Truth Tuesday - LIFETIME

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After I weighed in last week, all I could think about was hitting Lifetime today. I knew I had to be focused and stay on plan. I did that ... until Friday. Friday night I had plans to go out with friends and did my prep work. I looked at the restaurant's menu (Wagamama) and did the best I could to decipher the points since they don't have their nutrition facts on the site. I picked a good sesame chicken salad and some edamame. I figured it would be filling and yummy. I felt confident when I left the house on Friday and then... ... the entire plan went out the window!

The wife and I got to the restaurant early so we had a couple beers then I checked in to the bar on Foursquare and they offered us a half-priced appetizer. Yup! I fell for it hook line and sinker! So we split an app ... then since I had a couple beers what were a few more. Needless to say that night was not one of my finest eating moments.

Not sure this happens to other people, but once I have a bad night  - the whole next day turns in to a disaster.

So Friday and Saturday were horrible. All I kept thinking was I was putting myself in the wrong direction from Lifetime. So Sunday morning I got back on track and hit the gym for an awesome Spin class with Linds and Jen. Sunday night I still went a tad over points because my wife brought this garlic ciabatta bread in to the house to have with our spaghetti squash. But, overall I called Sunday a win in my book since I worked out and got all my healthy checks in.

Monday was right on point - I worked out, hit all WW Healthy Guidelines and stuck to 26 pts.

So that brings us to this morning. I got on the scale before heading to Spin and did NOT like what I saw. I saw a number that would put me out of reach of Lifetime. I made sure to give 150% during Spin and thankfully my friend Jess (the instructor) delivered with an awesome class. I got home and did my usual home weigh-in before the actual WW weigh-in. Well I saw a better number after Spin, but still not one that I liked.

But, you all know when I weigh in so there was no way I could skip out. I just had to face the music. My wife came with me for moral support and to act as photog if I hit Lifetime. I stepped on the scale and ... I took a deep breathe and prayed to see a number between 153-157 ...

I gained 0.6 lbs. That's it. Phew! That put me at 155.4 lbs - just 0.4 lbs over my goal weight - and in perfect position for LIFETIME!!

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Today: Gain 0.6

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 155.4

Total Lost: 62.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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OMG! OMG! I did it. I honest and truly made it to the moment I dreamed about on November 2, 2009. The moment I thought would never be in my realm of possibility on that first night of Weight Watchers. But, you know what? I did do it. I stuck with it.

I MADE IT HAPPEN!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this smile and am happy it hasn't left my face yet today...

I told my Territory Manager Elaine that I wanted to create my own "Biggest Loser Finale" type moment when I hit Lifetime status. Thankfully she approved and that is how the above happened. :) I am wicked happy that I decided to go this route and bring my own confetti to the weigh-in.

Lifetime means more to me than hitting Goal. I proved to myself that I could maintain a weight within my goal weight for six weeks - even with a 1,000 mile move, career change and basically a complete change in my life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This morning really made me think back to this journey and how I don't even recognize the person I was when I first stepped in to my Weight Watchers meeting on November 2, 2009. I was a sad - lonely - unhappy - and scared person. I was able to put on quite a front to the outside world, but inside was a whole different person.

But now? Now I see the good. I see the happiness in life. I am proud of the person I have become. I am happy with the person I am now. I have shown myself - and others - that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. I am stronger than I thought I was. I am a fighter. I am a success story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Today, I am living in the moment and enjoying all of my accomplishments. But, what will come tomorrow? Tomorrow I will continue to keep my eye on the new prize ... maintaining! Now that I have reached this milestone, I vow not to return to old habits. For me, this time - the weight loss will stick. There is no going back.

Thankfully, I have one incredible support system - in person, through social media and within my new Weight Watchers work family - that will continue to motivate and push me towards success.

I may falter. I may fall off the healthy lifestyle/Weight Watchers wagon at times ... but thankfully every one of you will be there to pick me back up and put me back on track. And for that, I thank you all. You have all touched my journey in a positive light and for that I am eternally grateful.

