November 2014 – Yoga Pants Diary

November 26, 2014

Thinner Thanksgiving #4

Thinner Thanksgiving Tip #4: Be reasonable, Be Thankful

Let’s be reasonable. You know what you need to do tomorrow to be successful. Lighten up where you can, be active where you can and watch your portions. But tomorrow, give yourself a break! You probably won’t do perfect; you will probably eat something you didn’t mean to; you might even feel over full after the meal. However, it’s THANKSGIVING! Enjoy the company and do the best you can with the food. I think if you have a plan before going in, you’ll probably do fine!

If you have shared your diet plan with friends and loved ones, they will be watching you and what you eat tomorrow. If you are toward the beginning of your journey, people will be looking to see if you can do it. If you’re in the middle or end like I am, people will be watching to see how to do it! Use your new health plan as a talking point so that you’re keeping it at the front of your mind but also just enjoying the day. People will expect you to fail, show them you can do it!

Also tomorrow, don’t forget to be thankful. I’m not talking about the regular list of being thankful for friends and family. This year, celebrate and be thankful for your own health. Tomorrow morning, you’ll find me and my reluctant hubby, at a special 9 am workout that my gym is holding. (If you are in the Denver area, Cole Fusion Fitness, 11th and Bannock, 9:00 am!) I’ll be thanking my body by putting it through what is sure to be an insane workout. Why? Because 2 years ago I could have never done something like this! Thank your body for it’s health!

I won’t be posting tomorrow, as it is Thanksgiving. Good luck with your holiday and staying on track. Remember, it isn’t about the food, it’s about the company. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

November 25, 2014November 25, 2014

Thinner Thanksgiving #3

Thinner Thanksgiving Tip #3: Laugh…A LOT!!!!

Today we are on the less seriously side of Thanksgiving. While I do think it’s important to keep calories, activity and portions in check on Thanksgiving, it’s also…..THANKSGIVING! It’s a holiday meant to be spent with family, friends and loved ones. Today is a great day to kind of forget about your serious dieting and see how you’re naturally eating. Just keep it in check.

Time spent with loved ones can be just as rejuvenating and good for your health as a quick stop at the gym. It’s a holiday, give yourself some wiggle room and just enjoy the day. I am concerned about my ability to let it go and focus on the fun of the holiday. This isn’t my first thanksgiving in my new lifestyle, but I’m still worried that I won’t be able to let the food aspect go. I’m going to try my hardest!

There’s definitely something to be said about your mindset on Thanksgiving. I have to say, I’m nervous. I’ve been super careful in all the days leading up to Thanksgiving just to give myself some wiggle room. Have you ever heard that statistic that “People gain between 5 and 10 pounds over the Thanksgiving holiday?” I’ve hear it all the time but I was curious whether that’s actually true. First, what time frame are we talking about? So I looked it up.

Here’s what I found: I read several different sites on this and it is only true for the extremely glutinous! In a few studies there were extreme outliers that did gain upwards of five pounds. However, the actual average is a pound or two. Here’s two of the sites I read:

CNN Mental Floss

So here’s the point of today’s post: Celebrate and Laugh. Try to enjoy your holiday without focusing on every single morsel of food. Fill your plate with what you know you can have and just let it go. Enjoy the time for what it is: Giving Thanks.

Here’s visual of what laughter can do for you!

PS – Don’t forget to thank all of those around you that are helping you on your journey. I myself have a few cards and bottles of wine that I’ll be giving out!

November 24, 2014

Thinner Thanksgiving #2

Thinner Thanksgiving Tip #2: Watch your portions.

Now I know we all know this one. It’s one of the easiest way to visually recognize your calorie intake. However, on Thanksgiving, we tend to go over board even when we know we shouldn’t.

I will be taking a little bit of all the normal fixings at my thanksgiving. However, I won’t be taking as much as I really want. I’m going to follow this cool guide I found here.

I know that stuffing and green bean casserole are my weakness. Know what you are going to struggle with before the meal. So I know how much I can take and not get out of control. Also, especially watch your snacking! This is where it is easy to rack up calories without thinking about it. If you are the chef, try not to taste as much as possible. If you’re the guest, watch out for the cheese tray and dips! I avoid dips like the plague because I love them and can’t limit myself so I try to have none. If you are showing up as a guest and you are worried about the appetizers they might serve, I always bring a fruit and veggie tray everywhere I go. That way I know there will be something low-cal that I can stuff in my face when I really want a cookie.

Don’t forget to eat breakfast! Never, ever skip breakfast on Thanksgiving day. A lot of people skip it thinking they will be eating so much later that saving these calories now is a good thing. NOT TRUE. Eat breakfast so you aren’t picking at all the dips and apps before the meal has begun. Trust me. Not smart.

