Monthly Progress Report with pics

It's that time of the month again. No, not THAT kind of "Time of the Month." I am talking about my monthly progress report with pics. To refresh your memory, the pic above is how I looked last spring and the gal behind me in white is my BFF Jeanne.



The pic above was taken back in August 2009 for my very first monthly progress report, as I didn't start my blog until then. And the pic below was taken today, wearing the exact same clothes. Those are twenty pound weights that I am holding below and, yes, girlfriend CAN pump out bicep curls and overhead presses with that weight.



Although we are each our own worst critic even I can see that I am smaller around the middle and my neck area looks way different. Underneath the bra area near the sides you can see things starting to cinch inward instead of sticking out. The boob area looks smaller and more uplifted.

Now on to the numbers.........(tell the invisible drummers in your head to start the drum roll now).........

This month I lost another 1/2 inch off my neck, making it 16" now. For the first time since I started measuring back in July, my chest stayed exactly the same. My waist came down another 1 1/2 inches and I lost 2 whole inches off the hips. This is the most weight that I lost from around the middle in one month since I started, and since this is my problem area, I am thrilled.

I lost 1/2" from each upper arm and 1/2" off each thigh. My calves stayed the same. So I have a total of 6 inches lost this month, which is about what I have been averaging. I was hoping that because of the jogging, the number would be higher. In a sense, it is, because I've been averaging only 1/2 an inch off my waist each month and maybe an inch off my hips. This month, my losses in those areas are DOUBLE what they've been averaging-- so I am not unhappy.

My total inches lost since July --- 38 1/2! Wrap it up, I'll take it!

Since this is the last monthly update for the calendar year, I thought I'd throw in some additional stats. When I first started walking, which I believe was back in August, I could barely manage going around the block-- which is about 1/4 of a mile.

I mean it would REALLY kill me to the point that I would have to lay down when I got back and my head would be pounding-- you could actually SEE the blood vessels in my forehead pumping away. That was some scarey shit homies! Now I can walk 3-4 miles and be fine with it. PLUS, I can run a complete mile and I am working on the second mile.

My first visit to the gym, which I have logged as July 26th, 2009, I could BARELY do bicep curls with ten pounds, now I can do 20 pounds. I set the chest press machine on 30 pounds that day, I now set it at 100 and I up it to 115 for my last set.

Back then, doing flies with the cables I could barely eek out reps of 10 using 20 pounds. I now set that bad boy at 80 pounds and up it to 90 for my last set.

My first day on the seated row, I set the weight at 60 pounds and my back hurt for WEEKS but I kept doing it. I knew it was a weakness thing and not a serious injury thing. I now pull 150 on that and I need to raise the weight as when I did three sets the other night I felt like I could just keep doing that all night long. So, time to up that. No more backaches and my shoulders are ridiculously strong.

When I first started, I did my squats with no weight and I could barely get myself into a half-squat position. I was afraid of falling and of hurting my knees. Most of my weight is in the gut and things got to a real comical stage at one point as I could achieve squating down but barely had the strength to get myself back up as there was this massive gut sitting there holding me down. I now squat perfectly and go as deep as is possible, holding 25 pound weights in each hand. This has gotten too easy and I need to up the weight.

There is still enough fat on my arms that you can't see in a pic what is going on there but I've got biceps that are literally close to softball size, a good tricep starting to form, along with delts and definition between the bicep and the delt when I flex . Where the arm connects to the body, that space between the arm and the chest has developed a thick ridge of muscle that you CAN see if I take my bra off and flex-- which is something I'm not doing here, not even for you!

My BUTT has gotten totally rock hard from the squats and now that I'm running, that will finish the job. It is the one place on my body where there is almost nothing left that "jiggles." It figures, where my progress is best, I can't see it to enjoy it. LOL

Now here's a story that I have been holding onto for months-- I've been letting it percolate inside me and motivate me for months. I now feel ready to share it. When I first joined the gym, I think it was my first week there, I was sitting on the chest press machine.

There was a lovely young lady sitting acorss from me on one of the leg machines and the WAY she was looking at me is something I will NEVER forget. Never. No, she did not look at me with contempt, curiousity or disgust. Having been 6'3" and over 400 pounds, I was used to that. No friends, she looked at me with PITY.

PITY. PITY!! WHAT THE FUCK! I could not bear it. Somewhere deep inside, even at 400 pounds, I was Chickzilla-- the Amazon Runner and NO ONE PITIES ME. NO ONE! That was it, something snapped inside at that moment and I have never looked back.

I WILL NOT be someone that other people pity. Not just "no", but HELL NO! So when I want to pig out or slack off, I bring up the memory of that look-- I never want to see it again. I am chickzilla, the amazon runner, mistress of the steep stair, lifter of iron, pow wow dancer, runner of endless miles. I will not be on the receiving end of anyone's pity. Fuck that. Hell no, Hell fucking no. NO NO NO!

Yes, I have myself all worked up. I have a holiday party to go to on Saturday and if anyone dares to offer me a cookie they might find the entire tray shoved up their ass sideways. I can't look at cookies without thinking of that girl's face.

Ok, I shared. Hope it helps someone in some small way.




The pic above is my BFF Jeanne. We went out to a Thai restaurant for lunch today and yes, I did eat more carbs than I usually have in a day. I had pad thai, chicken in a ginger sauce and some of that coconut soup! Yummy! I LOVE Thai food and haven't had it since the summer!




Here we are together in the restaurant. It is hard to make out but my shirt says MOTIVATE AND DOMINATE. There is a hilarious story about why my DH bought me that shirt, but this is already a long post so I will save that for another day! Trust me, it wil be worth the wait.