I am reminding myself today - and every day - that I am human. I am not perfect. But, picking myself up and never looking back, will allow me to keep succeeding.

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So today, I relish in my accomplishment. I will allow myself to flood in the compliments and love being thrown at me from all directions. I am bottling it all up to keep with me on the dark days. I am saying to myself...

Non-Scale Victories

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When I started my weight loss journey in November 2009, I honestly thought the only thing that mattered would be the number on the scale. Wow...

... Was I wrong.

In the beginning, sure. I focused just on what the scale was saying and that is how I judged my mood for the week. Being completely honest, I had a breakdown when I had my first gain. It was only 1.2 lbs, but up til that point I had lost each week. It was at that point, I had to re-evaluate my priorities.

I was doing Weight Watchers to create a healthier lifestyle for myself. I didn't want to be the unhappy person I was inside anymore. I was working through the program for more than dropping the pounds.

As the scale fluctuated with life (especially in 2010 when I was much more lax with my tracking/commitment/etc) and I got frustrated with that, I looked to other things that were still plusses and positives to look for to help me continue on.

I think I can actually remember the Non-Scale Victories (NSV) more than the weight milestones.

Some of my favorite non-scale victories in the last two-plus years:

1) Getting outside of my comfort zone and trying classes at the gym that I wouldn't normally have tried on my own: Spinning, Zumba, Hip Hop, Yoga, Pilates, etc.

2) Being able to buy pants in a decreasing order! I started wearing a size 18 and I just bought a pair of size 8 pants two weeks ago. I remember how excited I was when I got back into a size 12 - that felt amazing - so you can only imagine how the size 10 then size 8 pants experience felt.

3) I was able to wear a dress in Hawaii without having to squeeze into a pair of Spanx! I hadn't worn a dress without Spanx in years...

4) Being able to fit into clothes at the Lululemon Athletica clothing. It was a goal of mine for so long so the first time it actually happened ... I cried! And now I'm not even the biggest size in the store anymore. :)

5) Sitting on a plane or train and not spilling over into the seat next to mine.  I can sit in those seats now and have room to spare.

6) I don't hide from the camera like I used to. Prior to WW, I would hide behind other people in photos - turn to the side - or hide behind my friends so only my head would show. If I was sitting on a couch, I would make sure to strategically place a pillow in my lap to cover my stomach.

7) Learning to complete and enjoy filling the WW Healthy Guidelines on a daily basis. Now my body craves fruits and veggies...

8) I am more confident in my running. I have worked hard and it is paying off. I am posting times and splits I never through imaginable. I signed up for another marathon (first was in September 2006) and I never thought I would do that again.

9) CONFIDENCE! I was never a very confident person unless at work. I always felt a sense of myself and confidence when in "work mode," but outside of work, I was much more timid and shy. But now, I know I am stronger and worth more than I used to give myself credit for.

...and one of the biggest NSV of them all?

10) I like myself now. I don't love everything about myself since I think there is always room for improvement. But, my old feelings of wanting to "hurt myself" or the "this world would be better without me" thoughts, have completely gone away. (More on this topic next week)

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So please, when you see a standstill on the scale, don't give up. Think of how this journey has impacted the rest of your life. Think of how positively your changes have not only affected you, but the people around you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is your favorite NSV?

Three Things Thursday

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1) I took a fitness evaluation at my gym (Boston Sports Club) with my cousin's trainer Jacqui. And guess what folks? I am NOT as weak as I thought I was. :) YAY!! She also made me weigh-in. Let me tell you that freaked me out. Sorry, I weigh in on Tuesday morning at 8am at Weight Watchers - not on Thursday night after a full day of food. :P But I was less than 2 lbs heavier than my Tuesday AM weigh-in, which means I am right on track. So yay I survived my pop weigh-in. :P We sat down and went over my history and what I was looking to get out of the eval. Let me tell you, I sound injury prone when I go through my medical history: broken foot, sprained ankles, patella injury, IT band injury, back surgery, sprained neck, etc. I sound a lot older than 29. ;)

Prior to the eval, I had enjoyed a nice easy 30 min on the elliptical and my 3 60 second straightarmed planks for my #plankaday program. Then she had me do a 90 second plank. Sure why not? Yup, that made a total of 4 and a half minutes of planks. Works for me!

