As you all know I am slightly obsessed with Spinning, but I haven't been able to Spin in weeks. My physical therapist made me stop while I was (and still am) battling my patella/IT band injury. We were trying to rest the leg as much as possible before the Half Marathon on January 27.
But, yesterday - oh yesterday - I returned to the Spin studio for the first time since ... December 14. Wow! (Yes I just went back through my exercise records to find out the last time I got to Spin :P). I cannot believe I went almost two months without Spinning after going at least three times a week the previous four months.
Well ... I am back folks! Yesterday was actually my first "Boston Spinning" experience. I went with a few ladies from Lululemon to a Spinning class at G Star Fit in Needham.
I can tell you this Spin class was like no other I have ever attended - it was an AMAZING 45 minutes. The credentials for the instructor are endless. He has trained with top Spin instructors in New York and won numerous accolades around the Boston area before opening his own gym in Needham. He - being Gregg - teaches all of the Spin classes.
The space is smaller than most studios I have been in, but once the music kicks on - the intensity of the room & Gregg take over. He pumps House Music into the Studio and pumps up the energy. I started to ride ... down came the lights ... and on came the disco ball. That is right folks! A disco ball. I knew I was going to like the class at that point.
Most of the ride is out of the saddle, which I normally like, but unfortunately my back was a tad sore (Darn surgically repaired back). I was able to keep up with class, but didn't do all of the jumps he had the group do because of the back. At those points, I stayed mostly in position three and kept the sweat kept pouring.
At the end of class, I looked down - after realizing I started the HRM 3 minutes late - and saw 463 calories burned in 42 minutes. But if my math is correct, it would come out to about 496 calories in 45 minutes. Phew! Now THAT is a good workout.
So if you find yourself in Needham and looking for a kick ass Spin class, I highly recommend checking out Gregg at G Star Fit. :)
Never in a million years did I think I would live in the Midwest ... yup, I think I uttered that sentence everyday during the four years I was in Chicago. :P I was a Bostonian through and through. I lived in Boston until I was 24 before I moved away. I went to San Francisco for eight months before moving back for work then on January 3, 2008 I departed Boston again. For how long? I wasn't sure.
I knew that the only way I would move to the middle of the country would be for work ... and I did. I got a job in Chicago and off I went.
I got lucky. I was able to make friends through coworkers pretty quickly. I also had a college friend in Chicago so I was able to get a support system right off the bat. Something that is necessary for me when moving to a new city - especially since that was my third move in a year period. Yes 2007 was a crazy/exciting/invigorating time. :)
Chicago is very similar to Boston: a walkable city that loves their sports ... food ... and drinks.
The Windy City gave me so many memories over four years: some good ... some bad ... some vivid ... some fuzzy.
But, when I arrived in Chicago, I was a lonely, single, overweight girl that just wanted some love. I left the city a well-rounded, confident, healthy, vibrant wife and mother to not one, but two pups.
I grew up during my time in the Midwest. I owe Chicago for helping me to find my true passions as well as the love of my life.
I found things that made me happy again ... working out ... running ... weight loss ... social media ... friends ... and family!
---
In the line of work I was in I didn't get a lot of time off. I spent most of my time at work making my department my family - my office my home.
I started missing my friends and family back in Boston. They were trying to be my support from 1,000 miles away.
As I found success with Weight Watchers (as the 63 lbs came off - never to return again), I started finding the new passions: helping people on their own weight loss journeys.
Time to pay it forward.
I had started the interview process to become a WW receptionist in Chicago. My wife and I had a long chat and decided to take a leap of Faith and head East. My wife had never lived in Boston before, but thankfully was up for a new adventure. I thank her for uprooting her life after seeing how unhappy I truly was...
---
We decided to move to Boston without either of us having jobs in place - without having a subletter for our apartment - without having a real game plan. But, somehow it all worked out.
Within 10 days of announcing our move, we each had jobs lined up. Jobs we were both wicked exited for.
Two days before loading the truck up, we had subletters in place.
