Progress Pics

Sunday, January 31, 2010

January Progress Report & Prep for colonoscopy (Yikes!)

weight los inspiration pics

Greetings friends. This has been a strange and sometimes stressful week for me, but, more on that later........

I entered a women's fitness challenge over at the JP fitness forum. Many of the women are doing the NEW RULES OF LIFTING FOR WOMEN program, but you can do any program.

The challenge is for 6 months and you must post your stats and progress pics monthly at the first of every month. If you've been following my blog, you know that I haven't weighed myself a lot during my weight loss, but got weighed only when I went to the doctor. This is because of compulsiveness with regard to the scale.

Anyway, I thought a 6-month challenge would be good for me, so here I am. Here's some progress pics, one from August 2009 and one taken earlier today.

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My weight today is 270 pounds, representing a loss of 15 pounds this month and a total weight loss of 160 pounds since last March. I wanted to mention that I started taking thyroid meds at the start of this challenge, as I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at that time.

I am positive that most of my weight loss for the month is fluid as I did nothing but pee when I first started taking the pills, and lost 10 pounds in ten days. I've been checking my weight once or twice a week and it fluctuates wildly. Just a few days ago, I weighed 265.

I also lost 5 1/2 inches this month, with the biggest loss coming off the waist (FINALLY).

At the start of the challenge, I recorded my initial stats and my goals for the challenge. Here they are, followed by my stats for today:


Body Stats (as of January 5, 2010)
age: 51
height: 6'3"
weight: 285
neck: 16”
chest: 46.5"
waist: 49”
hips: 55
thighs: 25
upper arms: 15.5
calves: 16.5


Health Stats (as of 12/28/09)
Blood Pressure 142/74
Cholesterol - 170
HDL- 45
Triglycerides -113
Fasting Blood Sugar -96
Resting heart rate - 62 BPM


Goals for the 2010 Challenge
1. Lose 60 or more pounds (I CAN do it)
2. Lift weights 3 Xs week based on NROL4W
3. Begin couch to 5k program in spring (to prepare for ½ marathon in Sept)
4. Eat adequate protein, continue to eat clean
5) Get blood pressure down more & improve other health stats
6) When gardening season starts, grow as many of my own veggies as possible
7) Buy a nice cocktail dress to wear out on my anniversary in July

February Body Stats (as of January 31, 2010)
age: 51
height: 6'3"
weight: 270
neck: 16”
chest: 46"
waist: 47”
hips: 54
thighs: 24
upper arms: 15.5
calves: 16.5

I feel REALLY strong from the weight lifting and clearly have put on muscle, but still have enough body fat covering everything that you can't see it in the pics. Not yet anyway.

Ok......... on other fronts, I have been VERY anxious for the past two weeks and I KNOW it has to do with the colonoscopy tomorrow. Not the procedure, but what they might find during the procedure, as cancer runs on my dad's side and he had cancer of the colon.

So I have been "off" with my food and exercise, often eating too much and skimping on the cardio. I admit it, there's a little voice saying "Why exercise and eat less if you're gonna die of cancer anyway."

So, I have not been buying potato chips or ice cream....... but rather eating a bit too much at dinner and sometimes going heavier on the carbs than I know I should.

By this time tomorrow, I will likely know whether or not there is anything to worry about up there, and if there isn't, I can go back to normal and refocus on my fitness efforts, and if there is, well, I'll just have to deal with now, won't I?

I also have my mammography on Tuesday.

Greta asked me if I feel better yet from the thyroid meds. Yes I do, Greta. Thank you for asking. My feet are less cold, my skin less dry, I am sleeping better and have more energy and focus during the day. I think the vitamins I started taking are helping too.

Greta asked how many kids we have. Between the two of us, we have seven. Jeff has a daughter, Sarah born in 1979 and a son Andrew born in 1986, plus my son Thomas, whom he adopted as I described in my last post. Thom was born in 1984.

For kids I gave birth to, I had the triplets in 1975 (Michael, William and Kevin), one son born before, Robert, born in 1975; and as I already said, Thomas was born in 84.

Anyway, Tom had the opportunity when he was 12 or 13 to go to Florida and meet his natural father. I did not try to influence him in any way. At first he said he wanted to go, then when it came time, he said he didn't need to do that.

He thinks of Jeff as his dad, not as a step-dad or adoptive dad. He calls his natural father "the sperm donor." LOL

When he decided not to meet his natural father, he said that Jeff had always been there for him and provided for him from when he was small, and that his natural father had never done jack for him and was showing up late in the game and trying to have "fun" with him.

His natural father never once paid a dime of child support and Tom knew this. It is why the judge wanted Jeff to adopt Tom instead of just changing the name. Jeff was supporting him and being his father unofficially.

I occasionally offer to contact the other side of the blood family for Tom and he always declines. This is his choice. We explained that curiosity about it would be normal and that Jeff would not feel hurt or jealous if Tom wanted to pursue relationships with his natural father and his family. He doesn't though. At least not so far.

Anyway, thought I'd leave you with a few links. There's a gal over on the JP fitness forum who also has a GREAT blog where she posts all kinds of studies related to health and fitness. There are side bars on BOTH sides of the blog!

Some of my favorite entries from her blog include:

Three strength training sessions a week keep bones strong without medication

Trained body burns more fat with gentle endurance exercise

Weight Loss Faster With Vitamin D


Also, another of the gals in the challenge will be competing in this year's WARRIOR DASH in her area. So I am wondering if I am up for that?

Check it out http://www.warriordash.com/

I will try to post tomorrow after the colonoscopy!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

xoxox

Friday, January 29, 2010

Perfect Ten Update #4





It's time for my fourth Perfect Ten update!


MY PERFECT TEN CHALLENGES

1) Begin the NROL4W program (THE NEW RULES OF LIFTING FOR WOMEN - LIFT LIKE A MAN, LOOK LIKE A GODDESS). Awesome program! Starting it is the best thing I ever did!

2) Begin Training for the New Haven Road Race: I only ran twice this week but as my goal race is 8 months away I am not concerned.

3) Lose 20 pounds by the end of the challenge. I may be very close to this already. We'll see when I post my monthly progress report over the weekend.

4) Improve sleep habits: Not bad this week! (knock on wood)

Now, for something that you probably don't know about me.

I actually had to adopt my own youngest son.

"WTF?," you may be saying.

Yeah, actually, none of my boys belong to Jeff biologically. When we got married, my youngest son assumed that his name would change when mine did. He started writing " Thomas Locke" on his school papers and we had to go into the school for a little chat.