I told Jacqui that I obviously tackled my weight loss and got the cardio under control, but I really need to work on weight lifting and toning. I told her some of the exercises that Mel gave me before I left Chicago and she showed me some new ones I can incorporate in.

Thankfully she let me know at the end of the eval that I am in fact not as weak as I think I am. Score! My body fat is actually in the "fitness" range, which is great. Who woulda thought? Me in the fitness range. Heck yeah - that is a pretty sweet Non-Scale Victory.

(Tomorrow's post will be about Non-Scale Victories)

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2) I have decided on trying a new concept: breaking out of my comfort zone at least once a week. Last week I actually had two instances of breaking out of my safe zone. 1) I bought the Lululemon shirt that shows skin and 2) I tried spinach and quinoa (actually second time on quinoa, but I still count it). I stepped out of the box and lived to tell the tale ... I actually even enjoyed the spinach and quinoa.

What will I do this week? We are going to make spaghetti squash on Saturday night. I am really looking forward to this one since we have bought spaghetti squash twice before, but let it go bad before we actually got around to making it. That WON'T happen this time.

(Monday's post will be about Breaking Out Of My Comfort Zone)

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3) I am proud of myself. A lot of the time I get caught up with what is going on in life that I don't give myself as much credit as I deserve. But, now that I have more time to think and put myself first, I am realizing that I am pretty awesome. ;) Well, you all knew that already! :) I kid, I kid.

I think I need to take more time to take inventory on how far I have come. How hard I have worked. How much I have accomplished.

So today, I am. I am kinda freakin' amazed with myself. For this - I am giving myself a *Bravo*!

Truth Tuesday - 0.8 lb Gain

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I did something this week that I don't think I have done since I started Weight Watchers way back in November 2009 ... I didn't step on my home scale once during the week before a weigh in. I have certainly gone a week without checking the home scale, but I wasn't weighing in that following week. Does that make sense? So I went in to this morning's weigh-in completely in the dark of what to expect. This week I decided to try 30 points plus a day. While in Maintenance is the time to play around with how many points you can eat a day to maintain a constant weight for the future.

This week I also got lax on tracking on Saturday and Sunday. I made sure to write everything down, but I didn't figure out the points value for everything I ate.

Well, I braved the scale this morning for Week Five of Maintenance and ... I gained 0.8 lbs. Boo! But, the victory is that I was still 0.2 lbs UNDER my goal weight so YAY for that!! :) Every weigh-in needs a silver lining ... and that was mine!

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Today: Gain 0.8

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 154.8

Total Lost: 62.6

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Well, this was a good experiment. It looks as if 30 points per day may be too many for me to have to maintain a constant weight. So this week I am going to try 28 points a day and see what happens there. The lowest points I should have according to Weight Watchers is 26 and 30 was too many so let's give a number right in the middle a go: 28 it is!

Last week, I also took some time away from the gym to help my IT band/patella injury heal, which may have also played a part in the gain.

Overall, I am still happy to be under my goal weight during Week Five of Maintenance. I want to stay focused and hopefully see the 0.8 lbs come off this week. Since I hit goal on January 10 at 153.8 and today I weighed in at 154.8 - let's get rid of that pesky pound gain if I can.

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I am proud to say that yesterday marked the 14th-straight day that I have hit all of my Weight Watchers Healthy Checks, hit my 100oz of water, did my #plankaday and tracked/wrote down everything I had to eat or drink. THAT is a pretty sweet NSV (Non-Scale Victory).

