I am making progress!

I have been to the gym every day for the last 16 days (except my days off - which is Sunday), and one of those days was twice!  (More on that in a second).  I have now lost 4.5 pounds in two weeks, which is fabulous, I feel so energized after my workouts, and I have never been so confident that I WILL DO THIS!  because I AM doing this!

Leg day was Thursday.  I worked hard at it, and that night went to yoga for the stretching (my twice in one day event).  OK, lesson learned, do NOT do yoga after a leg workout - even though it was 11 hours later, I'm still feeling it two days later. And yet, did yoga again this morning.

In all the challenges I've started (and quit), of all of the "resolutions" I've made (and quit), all the promises I made to myself (and broke), I've never felt so confident two weeks in, I've never felt so ......GOOD.....two weeks in.  I'm still eating right, I'm not bored (rum and butter flavoured protein shakes help out with that), and I KNOW I will succeed at this.  My goal is to be the person a new member looks at and says "I want her....back/arms/legs/butt/abs....whatever.  Someone that sees my achievement and wants to achieve the same.

That is a cool goal.

Thinking outside the box

So in trying to eat healthier, I have run into the same thing so many people think or say when it comes to this.  BORING!  The food is boring, there is a limited choice of foods, etc. etc. etc.

Well, I am discovering an entirely new way of seeing foods, and particularly food combinations.  Who says the Philly Herb and Spice dip has to be for chips?  Jon uses it for veggies, and I am hooked.  Protein shakes taste the same all the time?  We bought some flavour extracts and it changes everything.  Eggnog protein shake in May?  I'm there! Gingerbread protein shake in August?  Totally there!  Cherry/Lime/Lemon/Watermelon/Maple/Rum and Butter/Caramel?  All there!

This makes eating healthy easier at the front end as it takes away the cravings for sweets.  This is exciting!

On the way

Hit a new record today - did 200 stairs without a rest.  OK, it wasn't very fast, but I didn't change the speed down (used speed 3), I stayed the same speed through 200.  My legs were rubbery at the end, but that's my new record by about 30 stairs.  Only 100 to go, and 11 weeks 2 days to do it in.  Oh yeah!

Have been chipping ice in the driveway for the last few days - the same muscles you use for that are the ones you use for TRX rows - which is what Amy had me doing last week and for the last few days.  Also, OW!

Goal one is in 79 days, Goal two is in 170 days, Goal three is in 360 days.

Another Challenge

So I'm doing the Org Challenge, but there's also a Fitness Challenge.  Actually it's a few challenges all rolled into one.  I have set goals with my trainer to be at a certain point in 12 weeks.  Then I set a second goal for 12 weeks after that.  So, six months - give or take - to meet my fitness goals.

There are a number of things that feed into successfully hitting that goal (or those goals), and everyone knows what they are - eat healthy (real food), work out, work with a trainer, sleep right, etc. etc.  It's simple, but if it were easy, everyone would be fit and healthy.  I am using an app called "Lose It" for tracking and monitoring, so far I quite like it.

I have pictures taken by my trainer, but no way am I posting them.   It is shameful, but it's also shocking to me when I see myself.

Instead, it's all text.  Currently I am 196.4 pounds.  Not the heaviest I've ever been, but the heaviest I've been in a few decades.  It hurt to see the number on the scale, but it hurts more to write it, it seems more real.

So:
Weight: 196.4 lbs
BMI: 30.4 (just .4 into the "obese" category - that REALLY hurts!)
Fat %: 43.7 (desirable range is around 23-28%)

Shoulders: 120.5 cm
Chest: 117.5 cm
Waist: 102.5 cm
Bellybutton:  113 cm
hips/gluts:  116.5 cm
right thigh: 70 cm
right arm:  40 cm

Phase 1 Goals:
drop 25 lbs (ish) by April 3 (12 weeks)
BMI of approximately 25 (25 is the cusp of "normal" to overweight)
plank for 90 seconds (right now 30 is pushing it)
300 stairs (without a break)
buy a pretty bra (have to lose more than a few sizes to do that)

Phase 2 Goals:
drop 40 lbs (ish) by June 26 (24 weeks)
BMI  of approximately 20
plank for 120 seconds
wear my grey suit (it's a size 12)

Phase 3 Goals:
January 9 2014 - one year from the start
maintain a stable weight (from six months earlier)
maintain size 12-14
maintain BMI of approximately 20
compete in the World Health games in 2014

I will likely have goals to add to this as I go, these are just the beginning ones.  The reason for my size flexibility is that I realise that just losing pounds does not determine size, there will be muscle built, and my body will change.  The same for weight - while the weight loss may not appear as my numbers, if my muscle mass and fat mass have changed to the point where my BMI is around 20, and my fat % has dropped considerably.

