Black Belt Living

Hoping....

....that Old Man Winter has finally gone.  He's been a real jerk this year.

A Different Perspective

If you would have asked me yesterday would I prefer to be home on a Friday March morning with snow on the ground or in Hawaii at a beach front resort, I would have laughed. The answer would have been so obvious.  

Today? I'm glad to live in "fly-over" country. 

It's amazing how your perspective can change overnight. 

Eat Less, Move More - Month 2

It's March 3rd, and I told you I would be back with an update on my "lose weight and get in shape or else program". Here's the update at the finish of two months/eight weeks.

If you read my update from February 3rd, I was pretty amazed at how much weight I had lost since my start date of January 3rd ~ 14.5 pounds (I think). Well starting on February 3rd, I went into a bit of a stall. My weight basically went up and down a pound or so for the next two and a half weeks. I did manage to earn my 15 pound charm on Valentine's Day. That was a nice treat. 

What did happen in those weeks where the scale didn't move? My jeans started falling off. Literally. I went down not one, but two sizes in jeans in basically a two week time frame. My whole body started changing dramatically. All of a sudden, all my clothes don't fit. This is what I didn't see the entire time that I was losing all that weight quickly in January. So while the scale didn't move, other things were sure changing. Do I wish I would have taken measurements at the beginning of this process?  Uh, that would be yeah! 

I had a pair of jeans in the back of my closet that I had bought probably two years ago that I didn't try on in the store (STUPID, I know!). When I got them home, they were so small that I couldn't ever get them up to my hips, never mind getting them buttoned and zipped. I should have taken them back ASAP, but for some reason I didn't. Around Valentine's Day I tried them on and not only did they fit, but they were a little big. Now I can hardly keep them on. They are literally the ONLY pair of jeans that I can wear right now and they aren't going to work for much longer. That's a good problem to have. 

That weight stall lasted until around the middle of last week, when I dropped three more pounds. Yesterday I was down another 2.8, so that puts me just two tenths of a pound short of that next charm for twenty pounds. The numbers don't quite look like they work out, because I went down then up a bit then down again. I thought about getting the new charm for today's photo, but that would be cheating, so I guess it'll have to wait until next month's update. 

I'm still working out a lot and I've actually ramped it up a bit. Remember that new class where all of the participants look like fitness models?  Well, I've kept that up every week. For two days aftewards, I hurt badly. The instructor finds new ways to punish us every week, so that your muscles never get used to it. Last week we had to run suicide drills. Ugh. Every week I have to psych myself up and try so hard not to blow it off. I keep hoping that it'll get a bit easier every week and that I will learn to like it more. It doesn't, and I don't. I literally hate every freaking minute of that class, but I'm always really proud of myself when I finish it. It's hard core and the other people in the class are uber-fit, so I'm happy to be there and make it through. I keep telling myself that I can do anything for an hour, right?  Yes I can.

I'm also still doing Zumba two or three times/week, walking/jogging a lot outside when the weather is nice, and hitting the gym for cardio and weights. I even tried an Aqua Zumba class last week, although I didn't think it was much of a challenge. I couldn't keep my heart rate up. 

One more thing ~ I found out early in Feb that my LDL (bad) cholesterol is way too high. So now I have to join the ranks of many of my family members in the high cholesterol department. My doc put me on medication, which I hate. Boo. I feel like I've failed myself by having to go on medication. I'm hoping that in time, and with the weight loss, exercise, and medication that I can get it lowered to the point where I won't have to take medication anymore. 

So my latest charm on my bracelet (which I got on Valentine's Day) is a heart charm, to represent taking care of my heart (lowering my cholesterol and improving my fitness level), losing another 5 pounds, and earning it on Valentine's Day. I thought that was appropriate. Hopefully I'll get that next one tomorrow. I haven't decided what I'm going to get yet. 

I want them all to be meaningful. 

I wonder where I'll be on April 3rd!