It will be the new year when I post my next monthly update! Overall, I am happy with my progress for 2009 as it stands right now.

Be good to yourself!
xoxox

Monthly Progress Report with Pics

This is last month's progress pic, taken around the 3rd week of October

Now here we are on November 20th. I am wearing the exact same clothes! Note that the pants now pull up enough to cover my belly. In a way, this makes me look like I GAINED weight somehow, but I actually lost once again, as you'll see in a minute when I list my inches lost for the month.





The purpose of this pic is to demonstrate that I can FINALLY, once again, not only touch my toes, but place the palms of my hands flat on the floor. My knees are not bent, this is honestly how flexible I am now. When I started, I could barely reach past my knees.




I took this a few days ago, sitting behind the wheel of Jeff's beat up work van. Back in July, my gut was so huge that it would be pressed up against the wheel. I could barely get in and out of the van or drive it.

Okay, now on to inches lost: This month, I lost one inch from my neck, one inch from my chest, one half inch from my waist, one inch from my hips, 1/2 inch from each upper arm, 1/2 inch off each thigh, and 1/2 inch off each calf for a total of 6 and a half inches lost this month.

This brings my total inches lost since July to 32 and 1/2. Not bad, especially when we know that with all of the weight lifting I am doing, there's no way I haven't gained muscle to boot.

I am guesstimating my total weight loss since March to now be about 130-140 pounds. I am sometimes curious about what I weigh, but as the saying goes, "If it's not broken, don't try to fix it." I've been consistently losing at least 6 inches a month and my clothes are getting loser and loser. For now, that's all I need to know.

In the gym department, around the time of last month's report, I was pushing 70 pounds on the chest press, having recently upped it from 50 pounds. I now do 100 pounds on the chest press.
Yeah baby! I increased the weight for cable flies from 50 last month to 70 pounds this month.
I can barely do that 70 pounds, but I really push myself.

I now do squats with a 25 pound weight in each hand and I KNOW I can squat with more, but that is the heaviest weight that I have, so I have "outgrown" the strength training equipment that I have. I cannot make real progress with my squats, dead lifts or lunges until I get heavier weights................. Gotta find the money somehow, Chickzilla needs her Iron!

I've REALLY increased my exercise the past week or two and I am going to try to maintain this pace, as next month will be my final report for 2009 and I want to make it a good one.

I was hoping for more inches lost this month but with having the flu and other stuff going on, for half of the month I either didn't exercise or wasn't able to do it with the sort of intensity I need to see results. I plan to make up for it next month.

Right now, most days I am exercising several hours a day. I won't be able to keep up this pace and intensity forever--eventually, it will wear on me. But in the short term, it is just something I want to do--to really ask a lot of myself for these last few weeks of the year and see what I can accomplish. I'm hoping my efforts will result in bigger losses when I take my measurements next month. This effort is my Christmas present to myself.

DH and I are going on a hike today that is going to be difficult for me--but I'm looking forward to the challenge. I hope that you all have a great day!

Monthly Progress Report w/Photos

YIPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

It's time for the monthly progress report with pics. I thought I would lose more from my neck as DH said my neck and chin looks different. But according to the tape measure, it stayed the same.

This month, I lost two inches from my chest, two and a half inches from my waist, one and a half inches from my hips, one half inch from my upper arms, one inch from each thigh, and one half inch from each calf. That's a total of ten inches lost this month! Woo hoo, yeah baby!

This brings total inches lost since mid-July to twenty-six. I wish that I could have taken my measurements from the very beginning back in March-- but even if I had been psychologically able to do it, the tape measure wouldn't have fit acound me.

Anyway, here are my monthly pics for August, September and October. I am not yet comfortable posting the side-view pics or the naked back shots. You have my promise that one day I will.

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

I lost more off my waist this month than I did previously. I attribute this to the careful attention to my diet, the increase in walking and the ab burner work out that I've been doing.

I've increased my personal best in several weight lifting exercises this month. I am now able to do cable flies with 50 pounds! I started at 10 pounds 3 months ago! I think that I am stronger now than I ever was before.

There is a lot more muscular development in my arms than what shows right now. I FEEL great and cannot wait until I start looking more fit!

Staying on target with my food has become a routine and MOST days it is not a struggle. When I have a case of the hungries, I'll have an egg white omlette, a bowl of oatmeal or something healthy like that.

Blogging and reading the blogs of others is a HUGE part of my success. I appreciate all of you putting yourselves out there and sharing what I know to be a difficult journey.

My BIGGEST problem is my impatience. They say that the older you get the harder it is to lose weight, and I am finding this is true. When I was younger I could easily drop 5-6 pounds a week if I was careful about what I ate and exercised faithfully.

I am NOT weighing myself right now but I know that I am not losing at that rate even though I am working HARDER than I ever have before. If you are still young, do yourself a favor and resolve the weight issue NOW.

I wanted to be at a certain weight range by the end of the year, by my Birthday in February, by next summer................ and I am seeing now that unless my body kicks into a higher gear all of a sudden, this is going to take longer than I thought and I will have to work harder than I ever have before to achieve what I want.

In the past, my disappointment and frustration over this might have caused me to give up. But ya know what, fuck it-- bring it on! I just have to keep doing the right things again and again and when I reach my goals, I reach my goals. I'll get there when I get there.

Anyway, that's my progress report for this month! I will work hard so that I have another good report next month. Be good to you today!

(Honestly, I am not homophobic or prejudiced. I simply like jokes that aren't politically correct. Somene emailed this to me and I thought I'd share. If you don't think it's funny, oh well.. I'll just have to try harder next time)