It seemed as if the leap of Faith we took was meant to be. We jumped and it all worked out.
That has to mean something, right? Destiny? The cosmos?
Not sure what it was, but I was happy...
---
After running the F^3 Lake Half Marathon on January 28, we hit the road on the 29th. We broke the 1,000 mile journey into two days. I don't recommend to anyone to run a half marathon and then move half way across the States - not my brightest idea. :P But, it all worked out.
We are here now. Happy to be in a state that 100% recognizes our marriage. In 2013, we will be able to file joint taxes like other married couples.
In 2012, we can take vacations together during the summer. I can take time off for me. I am ready to dive into this new adventure.
I am ready to share this fabulous place with my wife. I am excited to build a life together - to set up roots so that we can start a family...
Wow! I sound like an adult ... is that what happens when you are approaching 30? ;)
Well this is the first Truth Tuesday in what feels like a looong time ... sorry for the delay people!!
My last Chicago official WW weigh-in was January 17th and I was 154.2 lbs.
I then took three weeks off from weigh-ins because of the big change in my life of moving back to Boston from Chicago, which led to two weeks of goodbye parties, goodbye lunches, goodbye drinks and a 1,000 mile road trip.
I finally found time to do my first Boston official WW weigh-in on February 7th and I was 154.0 lbs.
PHEW!!
---
Today: Loss 0.2
Starting Weight: 217.4
Today’s Weight: 154.0
Total Lost: 63.4
---
So thankfully that was my weigh-in for Week Four of maintenance and I am still 1 lb under my goal weight of 155 lbs. So now I just need to weigh-in between 153-157 lbs on February 14th and 21st and I will FINALLY hit Lifetime! Ahhh ... it is crazy to think I am so close to that dream! What a feeling that will be!!
---
I finally took the plunge and broke out a new weigh-in outfit. Everyone told me it was time to retire the skirt that was three sizes too big. :P
---
I can tell that my body is really loving the healthier lifestyle that comes along with Weight Watchers. I know I wrote the same thing after Hawaii and it is true. I had two weeks of goodbye parties/lunches/drinks and then a two-day 1,000 mile road trip and there was nothing "healthy" about that time. Lots of fried food, beer and old habits and man did I pay for it. My body was a wreck. It was craving fruits/vegetables/health!
Thankfully I made a decision that once we got to Boston I would be back on track and I have been. Today is Day 8 of being back on plan and my body feels AMAZING!! Each day I have gotten in at least 30 min of exercise (mostly walking due to my knee injury), completed the six healthy guidelines, done my #plankaday, drank at least 100oz of water and tracked everything. I feel motivated and back in control.
---
How could I not feel motivated now that I am working for Weight Watchers and seeing such amazing members on a daily basis?
I have been with Weight Watchers for almost a week and I have loved every minute of it. All of my coworkers have been so friendly and helpful, which makes the transition easier. :)
I will be sure to leave more info about the first week at work in it's own post...
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.
---
Here are a few pics that my wife was able to snap for me:
So one of my goals for 2012 was to work on my weight training. I love the cardio, but am frightened of the weight floor at the gym. I just think people are looking at me (which I know isn't really true) and judging my lack of upper body strength.
I also wanted to work on tonining up some of the excess skin I now have around my stomach after dropping the significant amount of weight.
Thankfully my friend Melissa is a personal trainer. She owns her own company Bodified By Melissa here in Chicago and makes house calls. So she came over to my house on Saturday morning and set me up with a greating "toning" workout that I can do in the comfort of my own home, which put me more at ease.
She came up with nine different exercises (three times each) that I can do at home with just a FitBall and a set of weights (for me 3 lbs & 10 lbs). Thankfully I had all these things at home so I already felt ahead of the game. :P
I ran through the set once - took a water break - ran through it again - took another water break - then did the set one last time. It definitely gave me a workout in both my arms and in my midsection. Especially since I am not a crunches type of person. This was a great way to use my own body weight and avoid the machines.
---
I wanted to share a couple of the exercises she thought of...