From there, we went to see the probate court judge in our town about legally changing Tom's name. To make a long story short, the judge thought it would serve Tom's interests better if Jeff simply adopted him-- and believe it or not, the cost was about the same.

Something about the law, Jeff and I BOTH had to adopt Tom even though I was his natural mother. So I actually went through the adoption process for my own son. Weird, huh?

Interestingly enough, Tom never liked his middle name, so I allowed him to pick his own middle name when he was adopted and he changed it to "James."

People always say that Tom looks like Jeff and we laugh, as they aren't actually blood related.

That's my update for this week.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Check out my legs!



Well, I needed a dress for the funeral today and I DID find one at the Coldwater Creek outlet. I LOVE their clothes. This is an $80 dress marked down to $20 --- I could not believe my luck.

Also, (and this is hard to believe, but it's true) this is a standard size XL and it fits-- not well, but it fits. I wore a black blazer over it to hide the remaining lumps, bumps and arm flab. It is probably sized BIG and made to fit a normal woman loosely- but still, your amazon walking out of a store with a standard size at a discount is a NEVER. It was a huge moment for me.




Last year I was a size 5X and special ordered all my clothes. I literally almost cried when I put this on and it fit. It SO makes me look forward to a whole new wardrobe when I get to my goal weight. Anyway. DH hasn't seen me in pantyhose for years and had me pose for the leg shots.


So today was the funeral for Michelle's uncle. DH took the morning off from work and we went to the mass and the funeral -- it was snowing and somehow the beauty and purity of it seemed to match the day

When we came out of the church, the snow collecting on the trees looked so beautiful that I had tears in my eyes. I snapped this pic for you but it didn't really capture its full splendor.




Michelle's uncle was a widower who had no children, and he was estranged from everyone else in the family except for Michelle-- so there was no family gathering after the funeral. So sad.

Jeff went back to work and I offered to take Tom and Michelle out to lunch. Your amazon splurged big time! I hosed down a 12oz steak, baked potato, huge salad and then split a piece of cheesecake with my son. I also drank two glasses of white wine and OMG-- was that ever yummy! I seldom eat meat or drink, so today was unusual.

Normally, today would be a work-out day (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) but I am feeling kinda "spent" so I am going to do it either later tonight or tomorrow.




On the way home from lunch, my son needed to stop at his house-- so I got to pet his room mate's dog, Tank. That's a pic of Tank and Michelle above. Tank is a pit bull and Rotty mix and has he sweetest disposition you can imagine.

He's 130 pounds though, so when he's playing and gets enthusiastic, he bowls you right over.

Anyway, I'll post my Perfect Ten update tomorrow. I just wanted to share my new dress with my homies! I'll be posting my progress pics and stats over the weekend so look for that as well.

Have a good day everyone!

XOXOX
xo
x

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Tuesday's Workout, Bear Friend's question, and some news




Hey kids! I hope you're all doing well. Today was one of those days when I did NOT want to work out. I tried reasoning with myself and when that failed, I had to b*tch-slap myself and drag myself, kicking and screaming, to the work out area!

Once I got going, I was glad of it. Today was "workout A" and last time I did this, which was last Friday, I had upped the squat and bent-over row to 90# and barely pulled off two sets of each of those. In fact, I almost couldn't complete my last squat and then could not rack the bar and had to drop it onto my sectional sofa.

Today, I did three sets of squats and bent over rows with that weight and was fine with it. It is amazing to me that one can have strength gains like that from one week to the next.

Anyway, here's today's work out:

Warm up - Yoga poses

Squat
10/90
10/90
10/90

Push-up (30 degree)
12
12
12

bent over row
10/90
10/90
10/90

Step-ups
10/25e
10/25e
10/25e

Crunches
50
50
50

Side bends with 25# plate
10
10
10

So, I am glad that I forced myself!


The other day, Bear Friend asked in the comments why the reps and sets change. Well, body building means that you are constantly, well, er um, building!

To build your muscles, you need to constantly challenge them, feed them well, and give them adequate rest. I must always ask my muscles for a little bit more than what they want to give, this break-in phase that I am doing is getting my body used to that.

I started with 2 sets of 15 reps for each exercise. First, the number of reps decreased every other workout, while the weights INCREASED. After a month of this, the number of sets got bumped up to three.

At the end of the break-in phase there will be 6 more phases and each will get more difficult-- I'll be doing crazy-ass shit like one-legged deadlifts and squats, leaping into the air while pressing weight over head, etc.

During the six months, you NEVER let your body rest on its laurels. The weights, sets and movements change frequently and you keep yourself steadily progressing. It is not an easy thing to make the commitment that for 6-months you will live outside your comfort zone and ask a lot of yourself. That is one of the main reasons I am doing this-- aside from the physical results that I hope to achieve.

My son's girlfriend has been caring for an elderly uncle for the past few years. He had a stroke a few days ago and passed away last night. He was blind, incontinent and god-know-what else. Michelle has been living with him and caring for him while putting herself through school. We REALLY like her and her values and hope our son has the good sense to marry her.

Anyway, we want to go to the wake and funeral to support Michelle but of course, I don't have anything to wear. The black dress that I wore to my mom's funeral is a size 5X and literally falls off me now.

So Michelle is picking me up tomorrow afternoon to see if we can find me a cheap black dress or skirt and a pair of pantyhose in amazon size. The funeral is Thursday morning.

It is almost time for the Biggest Loser so I will end this here! But, I'LL BE BACK!





LOL LOL LOL

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Sunday's Work out




I had a great weekend and actually did some form of exercise three days in a row-- Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Saturday was just a brief walk-jog in the woods with the dogs, but hey, I'm gonna count it!

Sunday, I started off with a 1 and 1/2 mile run. I was hoping to be able to go for 2 miles straight but I was being overly optimistic about my abilities. LOL Still, I was thrilled to go a mile and a half straight!

Next I went to the gym. Last time I worked out, I didn't have my log with me and realised later that with the program I am following, I was supposed to increase the sets that I do from 2 to 3 as of the last work out. Not having the training log with me, I didn't do it.

So I got myself on track with that as of today's work out. Another two weeks or so and I'll be done with the break-in phase of the NROL4W program. Then I take a one-week break from lifting before beginning phase two.

Here's what I did today:

Deadlifts
10/125
10/125
10/125

DB Shoulder press*
10/30
10/20
10/20

Pullover
10/30
10/30
10/30

Lunge
10/10
10/10
10/25 -- this last set I did something different and held a 25# plate in front of me as I did the lunges, instead of a DB in each hand.