This isn't going to be easy, but it is most definitely possible.  Here we go!

Another organisation post

I am amazed by the Space Bags.  After discovering how much they hold (previous post), I ended up with piles of stuff to bag, and still had leftover bags.  Ran around yelling "Bag Everything!"  The bags remind me of a Bag of Holding from the DnD days - they are like another dimension that holds everything!
In the end, here's what I ended up with:

Jumbo bag:
Queen sized down comforter
2 x king sized fleece blankets
Queen sized sheet set
Double size wool blanket
Queen duvet cover and two shams
2 x fleece twin sized sleeping bags
Queen cotton duvet cover and pillowcases
Double cotton throw

Large bag 1:
5 x ladies suits (three wool, one linen, one cotton)
1 cocktail dress (with crinoline)
1 velvet evening gown with jacket
1 linen (lined) evening gown with wrap

Large bag 2:
fleece throw (double size)
Heavy cotton quilted throw
2 hockey jerseys

Large bag 3:
5 x ladies wool suits (fully lined)
Dress (lined)
heavy cotton pants
2 x cotton skirt

Large bag 4:
Wedding dress
Velvet cape
Skirt hoop

Large bag 5:
King sized heavy duvet cover
Queen sized down alternative blanket

Medium bag 1:
8 x t-shirts
5 x collared shirts
vest

Medium bag 2:
8 x t-shirts
4 x sweatshirts

Medium bag 3:
2 x skirts
2 x dresses
3 x blouses
one pair summer shorts
wool swing coat (full jacket)
2 x hoodies


Not every bag is in the picture, as a few were done after.


Before vacuuming:

Post - vacuuming

All but the Jumbo fit into dresser drawers in the basement, so now we have closet space, drawer space, and shelf space.  These things are fantastic!  I will be trying to put my wool into a Jumbo one and seeing how it goes.  I have a copious amount of wool, so looking forward to it!

I have discovered Space Bags!

And, at this moment, I think they are just about the neatest thing ever invented!  We purchased several last week (well, Jon purchased several - I thought we were only going to get a few), and today I started piling up the linens and clothing to put into them.  I figured I had enough on the couch when I started filling the first one.  It's a Jumbo size, and looks like this when stuffed:
Contained within this is:
1 Queen sized down comforter
2 King sized fleece blankets
Full queen sized sheet set
Double sized wool blanket
Queen duvet cover with 2 shams
2 fleece twin sized sleeping bags
Queen sized cotton duvet cover and pillow cases
Double sized cotton throw

There is no single place in the house that fits all of this together.  It is scattered through a trunk, two closets, and a drawer.  So then I applied the vacuum as specified (I have video but not uploading it), and here is the result:

THIS is something we can easily store.  I have several more:

In that pile is the one Jumbo, one Extra Large, five Large, and two Medium.  I plan on piling them up at the end and taking a picture to see how much room gets saved.  Here's to organization!

Wow - that dropped off quickly, but I'm back!

One entry, then nothing.  I'm not sure why.
Our marriage is the same as our relationship was before, but different.  We have not changed our respect, our communication, our commitment, but to me it's a bit different.  Maybe because I'm the one with a new name.  I don't know, but it just feels a little bit different.  Also, I can say "my husband" now, which is super cool!

So, as part of life, I'm into the "Challenge, Organise!"  I've tried before, and I do piecemeal, but never keep to it.  Jon is totally involved and supporting my tear-down and change outlook, so much so that he sat and chatted with me while I worked on the kitchen yesterday.  I didn't take before pictures, but I did take after pictures, and I really like the "after".  I am posting the pictures to see what it looks like in a month, two months, six months, and onward.  Here's what our wonderfully organised kitchen cupboards look like now:

Main cupboard 1:

Spice cupboard over the stove:

  Main cupboard number 2:

Still missing the cupboard over the fridge, but that and the corner cupboard are just holding dishes.  In each of the containers where it isn't obvious, I have cut out the label from the package and inserted it just inside so we can read exactly what is in the cupboard.

Next up:  Clothes, linens, etc.