1) Rows on FitBall - 10 lb weights - 15 per rep ... one knee leaning into the FitBall, same side hand on top of the FitBall, other leg back, keeping your back flat and weight down to the side - pull the weight back squeezing your shoulder blades together.
2) Twisting Shoulder Press- 3 lb weights - 20 per rep ... sitting on the ball, feet together, back straight, stomach in tight, hold the weights in front of your shoulders palms facing in - twist and press the weights up.
3) Lunge Twists- 20 per side per rep ... have one foot back, the other with the knee bent, hold the FitBall in front of your chest, keeping your posture - lunge and twist over the bent leg.
---
Hope you enjoyed a sneak peak into what Melissa is having me work on to help tone me up. ;) I am excited to get to Boston and start knocking this program out three times a week. Check out her twitter or website if you are interested in setting up a meeting with her...
So I completely slept through my weigh-in this morning. I think the stress from moving/going away parties/Half Marathon on Saturday/etc caught up with me and I snoozed right through this morning's weigh-in.
I started to freak out that it would affect by path for Lifetime, but thankfully you don't have to weigh in each of the six weeks - you just have to weigh in twice during the six week period - within two pounds of goal. Phew! So basically I need to get myself back on track when I hit Boston January 31 and be ready for the February 21 weigh-in to make Lifetime. I will get back to regularly weighing in when I get to Boston anyway. I like weighing in once a week. The accountability is huge for me ... plus it keeps me in check.
---
I am also looking into a new Weigh-In outfit. The one I have been wearing is a simple white sleeveless shirt and a skirt. Well the skirt is a size 14 ... which is slightly big. Okay, huge! I can slip it on and off without unzipping it. :P I think I will kick off Boston weigh-ins in a brand new weigh-in outfit.
Do you all have something you wear each week to weigh-in or do you switch it up?
I am beyond excited to be attending Fitbloggin this year - September 20-23, 2012 in Baltimore!! I know I only started blogging in May, but the community is so inviting, engaging and encouraging that I feel like I have been a part of it for years.
For those of you who don't know, I am leaving my current job in Chicago and moving to Boston on January 29. In my current job, I wouldn't have been able to attend Fitbloggin so I am super excited that with the big life change I can attend.
I remember seeing everyone's pictures, tweets and blog posts from last year's event that I knew I wanted to attend. There are so many fit bloggers that I interact with on a daily basis that I would love to meet in person ... and now I have the chance!
I also am looking forward to learning from these people. There are some amazing bloggers out there that I know will make me a better blogger - and person - as well. Big props to Roni who puts this whole conference on.
I'm pretty stoked to be hitching a ride from Boston to Baltimore with Tara and Meegan - two of my favorite twitter friends - and rooming with the only and only Jan - who has been a motivator of mine for awhile.
I am pumped and thank my wife for letting me spend the $$$ to go. :)
Additionally, I am proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and attending an event!! I technically will not have met any of these people in person before and that can be scary. But, the information we have shared together through tweets, blog, Facebook and e-mail, make me more comfortable with them than some people in my everyday life!
Oh ... there is also a 5k where I believe people where some kick ass outfits. I will need to start planning mine now...
Will anyone else be attending Fitbloggin '12? I cannot wait to meet and connect with all of you!
I cannot even begin to tell you all how excited I am to say that when I get to Boston I will begin working for Weight Watchers. For the past couple years, I have dreamed of saying that and now it is real!
I had done a call to possibly be a WW receptionist in Chicago, but hadn't heard anything after that initial call so I thought maybe they weren't interested. But, then I decided to move to Boston so I went back to the WW website and submitted my info again. I quickly got an email back from their territory manager last week and had a phone interview with Elaine on Friday.
It was awesome. I am definitely a WW dork as she can tell you. At one point I definitely said "well members who go to meetings lose 50% more than ones that do online only" and may have dropped Suzi's name from Twitter/New WW commercial. I just was so excited to talk about how WW has changed my life.