Crunches
50
50
50

Leg Lifts
20
20
20

Side bends holding 25# plate
10
10
10
10

Skull crushers (2 handed)
10/30
10/30
10/30

Last week I had increased my crunches to 50 reps per set, now I'm doing three sets- so I did 150 crunches today-- and Gosh, did it burn!

I am proud of how reliably I am working my abs now. It is one of the few things I was haphazard with up until I started this program.

I don't know what happened with the DB shoulder presses, a work out or two ago I was able to force up 25# DBs for two sets. I tried to go for 30# this time and barely eeked out one set. I dropped the weight to 25# and simply could not do it.

I hated to, but dropped it back down to 20# in order to do all three sets. Progress isn't a straight line I guess.

I do lift both arms at the same time, which is harder. If I do one at a time I can lift a bit more, but I prefer to lift both arms at the same time.

I did get to the gym today and jumped on the cable chest fly machine, which I LOVE and have been missing as I've been working out at home. So I hopped on that bad boy and did 3 sets of 10 with 80# and one set with 90. I cannot do complete range of motion with 90#-- I forced it and did what I could. I'd love to be able to pull 100# on that one of these days.

I read (I think in Arnold's old Body Building book) a few months ago about occasionally forcing yourself through things even if you can't complete more than one or two reps. That's pretty much how I brought my numbers up the machines before I started this program.

Anyway, I have been spot-on with my food and calories and I've been fitting more cardio into my schedule-- so I hope these efforts show up in the scale.

I have my colonoscopy a week from tomorrow, February 1, and have my mammography the following day. Since I'll have to fast for the colonoscopy anyway, I was thinking of morphing that into either a short fast of a few days or a longer modified fast of a week or so (with just protein shakes and water).

I haven't done either of these since July and I've had success with this at earlier points of my journey. It clears my head and my whole system out. Last time I did it an annoying rash that I had for years disappeareed and hasn't returned.

Anyway, I'll let you know if I decide to do this. I hope that you had a great weekend! I got to spend quality time with Jeff, got caught up with work stuff and got in a bunch of exercise, so I am stoked for great week this week!

Be good to you today!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Perfect Ten Update #3, Today's Workout, and running, running running........




It's time for my third Perfect Ten update! I have not once been late in posting my updates and I am VERY proud of that.

I realized something today that makes this challenge even more special to me. The end of the challenge coincides with my one year anniversary of starting on this journey. That makes me more determined than ever to really kick butt during the coming weeks!

MY PERFECT TEN CHALLENGES

1) Begin the NROL4W program (THE NEW RULES OF LIFTING FOR WOMEN - LIFT LIKE A MAN, LOOK LIKE A GODDESS). I just completed my third week on this program, making me half-way through the break-in phase.

I wanted to mention that, my arms, especially the triceps are one of my problem areas. So I've been throwing everything at them but the kitchen sink for the past 7 months with very little improvement.

All of a sudden I see/feel a BIG difference in the strength/muscularity there and I KNOW that the push-ups and the heavier weights are creating these changes. These exercises that I am doing are standard, foundation-building exercises that body builders have been using for decades. There's nothing fancy-pants or new fangled about it.

It figures that putting aside the gimmicky stuff and and putting some honest work into the basics is getting me the results I've been longing for! The work outs are difficult, but the results spur me on and I am eager to see how things go in the coming weeks and months.


2) Begin Training for the New Haven Road Race: This has not been going well. Between the weather, illness and an overwhelming schedule I have only been averaging one walk/jog of about a mile, once per week. I HAVE been working the backs of my thighs like crazy though, as this is supposed to be good for female runners.

Today, I got up early to take care of some business and household things and get a good groove going on my day so that I could get outside. This worked! I went out this morning and did my two-mile jogging interval routine and I was able to run for at least half of it!

I worked up a good sweat there, came home and rested a bit, then launched right into my weight lifting routine! I was a bit off on my food earlier in the week. I was feeling anxious and eating a bit more than I should. I am back on track now on all fronts and feelin' good!


3) Lose 20 pounds by the end of the challenge. Although I am not weighing myself until my monthly progress report (about a week from now) I feel confident that I've gone down a bit and that I will have no trouble reaching this goal.


4) Improve sleep habits: My dog getting sick and keeping me up all night, then getting a bad cold had my sleep all messed up for about two weeks. This week, (knock on wood) I was able to fall asleep at a reasonable hour most nights. I hope the trend continues.

Now, for something that you probably don't know about me. I was in my thirties before I learned to drive. I don't like driving. I only do it when I have to.

Before I go on to post today's work-out, take a gander at this "before" pic of me that I came across yesterday when I was searching for photos for my garden post.




Holy crap! Look at how fat my arms, legs and gut are! Jeepers creepers-- if this doesn't keep me on track, nothing will!

Also kids, just wanted to note that I removed my weekly fitness totals from the sidebar on the right and replaced it with monthly inches lost. I post my workouts now both here and on the Daily Mile, so it is redundant to have that on the sidebar.

Today's Workout

Warm up - Yoga stretches

Squat
12/90#
12/90#

Push Ups (30 degree)
12
12

Step-ups with DBs (18" Box)
12/25#
12/25#

BB Bent over rows
12/90#
12/90#

Side bends with 25# plate
10
10
10
10

Single-arm, DB Skull Crusher
10/25#
10/25#

DB Preacher curls

10/25#
10/25#

Crunches
50
50

Leg Lifts
20
20

Cool down - Yoga and old school floor exercises -- mainly for flexibility


I upped the weight for the squats, step-ups and rows, and it was at the upper limit of my abilities. I could barely rack the barbell after the squats and as I was coming up on my last rep I could barely get my body to come back up.

So, I have reached that stage where I am not going to be making giant gains in strength from work-out to work out. I will have to increase the weight periodically to improve, but it won't be as frequent.

This is a good thing! It's a sign that you're moving out of the "beginner" phase when strength gains are rapid.

Anyway, I feel good heading into the weekend! I'm on track with the food and the exercise and I am feeling strong inside and out!

How was your Perfect Ten week?

xoxox

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Long-Promised Tour of My Garden



Greetings friends! I've been promising you a tour of my garden for 6-months! It's about time I kept my promise to you. This post will show the evolution of our property, at least in part; and give you a glimpse of our garden. So come on in and I'll make you some mint and bergamont tea with herbs from my garden.





Oh yes, you noticed our nifty sign. We are very proud of that. We had our property certified as an urban wildlife sanctuary through the Humane Society.

