight I'm going to try Y Firm. It's an hour long strength training class that is supposed to burn lots of calories. It'll be interesting to see how I feel after it. Normally, on Tuesdays, now that our bible studies have started back up, I'd go to bible study instead. But since I have other things going on two Tuesdays a month, I've decided to work out on the other Tuesdays. Hubby gets to explain why I'm not there.

One Hundred Pushups

Am I a glutton for punishment? I don't think so.

Am I wanting to prevent the bat wings that serious weight loss can lead to? Yes!

Am I sure I'm not a glutton for punishment? Well, we'll see.

I was reading over on Lap Band Talk today about exercises for combating the bat wings. The One Hundred Push Ups program was recommended. I read through it and I think I might just try it.

Not only would it be good for my arms, but I think it will help firm up the girls, as well as help with my abdomen.

I'll read some more on it this weekend, do the initial test, then start it on Monday.

Please feel free to join me. Perhaps if there are several of us, we can cheer each other on.

It can't hurt, can it? Well, maybe!

Mmmm, aahhhh!

Can I just say that I really enjoyed getting back into the pool yesterday for water aerobics? I have so missed it! My muscles missed it! From the get go, I could tell that it has been a month since I last dipped a toe in chlorinated water!

I bet the people at the Y were like, oh, nice to see ya again, lazy butt! Not really, but really. It's been about two weeks since I worked out on the treadmill. How crazy is it that now that I'm finally wanting to work out, all these darn health issues have prevented me from doing it? Well, they're not keeping me from it, any more. I went last night and I'm going back tonight, this time to walk on the treadmill.

I love the treadmills at our Y. They have built in TVs. So for the first 30 minutes, I walk to my ipod tunes, then the next 30 minutes, I flip on the TV and tune it into the Food Network, and watch whatever is on. I really like doing this on Saturday mornings when they actually have cooking shows on, unlike in the evenings when it is usually Unwrapped or a challenge, because then I get so caught up in the recipe they are making that I want to finish watching it, guaranteeing that I'm on the tread for a minimum of 30 minutes, if not more, depending on when the show starts.

I was looking at the health and wellness schedules for July and the first part of August and I think I'm going to try some new classes. They've got a kick boxing class that really gets the cardio revved up, and then a Y Firm class that combines cardio with strength training. I'll have to sit down tonight and map out exactly what I want to do so I make sure not to miss out on anything, as some classes are only once a week. Another thing I saw was that they offer a beginners Zumba class, called Zumba Gold, that shows you the basic steps. I wished I would have taken that when I first started Zumba.

I'm starting to get lots of compliments on my weight loss. I think it's because I was finally able to purchase and wear size 1XL shirts. Before that, I was still in my 2XL, though slightly baggy, still fit. Now I can wear the 1XL and they are not too tight, so my loss is really starting to show. I may soon have to also buy some more work slacks as my 20Ws are really baggy in the butt/hips area, although the waist is just right. I wonder if that's because my tummy is still a bit swollen from a combination of the GB surgery and the ERCP scope I had done last week? If so, maybe my waist will soon shrink enough to make buying even size 16s possible. A girl can only hope, right?

Do you know what my ultimate panty-creaming, euphoria-producing, clothing goal is? To be able to wear knee-high boots. I have never been able to do this as my calves are so big! Perhaps I've just never shopped in a shoe store that offered a good range of options, but when I reach that goal, you may just hear me screaming in ecstasy! Just wanted to forewarn you!

Ahhh, that feels good

This morning after dropping my dogs off at the groomers, I went to the Y and got on the treadmill. I did two different 30 minute programs with warm up and cool down on both, so about 66 minutes total. I even jogged a couple of times!

It feels so good to be back at the Y, exercising. After I was done walking, I left the weight room where all the treadmills and other stationery equipment is, and I could hear the music from the zumba class next door. I so wanted to go in there, but figured I should probably wait a bit more before I do that. Don't need to over do it.

My legs are still tingling from the walking/running. That's good, huh?

Lost the 0.2 I gained last week

Ugh, this is ridiculous. I read your comments and you're right. I know that the heck it is I'm doing. I did this the last time that I lost a significant amount of weight. I think I'm doing so well that I can slack off. Well that has to stop!

So my plan is to get to the grocery store today and buy what I'll need to make some good healthy dinners this week, rather than picking something up from a restaurant after I go to the Y, which basically negates all the work I just did. And no more stops at RMCF. Luckily, I don't keep that kind of stuff in my house, so it's kind of like a once-and-done treat, and I don't have any planned trips to Denver this week. However, I neglected to include in my previous post that I bought a bag of chips at the grocery store the last time I went as well as a bag of salty snack mix from Harry & David when I was at the outlet mall last week. So I'll be getting rid of that stuff.

Today's weigh in weight is 233.2. My weight for the last three weeks has varied by 0.2 pounds down or up. Perhaps now with really digging in and eliminating the junk I can get down into the 220's. So that's this week's goal. No more junk food. No eating out. No little treats. For one week. Let's see if my scales will show the difference if I behave.

Each day I will post how well I did that day so I can stay accountable on a day by day basis. Here goes!