November 23, 2014

Thinner Thanksgiving #1

Thinner Thanksgiving Tip #1: Lighten Up!

Thanksgiving is soooo indulgent that there are easy areas to skim on calories that you won’t even notice. (And no one else will either)

Sour Cream – I still eat sour cream even though I know I could switch it for other things. I like it on baked potatos and on chicken nachos……However, on Thanksgiving, you’ll be eating so many different things that cutting this out makes a big difference. Use plain regular or Greek yogurt instead! It’s just as creamy and delicious I swear. If nothing else, at least buy fat free.

Butter and Oil – I understand that some recipes, especially those of the dessert variety, need butter as a molecular component to cook correctly. In those instances, I would look it up. I’m not always sure here. However, resist putting excess butter on top of already buttered items. I buy unsalted butter all the time and use it for everything. If you naturally use salted, here’s a great chance to cut down on a lot of sodium! If you can use other things than butter, do it. I just don’t know what they are 🙂 I think fruit puree?

Salt – Salt is delicious. I was on a low sodium diet for a few years while living in my parent’s house due to an illness in the family. So I don’t really have an issue with sodium and cutting it out. However, I do get salty cravings sometimes! The easiest way to cut out salt at this meal is (unfortunately….) what you brine your turkey in. I usually use salt, apples, oranges, cranberries, onion and herbs. This year I’m going to cut way way down on the salt and see what happens.

Rolls –I know I know I know. Bread is awesome. However, a buttered roll can cost you easily 350 calories. So for a lot of people, this can make it or break it. How many of us have more than one???? I will be having rolls, but just one at my thanksgiving feast. Why? Because I work out and I can! So if you are like me, go for it! If they are really big, just do what I do and steal half from someone else.

Don’t make it! – If there is a dish you don’t think you can handle eating way too much of……don’t make it. If there is a dish you could kinda care less about but it’s “tradition” but nobody really eats it…….don’t make it! I won’t be making sweet potato casserole this year. I only make it because I feel like we have to and I don’t really care. So I’m not going to. I’m pretty sure Pilgrim Police won’t show up at my door. Just saying.

To makeover a few Thanksgiving favorites:

November 22, 2014

Half a Woman

**Before I start my Saturday post, I wanted to post that I’ll be giving “Thinner Thanksgiving” tips all week! So check back to see how to not gain any lbs during your thanksgiving holiday!

As we are coming up to the holidays, I can’t help but think back to how I felt and looked last winter. I think I had dropped around 75 pounds or so at this point last year. My body image is still catching up! I felt like I was a little smaller than last winter but not a ton. Then I got out my winter coat, an XL, which doesn’t fit AT ALL. I borrowed a size L coat from my friend, Thanks Kelley!, and need to purchase a medium!

Some of my students have been asking me about my weight loss now that most of them know. They always ask how much weight I’ve lost. I’m now at 130 pounds and trying to stay there. Usually this is more than they weigh and they are shocked. I really have lost a whole person. I’ve now lost 46% of my original body weight. I’m quite nearly half the woman I was before.

As you get smaller, the ratio of you to your pants stays the same. So sometimes I go to put on my pants and think, “These really aren’t that much smaller than my old old fat pants.” But……I think they are considering I can fit in one leg of them now!

I am a huge fan of People’s “Half Their Size Issue” (See the 2014 winners here) and it just occured to me that I could have entered! I could have been featured in People. I am one of those people! It’s still so bizarre to have done what I did…..I wonder when it will stop being weird? Stay tuned……..

November 16, 2014

Gym Goggles

I am quickly approaching my one year anniversary at my gym. I can’t believe how fast it has gone. Also, I’ve been thinking back over the year and the changes I’ve experienced in my body. Even though I’ve been going to the gym 4-5 times a week for the past 10 months, just in the last two months I feel like I can finally do the things I’ve been wanting to do.

This got me thinking about peoples expectations when going to the gym. Everyone is different in the results they think they will see and how long it will take to get them. I remember my very first class at Cole Fusion Fitness. It was Body Rock which is a fusion of strength training, agility and cardio. I remember looking at Yoga Brian (there’s too many Brians to keep them all straight) and saying “Is he serious” about 10 times in class. After my first few classes, I picked a girl in class and wanted to do everything she could do. I did this on purpose, not to be envious or creepy, but because I had to pick a destination.

If you are starting a new fitness routine, choose some goals of where you want to go. If you are going to the gym day after day but not measuring where you are going, you will probably give up. Fitness can get very tedious and monotonous for sure. I have tried to have a ‘gym rat life’ a few different times in my life but always gave up because I got bored. This time, I give myself goals and can feel my body trying to reach them. Each time I reach my goals, I set new ones.