Habitat loss is a major threat to our native birds. As a result, 50% of Connecticut’s native bird species are declining, and 17% are on the State’s Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern list. That is: 50 out of 290 regularly or annually occurring bird species in Connecticut are State-listed.

Bees, via pollination, are responsible for 15 to 30 percent of the food U.S. consumers eat. But in the last 50 years the domesticated honeybee population—which most farmers depend on for pollination—has declined by about 50 percent, scientists say. Unless actions are taken to slow the decline of domesticated honeybees and augment their populations with wild bees, many fruits and vegetables may disappear from the food supply.

What can you do? With a little effort, you can improve your property’s usefulness as a wildlife habitat, while at the same time preserving plants that are native to your state.

You don’t need a lot of space to create a garden that supports wildlife, propagates indigenous plants, and helps to increase wild honeybee populations. Later on, I'll steer you towards info on getting your property prepared and certified. It is easy and is a great thing to do! Let's continue our tour, shall we?





We bought our house during the winter, 7 years ago. It had been abandoned for 5-years at the time that we bought it and it was in terrible shape. The inside had to be gutted to the studs and completely remodeled. Inside, everything is new--- but that is another story. Today's tour is about my garden.

On the outside it was also a hideous mess. This house is on a corner lot, so we have a neighbor to the right, but not on the left. The left-hand side of the property is slightly elevated, as you will see in other pics.


See that white van in the front driveway? Well, as a corner lot, this house originally had no driveway there. The original driveway was on the left side of the property near an old detached garage.

At some point in the history of the house, someone thought it would be a great idea to make another driveway in the front and to make it curl around the house and join the other driveway, so that you could actually drive in one way and exit the other.

While they were at it, they went nuts with the asphalt and concrete, and extended it ALL OVER the property. There was not one speck of grass in the backyard, it was all asphalt and concrete in shitty condition, with weeds growing out of the cracks. HIDEOUS.



One of our first "VISIONS" for the property was to get rid of the asphalt, build a deck on that side of the house, and to enclose everything with a fence both for privacy and to contain our dogs.

So my husband went out there in the spring and started breaking up the asphalt with a sledge hammer and crow bars. Yes, he did this himself. The man is insane. Ya gotta love him.

See the mostly dead tree in the pic above? That was growing on the fence line so we had that and a few others cut down, then DH rented a stump grinder from Home Depot and ground the stump down so that it wouldn't interfere with making the fence.



This pic shows where the asphalt driveway curled around the back side of the house and met the other driveway on the side. The gate where you came in is in this spot now, it's how you enter the yard from the side or the back. The driveway leading up to this on the side is all that remains of the original asphalt and concrete.





This shows the process started of breaking up the asphalt driveway. YIKES! My Dh is a madman. What did we do with all of that concrete and asphalt once Jeff broke it up?

We found a company that gives special deals on dumpsters if all that is going in it is asphalt and concrete-- as they recycle it and use it to repair roads. So we had a DUMPSTER FILLING PARTY during a July heat wave. Want to know who your true friends are-- have a dumpster-filling party in 95 degree heat and see who shows up.

We all wore work gloves and filled wheelbarrows with asphalt and then emptied them into the dumpsters. It took two days. Half a dozen friends stayed. Bless their hearts. My garden will ALWAYS be their garden too.



Here's Zeke in the former driveway with the asphalt removed. And the dead tree has been cut down- you can see the stump still there in this shot. Yeah! Progress!



This shows the front of the house with the driveway removed and the privacy fence started. Obviously, the deck hasn't been built yet. It is now and is connected to the house on this side. There is now another section of gate going across the front at about the point where the enclosed porch connects to the house. The front path extends up to the gate, which has flowers growing all around it. Thus, at this point, you can't see into our backyard from the street and the dogs cannot get out of that area as there are fences installed at any point where they could escape.



Here are two views of the side yard BEFORE the dry stone retaining wall was put in. When we bought the house, there were railroad ties along the area of elevation. They were ancient and loaded with graffiti. When DH removed them, the soil had been in that position for so long that it just stayed like that.

This is the left side of the property, the corner side. You can't see it in the pic of the house that I put at the beginning.



I ALWAYS wanted a house on a corner lot because of the landscaping opportunity. It is like having two front yards. When I first looked at this property, I could "see" a circular path here, with a huge center garden and flowers growing along the retaining wall and spilling over the sides. I could see it. I wanted it. And I did it!



Jeff working on extending the retaining wall around the front of the house to enclose front flower bed. You can see in the background that my magical garden hadn't been created yet.



Here's a view of the side of the house after the retaining wall was finished and the garden started. In order to make my "magical garden" I had to dig up all of the grass and weeds over every square inch of this elevated side yard. Your amazon did this, a little bit each day, all by herself, when she was at her heaviest. Yes, I really wanted this.

Neighbors would drive by and stop. "What are ya doing?," they'd ask. "Well," I'd reply, "I'm digging up my lawn to make a magical, circular garden." They'd drive away scratching their heads. Thus we were identified as the neighborhood freaks almost from the moment we moved in.

At present, the circular path is complete and has off-shoots that connect it to the remaining driveway in back and a path in front of the house. There's a small pond too and several places to sit.

I love a "wild" look -- sort of English cottage style. I planted a lot of indigenous flowers and also stuff that supports bees, hummingbirds, song birds and other critters.

Intermixed with the flowers, most of them perennial, are my veggies and herbs, places to sit, annual flowers in pots, and other treasures. Angels, gargoyles, fairies and whimsical garden statues peek out from among the plants and surprise you as you turn corners and explore the plantings.

Tall flowers such as Pacific Giant Delphiniums and climbing vines such as clematis are against the house on this side. The circle includes a lot of easy care plants such as Black-eyed Susan's, Cone flowers, and the like. There are bird feeding stations among the plants and chipmunks have turned the retaining wall into a condo. They scurry around eating seeds that the birds drop and they are so cute!




Stone retaining wall from side. The gutters on our house actually connect to pipes which go underground and exit here above the storm drain in the street. Our basement FLOODS otherwise. Yours truly helped to dig the trench for this. I don't know how I didn't have a stroke at friggen 430 pounds.




The fence and part of the deck. Those Roses are called "Don Juan" and they are so beautiful.



Back in 1993, Jeff made me two of these benches out of kits he bought at Lowes. One finally broke last year but this one is hanging on. I've tried to make this a three-season garden by planting things that flower at different times. We have beauty out here from early spring until late fall. My no-care, "Freedom" roses often have blooms on Thanksgiving that I cut for our table.