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If all goes according to plan and I weigh in between 153 and 157 on Tuesday, February 21 - I will hit Lifetime! Now this will be a time to celebrate!! I am actually going to head to a party store this weekend to try and get some confetti to throw up in the air when I do it. I want a sort of Biggest Loser Finale feeling if I can. Obviously not that much since I can't afford a confetti cannon AND it would take me forever to clean up the WW center, but just enough to get that feeling!! :)

I wish I had a regular meeting I was attending so I could do a big celebration with other members, but since that isn't in the cards right now - I will make my own celebration.

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Do you have any Truth Tuesday celebrations or frustrations?

My Journey Is My Journey

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I am 100% proud of what I have accomplished thus far in my weight loss journey. I thank Weight Watchers for giving me the kick in the butt I really needed. Okay I guess I need to thank my friends for taking that dreadful picture of me on Halloween 2009 that gave me the kick in the butt I needed to make a change. I could never have imagined I would have achieved as much success as I have in the last two-plus years. I have reached my weight goal, lost 63 lbs, rekindled my love of running, found a love in Spinning, tried foods I would've never thought to try, liked foods I have never thought I would like, shared my story with the world through social media, started this blog (or my little slice of the web), been featured in a magazine, started to really like the person I am and yet ...

I have always thought I could do - or be - more.

How could I not compare myself to the others around me?

Well I may have lost 63 lbs with Weight Watchers, but what about the man that lost over 300 lbs. He should be working and representing Weight Watchers over me. I haven't had as much success as him - or have I?

Why did TimeOut Chicago want to share my story when the guy on the cover lost over 200 lbs and is a Vegan. Over 200 lbs, amazing? Giving up steak? Commendable. What did I do? I lost jsut over 60 lbs and didn't give up a single food I liked. Heck yeah I still drink beer and eat french fries.

Who am I to be writing a blog? What information do I have to impart on the world? Do people really want to read what is going through my mind on any given day? Why choose my blog when there are such better writers out there.

Why must I always compare my life - my journey - my accomplishments to those around me? Why? Because that is what society does. It seems as if it is second nature in this day and age to immediately compare what you have done to someone else.

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This topic is something I think about often, but was brought back to the forefront when a woman came in to Weight Watchers to weigh-in and lost 1.5 lbs. A-freakin-mazing. But she was upset. Why? The woman before her lost 5 lbs that week and she wished she had lost that much. But the truth? She didn't need to lose 5 lbs that week. She was much closer to her goal and didn't have as much to lose. It was just the fact that she wanted that big of a loss.

I turned to her and said - each person's journey is their own.

We need to remember this ... I need to remember this.

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Everyone is unique. Every person is on their own journey in life. We need to stop looking to others to judge our accomplishments and to celebrate what we do. Every. Single. Thing.

Okay, I need to stop looking to others to rate whether my accomplishment is really all that great.

I should really be proud of the weight that I have lost. Hey 63 lbs is nothing to scoff at. Do I wish I could say I lost 100 lbs? Sure. But, I never had 100 lbs to lose. So it isn't an attainable, realistic goal in my life.

I have improved my 5k time from 38:21 to 25:27. What a difference, right? I have cut 13 minutes off my 5k time in a seven year span. But, would I like to run a 5k in 21 minutes? Of course, but that may not be something in my DNA. It may not be in my grasps.

I am 100% a perfect person to work for Weight Watchers. I love to share my journey (as we can see) with others and want to listen/help/aid/cheer and just be part of others who are doing the same thing. It doesn't matter if you need to lose 5 lbs or 100 lbs. I am the person is taking the steps to be part of a healthy lifestyle - that is the real journey!

I need to try to top myself and stop trying to top someone else's accomplishments.

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I am making a pact today to continue to celebrate my journey ... but to STOP saying they aren't enough. That I cannot share what I have accomplished because it isn't as great as someone else's best.

I will be happy with the best I do ... but where to start?