When we used to run laps at the gym, it would nearly kill me. Now it’s easy. I started with 5 and 8 pounds in class and now I lift 15. I used to do ‘lady pushups’ and now I can do manly pushups. I used to watch every minute tick by and now I barely notice class is half over.

One of my most recent goals is to be able to do a pull up. I remember doing chin ups in gym class in elementary school and I could NEVER do them like everyone else. Because I was so tall and my muscles were not very strong, I was always one of the worst girls. I think being able to do pull ups is amazing and it’s something I want to be able to do. So how am I getting myself there?

After my first few months at the gym, I started attending Boot Camp where we often do pull ups in class. I had to start with 90 pounds of assistance. Ever since setting this goal, I use less and less weight to help me with the pull up. My friend Melody and I do pull ups everyday after class and we are down to 35 pounds of assistance. I also have a pull up bar at my house that I just like to hang on. Each week, I can tell it’s that much easier or I can hold on for just a little longer. Each week I get closer. Very soon I’ll be able to do it with no assistance. While I have no before pictures, here’s me trying after class just the other day:

No one set this goal for me. I set it for myself. No one will ever hold a gun to my head and say, “Do a pull up or you’ll die!” But it’s something I wanted to be able to do, and very soon, I’m going to do it. How cool is that?

November 11, 2014November 12, 2014

Skinny Bitches

****WARNING: I will be using the B-word in this post. Sorry. I will use it as little as possible for those of you concerned.

I guess it’s time to bring up one of the most thought about issues by fat girls everywhere: Skinny Bitches. Now that I’ve dropped the weight and gotten fit, I am often the said B-yotch in the situation. Not always. There is usually someone in the room that is thinner or obviously much better looking. I live in Colorado now where we grow our men mountain-strong and women glow from 300 days of sunlight. However, in the right room with the right people, I am that girl.

Now that I write this blog and have made fitness and health such a huge part of my life, I often talk about it with people. By people I mean…….(well I am my Mother’s child and I live in Colorado where people actually talk to each other) people I meet at the store, at the gym, at school, at restaurants and so on. Pretty much anywhere you can imagine. So I have met all kinds of people that are losing weight, need to lose weight, don’t need to lose weight, are worried about their weight, aren’t worried about it, SHOULD be worried about it…….it’s endless. But one consistent thing I still CAN’T believe is how often a “skinny bitch” is just as worried about their weight as I am. I have met ALL kinds of women and let me tell you, I can’t believe how many of these women work a lot harder than you would ever think that they do. Women that don’t worry about their weight are rare! We all think that no one thinks about it as much as we do. We think we are the only one to ever think “I’m the ugliest person in the world.” But the truth is, it’s the people that never have that are rare. It’s this weirdness that actually makes us normal.

So yes, Skinny Bitches do exist. I have met a few in the wild but they are extremely rare. These women just have naturally good eating habits and have never really had a weight problem and haven’t had to think about it. However, the ‘normal’ woman, from what I’ve met, think about weight all the time. They do think about having a salad now so they can have a steak later. You see them having drinks because they ran 3 miles before work. You might see me every otherish Friday with my friend Kelley sharing a plate of green chili and cheese tater tots at a local neighborhood tavern because I go to the gym five times a week. (I’m just saying it might happen) Just because you don’t know about it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

Another Truth is when you are as obese as I was, you wear your weight problem on the outside. Everyone can see you have a weight problem. However, a lot of ‘skinny bitches’ have weight problems too. They have recovering problems. Or reoccurring problems, Or making sure it doesn’t become a problem. It’s the same for almost everyone. Even though I’ve reached my goal weight I don’t think I have conquered my weight problem. I joked with my doctor: “I did it. I reached my goal weight. I’m done now.” and she said “Well I guess you can go then!” BUT another truth is I’ll never stop having a weight problem. Maybe after 10 years? 15? Who knows……..

November 11, 2014

The Doctor

On Friday, I had an appointment with my doctor. I thought I’d share the questions I asked and the feeling of being at the doctor as a normal weight person. I made this appointment for two reasons:

1. I knew it was time to test my thyroid again because I’ve been having temperature management issues which can usually mean the thyroid. Also, I’d lost 40 pounds since it was last tested.

2. My skin……………while my muscles are looking better than ever in my whole life, my skin is getting worse and worse. Some areas as slowly shrinking back to where they should be but most of it is a lost cause. It’s now causing problems in my belly button and groin area after workouts. Also, during workouts jumping and running are getting painful.

