Struggling

After Body Back was over, I went back to the Jamie Eason program, full time.  I started back on Week 5 (even though I had progressed beyond that, part-time), and went back to following her work-outs to the letter.  I stayed with the same nutrition that I had been doing, though.  I worked through the end of Week 8, then sat down to try to figure out how to incorporate Phase 3 into my life.

Since it was December, and December means TONS of parties, and lunches, and dinners, and drinking in my profession (or in any profession, probably!), I couldn't figure out a realistic way to do the Carb Cycling that she advocates for Phase 3.  Thankfully, I had saved all of the workout logs from Phases I and II.  They were all stacked neatly in a kitchen drawer, along with Body Back workouts, and random workouts that I printed off of Pinterest.  Each morning, I would just grab a workout from the drawer, on my way out the door to the gym.

Also during December, some Body Back buddies decided to start a work-out class on our own.  We would meet up (1, 2, or rarely 3 times/week) and do a Tabata workout.  For those of you unfamiliar with Tabata, it's an interesting concept.  You go all out for 20 seconds, rest for 10, and repeat 8 times.  The idea is that you can get in a super intense workout in a very short amount of time.  We would usually do 3 cycles of 3 sets.  1 set would be 8 rounds of cardio, 8 rounds of strength, and 8 rounds of core.  When I wrote them, I'd try to alternate the strength between arms, legs, and full body.

I was also still running with my husband.  Our neighborhood is 2 loops, just shy of 2 miles, if you run every street.  He would set off walking, and I would run to the corner, jog back to him, then walk back to the corner.  And repeat, all the way around the neighborhood.  I call it Horses, but I think we used to also call them suicide runs in soccer?  Either way, it's quite the workout, when you add 30 pounds of toddler in a stroller.  And even more so when that toddler demands that you sing (thanks, Stroller Strides!).

With all of the partying, and with my work-outs lacking their previous intensity, my body settled in at 185 pounds.  And stayed.  And stayed.  And stayed.  Some days, the scale would say 188.  Some days, it would dip back down to 181.  And then I'd yo-yo from 183-185 for a week (yes, I weigh every day.  Get over it).  So, once again, I decided that I needed some sort of program or direction, or something to make my work-outs make sense.  And once again, I turned to google.

Dec 2012
Feeling pretty cute :)

This time, I came up with the Body by Glamour One Month Slim Down.  It suggests 5 or 10 pound weights ::snort:: so I adapted it, because I was used to lifting much heavier.  It prescribes lifting 4 days/week, and doing HIIT the other days.  I don't care for doing HIIT on machines everyday, and since it was winter, I didn't always get to go outside (because of rain, not because of cold).  So for the other cardio days, I downloaded the Nike Training Club app on my phone.

The One Month Slim Down was another program that I enjoyed thoroughly.  I could get in the gym, break a sweat without having to think about it, and then go on with my day.  Same for the NTC app, I appreciated that it's a complete workout, no planning required on my part.  I go to the gym, gather up the equipment, and get to work.  One of the trainers at the gym came over to ask me about it, and he even seemed impressed.

Still, even though I was lifting heavy and getting my cardio in, the scale was NOT my friend.  And I know everyone is screaming "muscle weighs more than fat, woman!" but I didn't feel like my body was improving. By this point, it was well into January, and I decided to make a goal for the year that wasn't weight related.  My thought was that if I was active, happy, and healthy, then maybe the weight would take care of itself.  So, I decided to do a race a month, just to have something to work towards.

I "ran" a 5k in December.  I say "ran" because my daughter decided to do it with me.  I had her in the jogging stroller, rolling along, and right before the 1 mile mark, she says, "I wanna run!" so, I got her out and let her take off.  She ended up running about 1/2 of the route, in her jammies and slippers, no less!  Crossing the finish line with her was quite possibly one of the proudest moments of my life.  My weight loss journey had taken on an entirely new aspect, showing my daughter that lifelong fitness is what is really important.

The Santa Hustle

We turned in a 1:03 time!
Yes, for a 5k. :)

In January, I ran a 5k with a SS friend, and we turned in a sub-40 time (not my best!).  I wasn't concerned about the time on that one.  It had been since April 2012 that I had run a 5k, so I wasn't really sure where my pace would be.  The friend that I ran it with is not a huge fan of running, so we did a walk-jog combo.  She says I went into "Beast mode" and that she was holding me back.  But for me, I just enjoy getting out and running with a buddy, I'm not so concerned with how fast we get where we're going.

In February, I went to Dallas for the Hot Chocolate 5k.  The original plan was to see if my sister had bounced back from having a baby (in December) enough to run it with me.  When it looked unlikely, I recruited my "cousin" SaraBeth to run it with me (by "cousin", I mean my "Aunt's" (my mom's BFF, no relation, but definitely my 2nd mom) cousin's daughter.. makes perfect sense, right?).  SaraBeth is an aspiring country music star, so I knew that she is fit enough to be my "rabbit" and push me to run a better race.  Sure enough, we hit the starting line together, jostled our way around the first corner at speed, and just as I was about to settle into race pace, she kicked it up!!  I tried to hang with her, but quickly got a stitch in my side.  So, I let her zoom ahead, but tried to keep her in my sights, to push me.  I turned in a PR time of 31:56.  Not as great as I had hoped for (I really felt like I was on pace to do 30:00), but still not bad for someone who hadn't run a true (non-stop) 5k in 10 months!  Oh, and there were hills.  Small ones, but still more than we get in H*town!  

Oh my it was cold
Silly me shoulda worn more clothing!

Now, I know that I said above that I spent most of January frustrated by a lack of change.  But, of course, you can see from the pictures that my body was changing.  It was changing drastically.  By the end of February, I was settled in at 175 pounds, and had just (barely!) squeaked back into a size 12.  YAY me!! :)

As my body changed, so did my nutrition.  My dad had the Gastric Sleeve procedure in October (and he's looking amazing!!).  He had to drink Meal Replacement Shakes leading up to his surgery, but then couldn't drink them after.  So, I inherited all of the ones he had purchased.  So, now a "normal" day is: egg whites with cheese for breakfast (and a sandwich thin if it's a double workout day).  Banana at 10.  MRS for lunch. Piece of fruit at 3.  Sensible dinner at 6 with the fam.  I still have splurges, where I go out to eat with co-workers, or chow down on a piece of cake (hello, dobasche!), but I always make up for it somewhere else. I was still taking the EFAs, the Multi-Vitamin, a Fish Oil, BCAAs on lifting days, and Metformin.  I also added Detonate (a thermogenic) to the mix.