A few statues in the bird feeding area. See the plant in the upper left that is enclosed? That is comfry and it gets GIANT! It is one of the healthiest plants in the garden. I have to enclose it or it sprawls out and smothers everything around it. It gets delicate purple flowers in spring and is so beautiful. There's a white dove in this pic. Do you see her?



Ribbon grass. It is pretty, but the stuff is invasive and I have been trying to thin it out every year. The red thing hanging from the pole is a hummingbird feeder. They are vacationing down south now and will be back soon!





Spiderwort and Iris, both of which I have in abundance.

I was a city girl and grew up in housing projects and tenaments. It turns out that I love gardening far more than I ever dreamed I would. Gardening enables you to work in partnership with God and nature to create something beautiful. It teaches you patience. The garden is different every year as I don't know where the squirrells might have replanted my bulbs or where seeds have replanted from the wind.



I Love this Rake lady. I got her at the Christmas Tree shop





I LOVE lavender and over the years I keep planting varieties that are supposed to be perrenniel here, but they NEVER grow back. Luckily, it is cheap to plant every year. You can't beat the smell!




Along the privacy fence, I planted roses and flowers. I used leftover stone from the retaining wall to close-in my flower beds elsewhere on the property. In spring, I have a hellava time keeping the dogs out of the freshly emerging plants in these beds. Along this fence, only the strong survive!



I always loved the look of morning glories and tried every year to grow some but I always failed until two years ago. Sadly, these are an annual, at least here. So these won't come back. I may plant more this year. These got so healthy that I had to trim them to maintain access to the gate.



For awhile, I tried to grow herbs in the back. That area is fenced-in so the dogs cannot get loose when they are outside. I could not keep Zeke out of my herbs in spite of the signs you see in my little patch here. LOL Those ceramic "no pooping" doggie signs are hilarious close-up. I'll take better pics of them for you in the spring. I painted a piece of slate with "Zeke Keep Out." Can you see it in there? Anyway, I gave up. Only flowers in the back--nothing I'm gonna eat because of the dogs.




A view of part of the circle in the spring. See the chives with the purple flowers? Very yummy to pick them fresh! I replaced the woodchips in the path with stone last year. I can see this area from my kitchen window and most of the bird feeders are around here. In the winter, I watch the birds feedng outside and dream of spring and tending my garden.



You can see a bird in the platform feeder. This is in the side yard.



My beloved Zeke in backyard with view of roses and flowers along privacy fence. This is after Jeff built the deck as you can see the steps leading up to it on the right.



Yellow Roses along privacy fence.

I told you I'd explain about urban wildlife sanctuaries in case you want to do it. You can live ANYWHERE and do it-- a farm in Nebraska, a condo in New York, a house in California--anywhere!

The HSUS Urban Wildlife Sanctuary Program fosters a greater understanding and appreciation of wildlife in urban areas by encouraging stewardship practices that improve conditions for wild animals, and by promoting humane solutions for resolving human-wildlife conflicts, when they occur.

Last I knew, it costs $25 for a homeowner to have their property certified as an Urban Wildlife Sanctuary, and you get a nice metal sign to display on your property like the one I have on my gate. You may apply online. The size of your property does not matter.

Here is the criteria that your property must meet in order to be approved:

Ideally, there would be some type of naturally occurring food such as trees, bushes or berries.

Feeders for birds, humming birds or squirrels are also a plus

There must be a water source, it does not have to be natural, a small birdbath is fine

There must be at least one type of cover or living space. Mature trees are ideal, but rock piles and piles of brush are acceptable, as chipmunks will live in them. Ponds, nesting boxes, and hedgerows are also acceptable.

People in condos can make the area on the small patch of grass outside their door or even on their balcony or patio. Stawberries and flowers can be grown in pots on a porch, patio or balcony, a dish of water can be a water source, and any mature trees on the condo grounds near your unit should qualify as habitat.

That's it. You fill out the questionaire, pay, and you get your certification in the mail. Wanna check it out? Visit this link:

http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/wildlife_and_habitat_protection_programs/urban_wildlife_sanctuary_program.html




Part of the circular path in the side yard.

Our garden is so dramatic now when it's in full bloom that cars come to a complete stop to check it out. Some actually get out of their cars to ask for a tour or ask about particular flowers.

One lady lives a block over but comes home by driving by our house so she can see the garden. Now that the dream has come alive, people understand what I was trying to do and they appreciate it. The lady digging up her lawn by hand doesn't seem quite as crazy anymore.

Our garden is a gift, not only to ourselves and to the wildlife it supports, but to our community as well. Everyone gets to enjoy it as they walk or drive by and we've inspired many others to garden!

By the way, our garden is completely organic, including the organic top soil and cow poop we had delivered by a local organic farmer when we got started. We are trying to heal this little piece of earth. Certain pesticides render butterlies sterile. We don't use chemicals of any kind on our property.

We also planted milkweed because butterflies like to lay their eggs there. This worked, when we sit out in the yard during the summer there are dozens of butterlies flying around.



I hope that you enjoyed your tour. I will post updated photos as my garden comes alive this year and I plant new things-- which, I always do!

Here's a government website where you can look up indigenous and endangered plants in your state:

http://plants.usda.gov/


And another that is about gardening for wildlife:

http://www.gardening-for-wildlife.com/index.html

A good book is Douglas Tallamy's "Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens" (2007, Timber Press), which brings into sharp focus the relationships between plants and wildlife.

I have to get on with my day but feel free to rest in the bench above and dream of spring! And if you need any gardening tips, you know where to find me.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tuesday's Work out, Getting a (gulp) colonoscopy, and other fun stuff



The journey to health and fitness
Should be taken
Because you love yourself,
Not because you hate your body


Today was a work-out day and I DID it! Before I launch into recording that and other exercise-related stuff, let me say that when I went to my new doctor at the end of last year, he asked me if I'd ever had a colonoscopy (no), mammography (no), Bone density test (no), chest x-ray (no). And he wanted to know when I had my last eye exam (5 years ago) and pap smear (about 15 years ago, right before DH got himself fixed and I said 'goodbye' to birth control pills) (Yeah, I know, I know, PLEASE spare me the lectures. How many 430 pound women do you now who go to a gyn doc?).

And so I agreed with the doc that we'd start tackling these things one or two at a time. It was in all of the initial blood work that we discovered my hypothyroidism. So I like this guy. Anyway, I have an initial appointment tomorrow with a gastro doc about getting the colonoscopy. This isn't the procedure, it is the preliminary appointment.