I was actually excited about this doctor’s appointment, which never happens. I usually dread going to the doctor. Visiting your doctor when you’re morbidly obese, it’s their job to tell you it’s a problem. I would go in for something totally unrelated to weight but would inevitably get ‘the talk’. “You know you’ll be overall healthier if you drop some weight” or “this wouldn’t be an issue if you lost some weight” or “You’re overall healthy but I’d love to see your weight come down”. No matter what issue I went to the doctor for, I’d usually leave feeling bad about myself. Now, it is their JOB to recommend you get healthy. I never had a doctor that I felt treated me differently or judged me because of my weight. Remember, when I was at my heaviest I was living in Illinois where most people are overweight so seeing me wasn’t that different from every other patient.

During the last year and a half of my weight loss I have only been sick twice. Both times it was a cold that I got over much faster than I would have previously. So I haven’t been to the doctor much over my journey. I’ve been to nutritionist and trainers but rarely checked in with my doctor. I had not seen her since I hit my 100 pound mark or my goal weight. So I was excited for her to see what I had done and how it was reflected in my overall health. She was shocked. I’ve never had a doctor say to me before, “I’m so proud of you!” Here’s some of the questions I asked and her response from what I can remember:

How often do normal people weight themselves and think about weight? It varies. Some people only go by how their clothes fit and only get weighed at the doctor. Other people weigh themselves everyday. It honestly varies from one end of the spectrum to the other. Since you’ve worried about weight so far your whole life, you’ll probably continue for the rest of your life. There might never come a time when you don’t think about it. I think it will taper down, but you’ll probably always think about it because you always have. But maybe being more conscience of it will keep you from going backwards.

How do I know if I have more weight to lose? DON’T LOSE ANY MORE WEIGHT. (I’m putting this one in to remind myself!) You’ve reached healthy BMI (24) and I wouldn’t recommend you going any further. Pay attention to other numbers like body fat, cholesterol, and your thyroid. My Question: Well I’m not sure what I weigh without all my extra skin. I don’t want to be to skinny or heavy when my skin comes off. Response: Worry about that when the skin comes off. There’s no way to know how much is skin versus fat versus muscle. Don’t worry about it. You’re BMI is healthy, so I’m happy.

What are the requirements for skin surgery? I am really curious about this. I’m no where near ready for surgery and need to make a stop in Baby Town first but I want to know what they expect to see when I AM ready for surgery. Response: I have no idea. I’m writing you a referral to their department right now. Every doctor is different. Some will just want to see you. Others want to see your stats. Others want you to maintain for a certain amount of time. Either way, it’s really hard to get done medically. Just be ready for that.

I can not say enough how nice it was to go to the doctor and not leave feeling bad. I left feeling amazing. My doctor could recommend a single thing for me to be doing differently.

November 9, 2014November 9, 2014

I don’t have time for that!

I hear, “I don’t have time to work out” all the time and often said it myself in the past. The truth really is, that most of us aren’t willing to sacrifice time on the couch or out shopping for fitness. But honestly, we all do. There are 7 minute work outs, 15, 30, hours….and so on. How many of us have at least 7 minutes in a day? Everyone of us!

The point of working out is to increase your overall fitness and health. You decide how quickly you want to get fit and to what level. Are you trying to increase your endurance? Running distance? Muscle strength? Have an idea of where you want to go so you can start getting there. In my mind, a long distance runner is my ideal fitness. When I think of what a healthy person looks like, I automatically think of a runner. Know what your ideal fitness level is.

You decide what your ideal is, how fast you’re going to get there and how much time you want to spend doing it. For me, I wanted to get there as fast as possible. That’s why a joined a gym. I do believe that you can get the same results working by yourself as you can in a group, but I can’t. I love going to the gym for social and health reasons. That’s just how I chose to do it. I go to the gym 4-5 times a week and don’t feel like myself when I don’t. Again, this is just how I chose to do it but it can be done so many different ways! Just make sure whatever you are doing is getting you closer to your goal.

November 4, 2014

Planksgiving

One of my short term fitness goals, is to increase the time that I can plank. Slowly I’ve increased the amount of time I can hold a plank. Planking is awesome and works so many muscle groups all at the same time. Always, in the first 15 seconds, I feel like I could hold the plank for days. Then after the first minute, I think I might die.

YOU WILL NOT DIE FROM PLANKING. When you think you’re about to die, hold it 10 more seconds and you’ll find that you didn’t.

So where do you start? I have found that everyone seems to have a different idea of what a plank is and what the proper form is to do it. Here’s a link that I like and agree with: How to Plank.

Planking, when done right, should hurt your entire core. It’s great for posture and strength. You can read about all the benefits: Here.

I often shake when I get close to my physical limit. Don’t let this distract you! Find a zone and forget about the time. Here’s a great visual for this month to get you from not planking at all to a 3 minute plank. I think I’m currently around 2 minutes and I will be following this to push myself to three minutes. Join my on my goal this month: Planksgiving!