My next big milestone is hitting Lifetime with Weight Watchers. I am hoping it will happen on February 21st. If it does, I am vowing to shout it from the rooftops. But to start, I will throw some confetti in the air and give myself as much as a Biggest Loser Finale moment as I can get! Get ready ... I will be sharing that moment! :)

F^3 Lake Half Marathon – 1/28/12 – 2:05.40 (9:36 min/mile) – PR

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I had been looking forward to this run for months! I decided in October I believe to run the race for a charity. I wanted to pick one that was near and dear to me so I picked the Ryan and Jenny Dempster Foundation. Ryan is a player for the Cubs, who I got to know well over my four years with the team. His daughter Riley was born with DiGeorge Syndrome in April 2010 and he and his wife have been working to help other families in the same situation. I was more than happy to help. I set my original fundraising goal at $2,500 and was hoping to reach that. The outpouring of support was overwhelming and I was able to up my fundraising goal not once, but twice to $3,500. In total, I ended up raising $3,645. Wow! I am in amazement and beyond excited for the Foundation. They showed me such support during the training - putting my story on their website, checking in to see if I needed help or to just offer encouragement. So happy I could give something back to them.

Training was going along smoothly until a 10 mile run in Hawaii on Thanksgiving Day resulted in an injury. When we got back from Hawaii I couldn't run more than 5 miles in December without pain in my knee. I went to the doctor and found out I had an IT band/patella injury. He and I knew there was NO way I was missing this race so we went into work mode. I signed up for PT twice a week and stopped running. THAT was difficult. I ended up running probably three times after seeing the doctor - 2 5ks I had signed up for already and a 5 mile run - all were painful. So the week before the race I didn't do anything except walk to and from work. I halted all other activities, which let me tell you was hard to do.

I knew that the race would be difficult, but we had prepped my IT band/patella as best we could. I was determined for the Foundation to finish. Oh and I had also decided to move to Boston the day after the run so things were more than hectic leading up to the run. Thankfully I knew my wife and dad would be there cheering me on and pushing me to keep going. Also (as seen in the pic above) assigned names to each mile, which helped me keep going!

The race wasn't until 10am, which is LATE in terms of road races so I was actually able to sleep til 8am. This late start threw off my normal pre-race rituals. But I woke up, hung out with my dad, had a vitatop then waited for my friend Miguel to pick us up (he was also running). It was freakin' windy up near Foster Beach so we may have only had 20-25 minutes before the race was going to start, but it felt like waaay longer.

Thankfully there was a flash mob that took place. First one I had ever witnessed in person. Good work if you were part of that group.

I finally said Adios to my dad and headed to the Start Line. Let me tell I have never felt so unprepared for a run! I was in my own head that I didn't notice that Katie was grabbing me at first. Katie is a twitter friend who I had the pleasure of meeting in person - love when that happens. She was running her first Half Marathon and I was psyched for her.

I couldn't hear a thing at the start before I realized it was time to go. I hit the Runkeeper as I crossed the Start and we were off. The first mile was treacherous!! Ice, slippery, wattery, sandy, snowy - you name it we had it in the first mile.

Just after the first mile I ran into another twitter friend - Nina! I love that she realized it was me - not by the name on the front of my shirt, but that Mile Two was dedicated to "My Wife" :) This made me smile. Nina and I have chatted a ton online, but it was great to actually run a couple miles with her.

The knee pain was there, but manageable through the first half of the run. The Runkeeper somehow got messed up so the mileage was off, but thankfully the time was right. So I just used that to know when to eat my  Sports Beans/try to figure out my time in my head. :) Yay being a math major paying off. :P I realized around the halfway mark that I was actually still running 10 minute miles despite the knee pain.

Since I knew I was moving to Boston the next day, I really tried to take in the surroundings as we ran along Lake Michigan. I have run the Lakefront Trail more times than I can count, but I still can't get enough of it. It was especially beautiful on that Saturday morning. The sun was shining and the volunteers/fans along the course were rockin'.