Your amazon is scared. Why? Well, on my dad's side, two people died of cancer that started this way. Also, on dad's side, I had a half-sister whom I never knew. We were separated when my parents divorced when I was 3.

I searched for her as an adult--but she died of breast cancer before I found her. So, on mom's side, no one gets cancer. On dad's side, everyone does. So this and the mammography scare me. This is stupid, I know. It's not like if there WERE a problem, ignoring it would make it go away.

Anyway, my preliminary for the colonoscopy is tomorrow and my mammography is February 2nd -- ground hog day. LOL. I will post after my appointment tomorrow. Please send calming thoughts my way. This isn't easy for me. I'd rather do ten extra sets of box step-ups-- that's how much I don't wanna go. LOL

I haven't posted about this before-- I guess I was giving myself room to chicken out and not go- then none of you would be the wiser. But I guess I gotta do this and I am making myself accountable for it just like the exercise and weight loss by posting it here.

Anyway, moving on....... Quite awhile ago I read a post or a blog somewhere by a guy who had previously been really obese, then he started a weight lifting program and now looks great.

Anyway, he talked about how one of the hardest things about body building for someone coming from a high weight is that it is a LONG, LONG time before you can actually "see" the muscles you are developing because of all of the fat covering them.

You work your *ss off but have to trust that things are progressing as they should because your muscles are hidden. Boy, have I found this to be true.

Take my arms for example. When I first started working my triceps and biceps 6 months ago (with ten # weights)it took awhile, but gradually, I could feel a tiny amount of muscle there when I'd flex. Here we are now and I can hammer my arms with heavier weights--plus the push-ups and other exercises are helping. And when I flex and feel my arms, I can feel a THICK amount of muscle in the triceps, biceps, and deltoids.

Yet, when I look at myself in the mirror, my arms look the same as any other woman who has another 80 pounds to lose. No one would guess by looking at me that I can run a mile or lift heavy weights. I don't yet look like someone who can do this.

Certainly not all of the time, but some days, doing this on faith without any visual reward for all of my effort is HARD. To go to the gym and see that you are working 2 or 3 times as hard as people half your size yet don't look anywhere near as good as they do is irritating and disappointing.

I try to keep a positive and upbeat attitude and to focus on my strengths and the weight loss progress I have made, which is massive. Most of the time, I just keep looking ahead and do what I must do. But I am a human being, subject to "bad days" when I can't be a cheer leader; and on those days, not looking better than I do after all of the work that I put in really sucks.

So if you're coming from a high weight, you're going to have to accept that you will get stronger and fitter LONG before it shows on the outside. We cannot give up though! We must persist!

Today's Work out:

Warm up - Yoga stretches

Dead Lift
12/125
12/125

DB Shoulder press
12/25
12/25

Lunges
12/10
12/10

Side bends with 25# plate
12
12
12
12
12
12

Pullover
12/30
12/30

Crunches
50
50

Leg Lifts
20
20
20

DB curls
8/25#
10/25#

I changed the way I do the cruches and leg lifts so that there are more reps per set to make it harder.

Also, with the DB shoulder press. I am simply not as strong with this movement as I am with others. I upped the weight from 20# to 25# today and I barely made it through the 2nd set. Yet, look at how much I can pull or lift otherwise.

I was looking through the NEW RULES OF LIFTING FOR WOMEN book to see what I'll be doing in future phases of the program-- and the next four stages incorporate a lot of balance work--- such as one-legged dead lifts and squats; and also compound movements that are difficult-- such as, instead of just doing step-ups onto the box holding weights, I'll have to do overhead presses at the top of the movement- which means stepping up on one leg and going into the press-- the press and the step-ups are already hard for me --when they are combined it will be killer!

I can't see myself with this kind of balance and strength but I've been told by other women who have completed the program that you vastly improve over time. I'll keep you posted. I will be half-way through phase one as of Thursday and I already feel a lot stronger.

Hope you're all doing well!

Tonight is biggest loser night. I'll be crying in front of my TV!

xoxoxoxoxox

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Today's Work-out

I did not want to work-out today. Having the cold all week (I am better today, btw) and Zeke and DH being sick last week put me behind on a lot of other stuff I must do. I wanted to spend the day playing catch-up. BUT, the work-out is only an hour if I stay on task and don't allow a lot of rest between sets. And I do want to stay on target with my exercise. So I just did it-- and I am glad!

Today's Work-out

Warm-up - a few Yoga stretches

Squat
12/85#
12/85#

Push-ups (45 degree)
12
12

Bent-over rows
12/85#
12/85#

Step-ups (18" box)
12/20#
12/20#
12/20#
12/20#

DB chest Press
12/30#
12/30#

Leg Lifts
15
15
15

Crunches
25
25
25
25

Side bends with 25# plate20
20
20
20
20

Skull Crushers
12/30
12/30

I feel stronger each time I work out!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

New awards! Thanks so much!



Hope you're all having a great weekend. Believe it or not, I STILL have my cold. I normally have a strong immune system against these things and either don't get them or get a much milder version than what everyone else gets. I haven't been able to breathe through my nose since Monday and overall, feel pretty gross. Enough is enough already, so I hope I feel better tomorrow.

On a more cheerful note, several of my blogging buddies gave me awards this week. I just went through my comments and I THINK that I have accurately sorted out who gave me what. But if I missed you, please bring it to my attention, as I want to give everyone their props!




Kat over at FitMindBodyspirit and Patsy over at Musings of a 100-plus Weight Loss Journey both gave me the HAPPY 101 award. Thank you ladies!

As always, there are instructions that come along with this award:

1. Copy the image and display it on your blog.

2. List 10 things that make you happy.

3. Try to do at least one of them today.

4. Pass on the award to 10 bloggers who brighten your day.


First, the 10 Things that make me happy:

1) My husband. He really is a great guy.

2) Having a spiritual life.

3) Gardening! I love my garden. I promised you a virtual tour of it long time ago and have yet to do it; so I will get to that soon. Promise!

4) Music. I love music. Can't imagine life without it!

5) Books. It is amazing what having a written language enables you to record for the future. And I love to read. I totally enter the world of the book when I read a story and can "see" everything so vividly. When I meet people who don't like to read or who CAN'T read, I always feel so sorry for them.

6) My blogging friends. Sorta matches up with number 5. I honestly feel like some of you are such good writers that the essence of "you", the "youness" of you comes through in your blog, and that if I could sit with you and talk, you wouldn't be like a stranger to me at all.