Elaine had already checked out my blog, blog's Facebook and my Twitter account so I felt she already had a pretty good handle on who I was. :P The conversation was great and then she said the magic words "We would love to have you on our team." Ahhh!! I was elated. She added that I was the first person in WW Boston history to be hired over the phone without an in-person interview ... wow! What. An. Honor.
Of course, I made sure I could share on Twitter and Facebook right away, but I was so busy with work that I wasn't able to blog about it until now.
Well, I think you can all tell I am psyched. I will be starting as a receptionist, learning the ropes and continuing to work towards Lifetime status so I may one day be a WW leader myself. THAT is the ultimate goal.
I cannot wait to share my journey (loss of 63.2 lbs) with others and help new and returning WW members in the future...
I owe a big thank you to Elaine for taking a chance on me. I promise to work hard and exceed all your expectations!
Now, can we get to Boston already so I can start... ;)
Since 2008, this last week is always the toughest in January for me. I am out of my comfort zone and in a hotel for almost the entire time. I had my weigh-in and hit goal Tuesday morning, that night I moved into the Hilton Chicago and I was there through Sunday afternoon. I tried to prepare myself as best as possible and brought snacks, my workout clothes and my blender with me. :)
During this week I normally gain between 1-2 lbs since I end up imbibing too much wine which then results in eating too much food ... and hangovers. Which lead to basically another day of eating horribly. So Thursday-Sunday for me this week were horrendous. Just ugly foodwise.
I am proud of myself because I kept my workout streak alive and made it to the hotel gym each day for at least 30 min of activity. (small victory)
Since I wasn't home and used Monday as a get back on track and stay in the gym for an hour, I didn't weigh-in. I had NO idea what to expect. I just wanted to be under 157 (to stay on track for Lifetime). My home scale showed a 0.3 lb gain. Whhaaaa??? I went to my WW weigh-in and I gained just 0.4 lbs! Wow! I will take it...
Today: Gain 0.4
Starting Weight: 217.4
Today’s Weight: 154.2
Total Lost: 63.2
I am still under my goal weight (155) by 0.8 lbs heading into Week Two of maintenance!
---
I am upset with myself for not having better control of my snacking and drinking, but I accepted what happened and have moved on.
These next five weeks are crucial in my journey to Lifetime. I am ready to get back on the horse - which I did yesterday. It felt wicked good to eat on plan and hit all my healthy checks. I just felt normal - even after one day. :)
The really tough stretch is the next two weeks as we prepare to move to Boston. This week alone we are going to a Blackhawks game and two Going Away parties. I am going to devise and plan and stick to it. I am going to increase my activity, as well as, bring snacks whenever possible.
But, the main thing is - I will not beat myself up over anything. This is the last time I will see many of these people for awhile and I want to enjoy the time we spend together.
I will make sure to really keep the wine and beer in check. I don't like the hungover feeling - I mean who does (but this week I had two hangovers in three days - my first since early October). But it really messes up my eating schedule the next day, as well as, my workout schedule. And frankly, it's not worth it. Time to reign that in.
---
Today was also our final WW at work meeting. It was extremely emotional for me. I didn't outwardly cry, especially we had such a good time laughing during the meeting. But, inside I was sad to see the time end. Not just for me, but also my coworkers. They have all done so well. As a group since April, we lost 325 lbs. Woo! How freakin' great is that!!
I really hope they can get 20 interested people in order to restart the group in April. I am keeping everything crossed for them...
---
I am so proud of all my participants in the #100ozchallenge. I cannot believe over 35 people have joined in to my challenge. I am even thinking of maybe having a prize or something down the road. That would be cool right?
---
Did anyone else face the scale for Truth Tuesday today?
Weight Off My Shoulders
My name is Dani and I am blogging out of the Boston Area. I started this blog in May of 2011 after suffering a back injury and subsequent back surgery in December 2011-January 2011. This space was to serve as a way for me to release the inner feelings I was carrying around and maybe help some other people going through similar situations: eating disorders, depression, weight loss and more.
