Monthly Progress Report w/pics

Ok. let me say, first of all, how extremely difficult it is to post these pics. The one on top was taken in the middle of August. The one below was taken today, 4 weeks later. When I look at these I see almost no difference between the two. My DH swears that there's an obvious difference in the gut and boobs. Considering how I work my ass off during exercise I was really hoping to see more obvious progress.

I know that the bigger you are, the more weight you have to lose for it to be noticeable ----- but geez..... I wanted more! So I am posting these but not feeling good about it.

Now on to inches lost and exercise progress........ I have lost 16 & 1/2 inches in the past 6 weeks.

I lost 1 inch from my neck, 7 inches from my chest, 1 inch from my waist, 3 inches off my hips, 1/4" off each arm, and 2 inches off each thigh. Calves and forearms remained the same.

For exercise progress, between the end of July and today, (about 6 weeks) the weights I can lift at the gym progressed as follows:

Bicep curl, started at 10 pounds, now up to 20 pounds

Chest Press, started at 30, now up to 70

Incline press, started at 20, now up to 50

Decline press. started at 10, now up to 30

Flys, started at 10, now up to 30

Triceps pull down with ropes, started at 30, now at 60

Seated leg press, started at around 180, now up to 230

seated row, started at 60, now up to 135

Overhead presses, started at 10, now up to 35

For crunches, I could barely eek out ten 6 weeks ago. Now I can do 100 every other day, but I break them up into 20 at a time and sandwich them between other exercises.

For cardio, I could barely get through a 20 minute "beginners" cardio workout 6 weeks ago, now I can do 45-minute intense workouts with Jillian Michaels and her ilk. I cannot execute all of moves-- when I can't do something, I jog in place until they move on to something that I CAN do. I keep it intense and I'm dripping with sweat at the end of the workout.

Lunges, squats and deadlifts, the bane of my existence, have also become easier to execute. Note that I did not say they are enjoyable now. If they are enjoyable, you are either a masochist or you aren't doing them correctly.

It is just that when I started I was simply too heavy and too out of shape to do those moves properly without risking a fall or otherwise hurting myself. I can now do them and this is real progress as when you weigh 400 you think you're never gonna see the day.

As previously posted, my ChaLEAN Extreme program arrived yesterday and I will be taking my fit test tomorrow and getting started with the work outs either tomorrow or Monday. Oddly enough the timing of the ChaLEAN program occurred so that the end of each 30-day segment will coincide with the timing of my monthly reports.

So next month my progress report will include my first month's experience with ChaLEAN Extreme, as well as fresh pics, measurements and exercise progress.

Progress report w/pics

Well, it has been just over a month since I got back from SD and reaffirmed my commitment to return to fitness and maybe even be able to run again one of these days. Most of my weight loss has been in my lower hips and legs.

Before going to SD in July I bought three new tank tops, which I am wearing in the above shots, the one in the orange top was taken last week. Back in July, I could barely pull these tops down enough to tuck it into my skirt. As you can see, it now comes all the way down to cover my hips. So I definitely have lost quite a few inches there.

The shot in the purple outfit was taken while on the reservation in July. I had planned to use it as a "before" shot but I am wearing a skirt in that pic so you really can't see the changes in my legs and lower body. Nonetheless, here is the pic, taken by my friend Jeanne on July 7, 2009.

My "double chin" has really shrunk, and from the weight lifting and cardio there are changes in my body that I can see and feel but no one else would notice just yet. I took some other photos last week of my back (without a shirt) and some hideous side views in exercise tights -- which show my massive gut in all its splendor. I am not brave enough to show these now but will use them for comparison later in my progress.

I am on track with the food, weight lifting and cardio. This week I set a goal to increase my cardio by one extra session, at least. (I normally do cardio every other day). Well, I succeeded in my goal with an extra session with the aerobics DVD, PLUS, I fit in a few short after dinner walks that were only ten minutes each but added up to an additional 30 minutes of cardio at the end of the week. So, in total for this week I kicked my own ass in the gym three times, PLUS did 2 1/2 hours of cardio! YES!

I learned about fitday.com where you can track your food easily and choose to make your food diary public if you wish. I started mine and have made it public to help keep me honest. There is a link to it in my links section here.

That's it for today!