I figured my dad and wife were hiding somewhere keeping warm so I texted them at Mile Seven and 10 to let them know where I was. As I continued on, the knee pain really started to kick in around Mile 11. It felt as if I was running with a sprained knee and a broken ankle. I thought the cold air would help dull the pain - it must've for the first 10-ish miles, but warn off. I was really feeling it. I just kept telling myself to keep moving. Just keep going forward. I had put the most important people at the beginning miles and ending miles for motivation!! I just kept thinking of those people as I pushed on.

My cheering section was on the course just as I rounded the corner heading to Mile 12. It was exactly what I needed to see. I cannot tell you how long the last mile felt. I NEVER thought I would hit the finish line.

As my Runkeeper kept chirping off with an update every 5 minutes, I figured out that despite severe knee injury I was going to get a PR. Say whaaa?? How the heck? But it was true ... I crossed the line at 2:05.40 - good for 9:36 min/mile and 6 minutes and 35 seconds faster than my previous PR set in August.

I threw my arms up as I crossed the Finish Line and quickly fell into my wife's arms as I couldn't stand on my left leg any longer. I proudly put my medal on and hobbled off to the side. Thankfully I was able to see my friend Chrissy one last time before we hopped in a cab to head home so I could ice my poor legs.

Overall, the race was great. I am really proud of what I accomplished when I wasn't at 100%. I am prouder of the money I raised for the Ryan and Jenny Dempster Foundation. But, most importantly, I am proud of me.

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Here are a few pics that my wife was able to snap for me:

Truth Tuesday – 4.2 lb Loss & GOAL!!

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Well folks, I was really hoping for at least a 0.6 lb weight loss this week since I was at 59.4 lbs gone last week and I wanted to hit that lovely round # of 60 gone. I tracked everything this week - even when I let my guard down Friday and just enjoyed my goodbye dinner with my friend, I still wrote down everything I had - so I was hoping for a good loss. Also, despite being sick, I worked out at least 60 min every day. I liked the # I saw on the home scale this morning so I was hoping the Weight Watchers scale would be as nice, but you know what? It was EVEN better!! I lost 4.2 lbs this week for a total of 63.6 lbs gone ... and that means I passed my goal weight by 1.2 lbs!! :)

Today: Lost 4.2

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 153.8

Total Lost: 63.6

Pounds From New Goal: NONE!! :)

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It is absolutely crazy to actually be at goal - like real goal not the fake goal I set before. Haha. I will not be changing the goal weight again ... for now ;) Haha. :P

It is surreal to see that I am at goal. I mean it is time to transition the brain from losing weight to maintaining. That starts by changing my daily allotment of points from 27 to 32. What will I do with those extra points? I told my Leader an extra glass of wine each night. ;)

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Since getting back from my honeymoon and starting my Dynamic December and Jammin' January challenges, which includes #back2basics, #30for60 and my #30daychip, I have lost 14.4 lbs!! Wow!

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I really want to thank each and every one of you that has traveled on this journey with me. Many times a day I just stop and think how truly lucky I am.

I really am proud of myself for sticking with this process. So many times I wanted to just stop and just eat everything in sight, but I knew I didn't need to do that. I didn't need to turn to food in emotional times. I could, and would, heading out for a run instead or putting in some time at the gym. Those endorphins can really do wonders.

I think I am still in so much shock that I can't even put into words what I am feeling. I am excited. I am thrilled. I am proud. I am nervous. I am anxious. I am fearful. But really? I am happy.

Isn't that all that matters?

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Wordless Wednesday

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The motivation that keeps me going every day...

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Me cheersing my WW guru, Suzi Storm, in the new Weight Watchers commercial that premiered NYE!

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Sometimes you end up in a magazine and it is surreal... Thanks again TimeOut Chicago!

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Hard work pays off! 0.6 lbs from 60 gone and 3 lbs from goal... I Believe! :)

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Enjoy your Wednesdays everyone!!