At Home - Day 9 (The pumpkin bread novella)

FAT STATS

Heaviest weight (Feb 2011): 259 lbs

Starting weight at Biggest Loser Resort (Nov 2011): 217 lbs

Current weight: 191.4 (*%#!$&!) 

FUEL:

Approx 1210 calories

  

• Breakfast: 1/2 whole wheat grain tortilla, 4 egg whites, 1oz soy cheese
• Snack: apple
• Lunch: 2 slices whole sprouted wheat bread, spring lettuce, 2 slices organic ham, slice of light mozzarella, mustard.
• Snack: string cheese and a spoonful of pumpkin loaf
• Dinner: whole wheat sandwich thins, 3oz turkey, spring lettuce, slice of light mozzarella, mustard
• Snack: 3oz grilled chicken

THE BURN:
Approximately 550 Calories burned

 30 minutes - Treadmill at incline 10, speed between 3.5 and 4.0 for 2 miles.

1 mile run on treadmill.
20 minutes - Treadmill at speed 3.0

SELF ASSESSMENT:

• Personal score: A- (I was too tired to wake up at 4:30am and get in my morning workout, but I walked around my office at every opportunity today, took only the stairs, used the fit ball as my chair all day, and stretched using my office furniture. Additionally, I achieved a PB <personal best, not peanut butter> with my personal trainer today! See below for details...)

MY DAY:

Today was my first full day back to work. It was really nice to see some surprised faces and slightly dropped jaws on the guys as I walked in! I work with mostly men and they all made me feel really good today! I got lots of "wows" and then I would ask, "Do you notice a difference?" and the responses were, "Uh, yah!" and "You look beautiful!" (I can't remember the last time a guy said that to me and I heard it twice today! I'm beaming!) I was also extremely and very pleasantly surprised at the number of people who told me they have been reading this blog! I can't tell you how much it means to have that kind of support! Thank you, EVERYONE who takes any time out of their day to read this! It started as a therapeutic journal for me and I never anticipated that anyone would want to read it, let alone be inspired. It means so much to me when someone tells me they decided to go to the gym or change something in their lives because of this blog. I can't think of a more amazing compliment. THANK YOU!

Special shout-outs to Srikanth, Swarna, Karla and John:

• Congratulations, Srikanth and Swarna for taking that step to join the gym! I'm so glad you're enjoying reading about my journey! If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help! I wish the best for you both!
• Karla, you've been an amazing friend for years and years. You've always been a pillar of strength for me, even when I was at my lowest. I can't tell you what it means to me that you've found inspiration in my words and that I'm at least partially able to return to you what you've done for me for so many years!
• And, to John for being a loyal blog-reader, even though I had no idea until today, and caring enough to let me know that he'd beat the pulp out of any guy that treats me poorly (Love you for that! You made my day!).

When I arrived at my office this morning, the pumpkin bread was staring at me again. I swear that thing grew a puppy dog face and was giving me sad eyes out of being neglected. (Obviously, I become easily obsessed with sweet treats. See Donut Saga in prior blog post).

11:00 AM: I  made a bunch of snacks for myself to ensure I wouldn't get too hungry during my work day.
 

 
I ate half of the ham sandwich I prepared for myself at home, just to make sure I didn't let myself get hungry and pounce on the pumpkin loaf. I'm not going to lie... I was kind of scared of it! Either it was going to be so sweet that it will taste disgusting (highly unlikely), or it's going to be so good that I won't be able to stop eating it and some hot single guy will walk into my office as I look up at him with my cheeks stuffed, crumbs down my shirt, and chocolate all over my face while mumbling through a mouthful of bread, "en I hel u?" <That's "Can I help you?" in Pumpkinbread-ese> So, I sat and stared at it... wrapped as though it was not at all dangerous or ill-intentioned.

11:15 AM: I unwrapped the pumpkin bread and put it right in front of my computer screen with the teambeachbody.com website up in the background. Man oh man, that smelled sooo good! I'll bet that little loaf weighs at least one pound!