Is it a plateau or can I not keep my mouth shut?

So, for the last few weeks, I've been hovering right at 233-234. I have increased my exercising as you know by joining the YMCA. I have exercised 4-5 times a week except this week when it was only 3 times since I was in Denver so often, although I did exercise at the hotel there Wednesday night for about 40 minutes.

I know what the problem is. I'm not being careful with what I am eating. Sweets. Junk food. Even some fast food. If I keep this crap up I'm going to gain back all the weight I've lost so far. I need to come up with a plan to cook dinner on the nights when I go to the Y, either by using my crock pot or making stuff on the weekends and freezing it then reheating it during the week.

Plus, I need to stay away from the Rocky Mountain Cho.col.ate Fa.cto.ry. Twice now I've stopped there on the way back from Denver. While I didn't buy myself a caramel apple (got those for Hubby) I did get a double scoop waffle cone BOTH TIMES! And other stuff. Have you ever tried any of the tiger butter items? Yeah, they are way good. I think I am going to have to find a new place to stop on my way back from Denver to use the restroom and get a bottle of water besides RMCF in Castle Rock.

How do you guys get through this carb overload phase? I need tips. I need to sew my lips shut!

~*~*~*~*~*~

Girl Bandit asked me how the March of Dimes walk went. It was great! I was able to walk all five miles with energy to spare. I did get a couple blisters on the edge of my heel, but I think that was caused by my socks being too thin and my shoe rubbing. I was able to raise $335, surpassing my goal by $35. Thank you to Sally who donated! I appreciate it.

Thursday when I was in Denver, I was at an educational symposium to get some continuing education credits for my insurance license. There were lots of insurance carriers there with booths, both giving away little trinkets (such as hand sanitizer, pens, note pads, tooth brushes, etc.) and then also cool prizes. I won a pair of Tommy Bahama sunglasses and an ipod touch! I know! Freakin' cool! And it was perfect timing too as my little ipod nano is starting to go out, which, by the way, I won that too from another insurance company about five years ago.

Today I synced it up with my old computer where I had a lot of cool music, then synced again with my laptop. I want to go and buy an arm band for it to use when I do weights or go walking.

What songs do you have that you can't live without, especially when you exercise? I've got some that are older songs (well, a few years old, anyway) that I just love to shake my booty to. Honky Tonk Badonkadonk is one of them. I also just downloaded I'm in da House, the radio version. I love that song! I was singing it last night as I was making dinner and Hubby thought I actually said the F word, rather than freakin. He hates it when I say the F word.

Okay, time to go. I'm going to go sneak in the shower with Hubby. Knowing him, he'll protest, but maybe I can get him to come around! :0)

Zumba

I liked it so much yesterday that I went again today! It is quite the work out. While it is a lot of fun, I am very well aware that I am working out! I wanted to wear my Polar heart rate monitor to today's class to see how many calories I burned, but unfortunately, the battery is dead in my wrist unit, and has to be replaced by a licensed Polar service person. So I'll have to find out where I can either take it or send it to get replaced.

I tried to find a website that would help me determine how many calories I burned, but google disappointed me. So if you happen to know of a good website that determines calories burned, please share it.

Today after church Hubby and I joined his mom, dad, niece and nephew and a family friend for lunch at Chili's. I had their new Taco Combo, which is four soft corn tacos stuffed with your choice of pulled pork, smoky chicken, crispy chicken and I think shrimp. I got the pork and smoky chicken. Oh my gosh! They were so good. Instead of the black beans and rice, I got the spicy cole slaw and steamed mixed veggies and a small side of guacamole. I ate two of the tacos, one of each flavor, a couple bites of the slaw, one piece of broccoli, and half the guac. I think the smoky chicken flavor was my favorite. I have left overs for tonight! The really nice thing about it was they were pretty inexpensive at only about $9.

Hubby's niece then ordered the lava chocolate cake. I did have a couple of bites, but I don't feel the least bit guilty for it as I know I worked it off between yesterday's and today's zumba classes.

Oh, going back to today's class which was held in a smaller studio with mirror lined walls, I was able to see just how small my calves are getting, and more importantly, how the muscles are sticking out! I also realized that it's time to shave my legs! ;0)

I'm excited to see what my weight will be next Sunday as I have a full week's worth of workouts under my belt. My plan is water aerobics on Monday and Wednesday, weights on Thursday, and the March of Dimes walk on Saturday (5 miles - hope I can do it, last year I did 4 miles).

60!

It seemed like I was never going to get here! I've been getting close, but just couldn't quite make it. But today I have!
I weighed in at 233.6! That's 60.4 pounds lost from my highest recorded weight! Ching ding!

Oh, and I have a NSV (non-scale victory) to tell about too! Yesterday I met my bestie for lunch at one of the recent competitors in the Travel Channel's Food War competition to air later in May - Slopper Wars! We got a booth, and let me tell you, those booths are tiny! But not only did I fit, but there were a few inches between me and the table! The slopper was good, by the way. Next Friday we are going to go to the other competitor and try their slopper out.