7) Exercise. I can't believe I am putting this here, but it is true.

8) Dogs. I really love em'! If you came home late and woke people in the house, everyone would be angry with you except the dog. Day or night, they are overjoyed to see you no matter what the hour. It could be three in the morning but they will run up to you all sleepy-eyed and waggy saying, "OMG, OMG, I am so happy to see you." The humans say "You woke me up as*hole." So, we have a lot to learn from the furry kids. They know what's important.

9) Cooking. I am good at it. If I weren't, the way I need to eat from now on would get pretty boring. Lately, I have been trying to produce at least one restaurant-quality meal (in taste and presentation) at least once a week. I've been turning out some beautiful stuff and DH is lovin' it.

10) Food. Kinda matches number 9. Lately I have been trying to train myself to appreciate foods as they are given to us by God and nature, without being messed with by humans. How can we bite into a piece of fresh pineapple and not feel joy? Foods, as they are, are a gift to nourish us and bring us joy. We mess with perfection and ruin it with chemicals and processing. So I am trying to keep it simple and have some gratitude, and this makes me happier.

Now I must pass this award on to 10 people/blogs who have impacted my life in a positive way:

266

Chris at A Deliberate Life

Helen at Doing a 180

Leslie at Something Brilliant is Brewing

Aubrey at High-Heeled Love

Kristina at Life Won't Weight

Cinci Mom at Losing the Baby Weight

Greta at Big Bottom Blogger

Ruth Anne at From Flab to Fab

Candace over at Believing in C, C is Me

Whew! That takes care of award number 1! Now on to award number 2.




The Beautiful Blogger award. This one was given to me by Ruth Anne, Candace and Helen. Thank you ladies!

The rules dictate that I tell you 7 things about me that you probably don't already know. Then, I have to pass it on to 7 recipients.

Here are the seven things you probably don't know about me:

1) I am the only daughter of an only daughter of an only daughter.

2) I had identicle triplet boys when I was only 20-years old

3) I became a widow when they were only three-years old

4) If I eat without drinking something with it, I get the hiccups, without fail! Even if it is a tiny bite.

5) I donated my breast milk to the neo natal intensive care unit at Yale New Haven Hospital for about 6-months after the triplets were born. They fed it via tubes to the preemies whose mom's couldn't give their milk.

7) When I was still young, I offered to have a baby for a fertility-challenged
couple at my church. We actually went through counseling for it together. It didn't happen because they were afraid I'd have triplets again and they didn't want that. LOL

Now, the seven recipients:

Paula Wanna Crackern

Sandra over at My travels to Becoming a Better Me

Purple Moonflower over at It's not a diet, it's a WEIGH of life

The Sweet Tooth Obliteration Operation

Patsy at Musings on a 100-plus weight loss journey (right back at ya, sistah!)

Christy in Seattle

Tamzin at One Inch at a Time

Ok, so I think that covers it. Thanks you for giving these to me ladies. It was not an easy week and these brightened my day!

It is over 40 degrees today! If DH can get home from work early enough we are going for a walk! Enjoy your weekend!

xox

Friday, January 15, 2010

Perfect Ten Update #2




It's time for my second PERFECT TEN update!


MY PERFECT TEN CHALLENGES

1) Begin the NROL4W program (THE NEW RULES OF LIFTING FOR WOMEN - LIFT LIKE A MAN, LOOK LIKE A GODDESS). I just completed my second week on this program in spite of a difficult week. One of my dogs was in the vet hospital and I came down with a cold, so I ended up doing two of the workouts in one day in order to stay on track-- but I pulled it off and that's what's important.

The push-ups and the heavier weights are already creating changes that I can feel, so I am psyched!


2) Begin Training for the New Haven Road Race: I only did jogging intervals once this week, again. But given the week I had, I am not concerned. Also, the road race is 9 months away so I have plenty of time to train for it. For the next few months, the weights will be my priority. My fitness week ends on Saturday so I may try to get some jogging intervals in tomorrow--but if not, Sunday begins a new week.


3) Lose 20 pounds by the end of the challenge. Incredibly, I already lost half of this with the nice drop I had this week. I may end up increasing this goal to 30 pounds to keep myself focused.


4) Improve sleep habits: My sleep got all messed up when my dog got sick and I was up all night with him vomiting. I went in and out of bad sleeping all week because of that and difficulty breathing because of the head cold. Hoping to get back on track over the weekend.

Now, I am supposed to reveal something you probably don't know about me. I am tired and still battling my cold so I will make it an easy one this week. I LOVE music of all kinds and I have an uncanny ability for remembering useless facts. So I KNOW who sang all of the one-hit wonders from the 60's, 70's 80's, the names of the band members, where they are from, who wrote the song, etc.

I am famous for this where my husband works. If a song comes on and they don't know who is singing it, they call me and ask me. Everyone tells me if there were a show like "Jeopardy" for music, I would kick ass. People always try to stump me but it rarely happens.

I still have my cold so I will end this here. I wannted to stay on track with my updates and really nail this challenge!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Nursing a bad cold, yet bearing good news. Plus, today's work out!



As you know from my last post, I caught Jeff's cold and I have been miserable. I decided yesterday to give myself a "pajama day." I just sat around and layed around in a pair of cotton lounge pants and an old sweatshirt.

I went channel surfing and found where the previous episodes of the Biggest Loser are on demand on cable, so I watched a few of last season and the Thanksgiving special they aired-- which I had missed because we had company. I don't watch much TV and honestly didn't know I could watch prior episodes on demand.

I was hopeful that today I would get up and at least my nose would be unplugged, but no, still have to breathe through my mouth no matter what medicine I take. It is SO annoying and inconvenient.

So your amazon sat around in her extra long "jammies," smelling like Vick's Vaporub, sipping grapefruit juice, chugging Dayquill, blowing her nose and watching people on TV cry and lose weight.

So what is my good news? Well, if you follow my blog you know that I generally don't weigh myself because I can get compulsive about it. But I recently joined a 6-month women's fitness challenge that will require me to weigh, measure and post photos once a month-- so we dragged out the scale for that.

I woke up this morning feeling, A) still sicker than I wanted to be, which sucked, but B) I felt somehow "lighter," and markedly so. I HAD to know so I stepped on the scale and was shocked to see that I lost about ten pounds in the past two weeks or so since I last weighed.

I was thinking, "This can't be right. The scale must be off." So I got out the tape measure. I'll be darned! I lost an inch off my waist, an inch off my hips and half an inch off my arms. My chest stayed the same. I am in awe!