11:20 AM: I'm having a small spoonful of the bread...I just had to taste it. Also had to make sure I got at least two chocolate chips and a nut in that tiny bite.... chomp chomp... ummm... WATER! An entire glass of water! Holy poop on a stick, that was unbelievably super sweet!!!! My taste buds and sugar tolerance have definitely changed! I'm glad I tried it, because the obsessing instantly terminated with that bite, but I wrapped that thing back up and gave it to a colleague. I'm sure it's just as delicious as years' passed, for people who are used to ingesting sugar. I'm glad someone will enjoy it!

I finished out my day and headed to the gym.

I'm a little concerned about the slight weight gain I've experienced recently, but I know I'm burning more each day than I'm taking in. I felt it was important to blog this lull in my weight loss progress, because I think we are all faced with something like this at some point. I'm confident in my nutrition and I've been so careful! I am NOT giving up!  Besides, I feel great and that should count more than anything, right????
 
I talked to my trainer about it tonight and he seems to think the wine and salt on Sunday night has something to do with it... he said my body fat is not going up (I get measured daily with calipers), so I should be okay. He plans to measure me again tomorrow morning.

I mentioned the possibility of running a half-marathon to my personal trainer today (Chris). His reaction: "Really? Jump on that treadmill!" When am I going to learn that you don't divulge long-term fitness goals to an insane (in a good way), former Marine personal trainer unless you want to experience severe pain. And oh, I did. I say this with the utmost love and respect, but that !*&@!$#er had me complete two miles at an incline 10 and between 3.5 and 4.0 mph, THEN just when I think we are wrapping up our session, he asks, "How fast do you think you can run a mile?" The last time I ran a mile, it took about 14 minutes, but for some reason, I blurted out, "13 minutes." He commanded, "Get on the treadmill... I think you can do it in 10." WTF?!?!? 10??? Are you effing insane? Mmmm hmmmm... 10... You're gonna see my ass fly off the back half of that damn thing in about three minutes! Just sayin'!

I am not even going to try to lie; it wasn't pretty. About four minutes into the run, my breathing became somewhat erratic. Like a drill sergeant, he got me back on track... every four steps, exhale sharply. Inhale for three steps, exhale on the fourth.  Shoulders relaxed. Arms at sides and pointed forward, lean back, focus, no noise except for the breathing! It's a lot to remember and focus on, but I finally caught my rhythm again... for a minute. At six minutes, I thought I was going to die. He lied to me and told me I was 75% done. I looked down at the display and almost gave up. He must have seen the "eff this" look on my face because he changed the treadmill display so that I couldn't see my progress any longer. UGH!

At this point, I detest this man and want to wipe that freakin' smirk off his face with my sweaty shoe! I kept attempting to reach for the STOP button, but he wouldn't let me quit! I'm glad he didn't. Before I knew it, and when I seriously thought I wasn't breathing any longer, I came up to less than a quarter-mile left! I just kept chanting "I can do anything for 2 minutes" (something I remember trainer Tonia saying at BLR during "T" class). Then I was at .9 miles! The last .1 miles went very quickly and even though I felt like I was going to bust a lung open and throw up at the same time, I FINISHED! One mile in 10:12! What???? No way that just happened! I must have looked nauseated because my trainer pointed at the garbage can and helped me outside for fresh air. I didn't puke, but my lungs were on fire and my stomach was flipping me off. However, I felt so incredibly accomplished and proud! At that point, I decided it was ok to love him again.... (sorry about the whole sweaty shoe thing).

I came home from the gym and decided to see what was on TV. I was watching (for the third or fourth time) "Biggest Loser: Where are they now?" and my favorite part is when Tara comes out on stage to talk to Ally, Bob, and company about completing the Ironman. They show clips from the race and she makes it look so easy! My girl ran that Marathon in just over 5 hours, AFTER swimming for more than 2 miles AND biking more than 100 miles! That's insanely fast! She is such an amazing woman and I am so lucky to have spent time with her at BLR. She is definitely one of my inspirations and one of the reasons I want to run that half-marathon in San Francisco in April 2012.



During week 2 at BLR


I have to get to bed at a decent hour tonight because Chris and I are meeting up at 6am for a morning workout and I'd like to get in a 45 minute warm-up before then.

Here's to a fabulous tomorrow!

See you on the fit side!
-Heather