What's a slopper you ask? It is a hamburger, smothered in green (or red) chili, with cheese and onions. Each restaurant (bar) serves them a bit differently. The one we went to yesterday serves them open faced, so the burger is resting on top of the bun. The one we'll go to next week the burger is nestled between the top and bottom bun before being smothered in the chili. Be sure to click on the links in the above paragraph to check out the locally published stories about the two establishments and the Travel Channel program.

I'm very excited to have lost 60 pounds so far. In fact, I am skipping the church cleaning event today and going to the Y to try zumba for the very first time. If you've not heard of zumba or not sure what it is, click here to check out the official (I guess it's official) website.

Cravings, Stuck, Fill, Y

This last week or so, I've been craving chocolate and peanut butter (no, I'm not pregnant). Twice last week in the evening I made a shake using powdered milk, milk, ice, chocolate syrup (the first time) or Carnation instant breakfast mix (the second time), and peanut butter. I'd drink it after dinner and I would share with hubby.

Then on Sunday, I again was craving chocolate and peanut butter, so when I went into the kitchen, I looked on top of the fridge, saw a box of corn flakes that I had used to make some cookies with last month, and decided to make the cookies again.

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
3 Tbs cocoa powder
1 cup peanut butter
8 cups (or so) of corn flakes

Mix cocoa powder and sugar in medium sauce pan, add corn syrup. Over medium high heat, bring to boil and boil for 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat, add peanut butter, stirring until mixed in. Pour over corn flakes in large bowl, mix well. Turn out into 9x13 baking pan, pat down, then let cool. Cut into 2x2 inch square pieces.

After making this, of course there is some of the mixture stuck to the wooden spoon, so I eat it, not really chewing all that well. Then I see some of the syrup/pb mixture left in the sauce pan, so I scoop it out and eat it, again, not eating it slowly.

I decide I'll just let the cookies cool a bit so I grab my book and go outside to read. Not even five or 10 minutes later, I'm feeling the pain in my back. I can't even sit still for it. I get up, go drink some water, thinking that will help. It doesn't. Then I go lay down for a while. Nope, doesn't help. I google gall bladder pain, nope, not that. Go back and lay down some more. I think it took about two hours before the pain finally subsided.

After the last time I got stuck, the surgeon's office manager said to do liquids as my tummy was probably swollen. Instead of eating dinner, what did I do? Made another shake, this time using both the chocolate syrup and the Carnation instant breakfast mix. Drank about half. Then around 8:30 my head was telling me that I had to eat something, I just can't survive on a shake only. Then I heat up the leftover chicken enchilada that I had for lunch. Ate about 1/3 of the enchilada and start feeling the pain again. My God, what does it take for me to learn a freakin' lesson???

Yesterday I decided that I would only do liquids, at least for breakfast and lunch. I drank for breakfast the second half of the shake I made Sunday evening, then had yogurt and string cheese for lunch. Then I went for a scheduled fill. I didn't tell him about my stuck episode because I didn't want him to not give me a fill. According to their scales, I've lost four pounds from three weeks ago. I told him that my scales had me gaining 0.4 pounds since last week. I told him how I'd been snacking in the evenings and how I seem to be able to eat more. He finally gave me 0.4 ccs.

Afterwards, I went to the YMCA and joined! I didn't work out last night as I didn't have any workout clothes that fit, they're all too big! Hubby and I went to Kmart and bought some t-shirts and Capri-length workout pants. Not sure what they're actually called. Then I went home and tried on my swimsuits. I did find one that still fits, although I'm not sure how long it will, since the bottoms are slightly loose. I will wear a t-shirt with it as I just don't want to be popping out of it during water aerobics and give some poor old man a heart attack!

The Y offers water aerobics and zumba on Monday and Wednesday evenings at the same time, so I'll do the water aerobics on those evenings, then zumba on Saturday mornings. Unfortunately, I won't be able to try zumba for at least three weeks, as I have a function at our church this Saturday morning, and then the March of Dimes walk is the following Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to it though.

Tickers and the Y

You may notice that of my three tickers above (gee, Miss Tori, how many more are you going to add?) that they are not all the same. This is because the weigh in dates for these various challenges are different.

So my Easter Challenge I posted today and the final weigh in is next Sunday. Then I'll get rid of that ticker and just have the two left.

For convenience sake, I'll change my normal weigh in date from Monday to Sunday to coincide with the MDBS Challenge. (No, that doesn't stand for doctor bull sh!t.)

And, if I get a wild hair between now and Thursday, I may decide to challenge myself, or perhaps just track, my exercising. I need something to get me going again. Hubby is still considering whether to join the YMCA with me. Actually, did I tell you about that?

Our local Y has single membership for $40 a month or couple membership for $50 a month. They have water aerobics two evenings a week, Mondays and Wednesday, at 6:15. Unfortunately, zumba is at the same time, but they also offer zumba on Saturday mornings. So I'm thinking I may just go ahead and join as I have always loved water aerobics. I'm hoping Hubby will join too as the Y would offer him a variety of classes or free swim or weights he could do, with or without me. Plus we get a slight discount off the join fee if two join at the same time versus one.

Have you joined a gym since being banded? Do you actually use your membership or is it just a contribution you are making to the gym's bottom line?