Some combination of tweaking my diet, the thyroid meds and my new exercise program caused a nice little drop! When I started that thyroid med I did nothing but wiz for about a week so I am sure that a lot of this was water weight, but STILL, this was a nice little morale booster-- especially since I am sick and feel like crap otherwise.

Today is a work out day and since I can barely breathe, I planned to skip it and just have another jammie day. But today's work out is "work out B" which is the easier of the two that I alternate and doesn't take long if you stay on task, so I decided to just push myself through it, even if it means that I do nothing else today (which I haven't).

So I pushed myself through the work out and was shocked to see strength gains in areas I didn't expect. Here's today's session with "the beast":

Warm up - A few simple yoga stretches, a few squats with BW only

Deadlift:
12/125#
12/125# (up from 105#)

DB Shoulder Press:
12/20#
12/20#

Pullover
15/30#
15/30#

Lunges:
15/bw
15/10# DBs
15/10# DBs
15/10# DBs

Crunches:
25
25
25
25
25

Leg Lifts:
15
15
15

Side-bends with 25# plate:
15
15
20
20
20
20

Preacher Curls:
12/30#
12/30#

Single-arm DB skull crusher:
12/30#
12/30#
12/30#
12/30#

Cool down: A few more stretches and old school floor exercises

I've been trying to up my bicep/preacher curls from 20 to 25#. I have a variety of DBs set up around "the beast" (my weight bench) and when I did the preacher curls today, I grabbed what I thought was a 25# DB, but I grabbed the wrong one, I grabbed the 30# one by mistake, but didn't notice until I was done. So I actually did two sets on each arm with that 30# weight.

Once I realized my mistake, I was shocked that I managed such a jump in weight on a small muscle group, especially while sick. Inspired, I tried to use the 30# DB to do the single-arm skull crushers. I DID IT. This definitely brought me to "failure" at the end of each set-- but I am thrilled, as the triceps is a trouble zone for me and it felt good to hit it with enough weight to really hammer it into submission.

I remember the day not too long ago when I thought I was hot shit for doing triceps kickbacks with 10# DBs. Those days are gone now. As DH says, "I've passed gas that weighs more than those pink Barbie DBs." LOL

Note that I also did over 100 crunches today and also increased the number of leg lifts and weighted side bends--- I was inspired by my nice little drop around the middle- my biggest trouble zone.

A few of my blogging buddies have been kind enough to give me awards. Along with my little drop in weight, it was so nice to receive such kindness and morale boosters while sick. I want to treat these with the gratitude and attention they deserve so I will wait till the weekend when I am hopefully feeling better to read about the awards and learn how to pass them along appropriately. So expect a post on that Saturday or Sunday.

Tomorrow will be reserved for my Perfect Ten update. I want to post on that when I am supposed to and not slack like I did with the Hot 100. I am going to rub some vicks on and go back to my easy chair and my remote. I am dying to get caught up on your blogs and will do so tomorrow.

Thank you all! You are amazing people and your support contributes greatly to my success. I want to return that to you with as much abundance as I can! Be good to you today!

XOXOXO
XOX
X

Monday, January 11, 2010

Today's Work Out and Other Stuff



First I'm gonna whale on my pecs, then I'm gonna work on my back!




DH came down with a cold/sore throat starting Friday night and stayed home from work yesterday because of it. Now, I have it. We didn't go to the gym Sunday because of Jeff feeling sick and from being emotionally shot over Zeke being in the doggie hospital.

So, I really HAD to work out today no matter what! So I took a big dose of dayquil and mosied downstairs figuring I'd at least do the major lifts. I decided to do the squats, lunges and step-ups first because those kill me the most.

Our housemate, whose room is also on the ground floor, came into the room and starting yakking with me asking how much I am lifting, how many exercises I do, blah, blah, blah.....

There I am in a sports bra and spandex tights, with all my flab hanging out, giving her grunts and one-word answers, trying to drop the hint that this is private, quality time with myself. She just wouldn't get the hint.

To make a long story short she kept leaving and coming back into the room-- so my work out took me almost 4 hours. Yes, I did a DOUBLE work out today-- as I did both the work out I missed Sunday AND the one I was scheduled to do today.

I am sick, trying to focus-- and have someone pissing in my ear the whole time. When I came back upstairs to my computer, (with my lunch and some grapefruit juice) I realized that it is friggen 4 in the afternoon and I am just now having my lunch.

So, although it might be RUDE, next time, I am going to have to tell her that I cannot talk until my work out is done and I eat afterwards. If she keeps talking, I will have to come out and tell her to MAKE LIKE A TREE AND LEAVE, MAKE LIKE A BIRD AND GET THE FLOCK OUT, Make like a........... well, you get the idea.

Here's today's work out (remember, this is a double because I missed Sunday)

Warm up - Yoga stretches

Squat
12/75#
12/75#

Push Up (45 degrees)
15
15

Bent Over BB Row
15/65 #
15/65 #

Step ups (18" box)
15/20#
15/20#

DB Pullovers
15/30#
15/30#

Side bends holding 25# plate
15/25#
15/25#
15/25#
15/25#

Crunches
25
25
25

Leg Lifts
15
15

Deadlift
15/105#
15/105#

DB Shoulder Press
15/ 20#
15/20#

Lunges
15/bw
15/bw

Cool Down - floor exercises with only BW and some yoga postures.

Note that I increased my weight with the squat, deadlift and bent over row since my last workout. I upped my deadlift from 85# to 105#, bent over row from 50# to 65# and squat from 65# to 75#.

Last time I worked out, I didn't feel as though I challenged myself enough and if I'm not gonna do that, I am wasting my time. So this nudge upwards made a difference and this time I could feel it in the backs of my legs when I deadlifted.

Yeah baby, that's what I'm talkin' about! Chickzilla is on the loose!

I have worked out in the past but never with any definitive program, never with any consistency, and never with the ever-increasing resistance needed to see real results. In other words, I was just fooling around, as hard as that is to admit.

So I really didn't know what to expect from this. I thought it would be months before I would notice that I got stronger, months to see a difference-- but, NO, I can see and feel it already and I am SHOCKED!

My arms and legs look fatter and that pissed me of at first, but actually, the new muscle underneath is pushing against the fat and making it seem like I am fatter, but of course, I am not./

I have been able to increase the weight at regular intervals, way beyond what I anticipated when I started. This is the best thing I've ever done for myself. I am glad I started lifting and I am glad I joined the women's challenge.

Gonna go sip more grapefruit juice and swallow more Dayquill! Be good to you today!

xoxox