Updates

Okay everyone.  I realized I haven't updated things in a while.  My last relaxer was in June not April lol.  It was a few weeks before my trip to Amsterdam because I got my hair twisted before I left.  The workout count is SHOT.  I won't try to fix that right now but I will keep a count some kind of way for the workouts till the end of the year.  FitOrbit which I loved so much has gone kaput but my trainer and I are still working together through Total Coaching now.  We'll see how this platform compares as my new plan starts tomorrow.  I am over my not sure I want to be smaller thing as well.  So life is okay.  My last hair detangling process was more complicated than I wanted it to be but it was because I left my hair up much longer than it should have been.  These will be out at the latest by mid November.  I'll relax my hair then OR whack off everything but the new growth.  There's lots of it, really lots of it.  How goes things with you all?

Setbacks and Reboots and Moving Forward

Okay folks I haven't written in a while but that's totally my fault.  Life has been kicking my butt with the amount of work I've been doing.  My hair I thought was taken care of since it was up but apparently the braids were too tight in places as there was some breakage.  Not so much that I'm distraught but more than I would like.  Some areas grew like weeds but that has created an uneven neckline so it will need to be trimmed on Wednesday when I go in.  My plan after a lot of conditioning and protein and the like yesterday is to relax tomorrow afternoon.  I might have waited longer but I'm still teaching and on Friday I'm flying out for another pinup photo shoot.I was going to rebraid my hair in a few weeks before I take off for my first real vacation in a month of Sundays (don't you love old southern woman speak) just so I didn't have to deal with it but was planning on box braids or larger individual braids instead of the micros.  It again didn't do as much damage as it could and my hair feels oddly thick even if it's not down to my butt lol.  There is quite a bit of new growth that I need to take care of as well so we'll see how that goes.  If I'm not loving the hair life post vacation and work conference then I'll take down the braids and do a massive chop of whatever isn't super straight.

With all the hair out I can step on the scale and have a more accurate reading.  Turns out I was about right about how much weight they were adding to the scale because as of this morning I am officially 51 pounds down since I started working with Elizabeth at FitOrbit.  I can't say what weight I was at when I took the original photos but I was in a size 18/20 or XXL or XXL in vintage clothing at the time.  Now I'm in 12s and 14s and no bigger than an XL in some of the vintage clothing designers I love.  I actually shed a bunch of clothing that I can't wear anymore and my closet looked sad until I hung up the vintage clothing and now it has its own little section in my wardrobe lol. 

I'm very excited about the vacation even though I'm slightly nervous about going alone.  However, I've vacationed in the US alone so this shouldn't be too much worse.  I'm paranoid at all times and overly cautious.  I've gotten some good travel advice and now can't wait to catch my plane and wake up in another country.  And I get to do it again a few weeks later for a conference but this one will be more locally out of the country, just crossing the northern border.  Oh oh and I got a research grant so I can move forward with the studies I wanted to do this summer.  Yeah for me.  So yeah the hair thing not so much fun BUT the rest of my life is going well.

When I get back from the photo shoot, tennis lessons start and I'm thrilled that I can take my ridiculous amount of tennis knowledge and make myself look totally incompetent while I work out.  I'll try to take a photo or short video to share my pain with all of you.  What's up in your world ladies and the occasional gent?

Fitness Friday: New Routine!

I have been sporadic again I know.  So have my workout routines.  I don't think I've updated that number along the side in a minute.  Damn I should do that.  Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post my weight has been hovering in the almost 50 pounds last range for weeks.  Part of that due to stress and not hitting the gym as much as I could be it felt like I was plateauing a bit.  I mentioned it to my trainer and we are switching it all up.  Today was my first day of the rebooted routine and I LOVED it.  One or two moves I need to perfect and I need to get used to actually jogging instead of just walking briskly.  Tried it today and both impressed and disappointed myself.  I haven't run in a long time for more than a few seconds so improvement there but I actually made it through three cycles of my walk, jog, sprint cardio time before my body said no mas.  We're going to tweak a few things and head back at it.  I'm a happy girl who is excited to get back in sweat mode.  Yippee and I signed up for tennis lessons so hopefully that doesn't you know kill me or more aware of how limited my sports skills are lol.  How are you doing?

Saturday Summary of Fitness Friday

So I've been light weight MIA the last few weeks.  After recovering from being sick I had a ton of stuff to do at work so the gym didn't happen.  I finally got off my lazy behind (ok not totally lazy) after my two week down time amounted to a two pound weight gain.  Given that has not happened prior to this month I'll take it but it made me unhappy.  This is my first week trying the tweaked workouts that Elizabeth gave me and they kicked my butt, Monday most of all because it was a lot of alternating weight work which takes a while for my brain to catch up to and process correctly.  Over the course of the week the weight has fallen off which means the gain was solely because my behind didn't go get my sweat on.  I was able to stick to my diet easily enough despite being sick so yeah even when I'm in maintenance mode I need to make the gym life my life otherwise I'll be packing the pounds back on.  Which leads to a different conversation.

My body is smaller than four months ago of course and it's reshaping a bit as well.  My clothes are also now too flipping big.  The sweaters are beginning to look like tents and the jeans just depend on the cut but there's more room in most of them around the waist than should be allowed.  No big deal right I'm sure I have some smaller ones here and turns out no I don't.  I've been in the same weight class as it were for so long that I have jeans that are bigger than my current size but not a single solitary pair smaller.  So I have got to start adding to the smaller girl collection just like with my workout gear and unmentionables.  This may be a TMI moment so skip it if you want but I've always enjoyed my breasts even if shopping for bras could feel like I was going bankrupt.  So I was a little apprehensive about going in for a new set because I was worried about how much I had shrunk.  I honestly had no idea I just knew my bras were not fitting well anymore.  I explain the situation to the fitter who measures me up and says yeah smaller band but no smaller cup.  That seemed unlikely but I tried on the new bra and it was like I had found a new friend.  I was also a little perplexed on the cup size not shifting but for the moment I'll take it.  I'm down two sizes in the panty range as well so now I have all of these oversized things in that arena as well.  I plan on donating the jeans and clothes that aren't too beat up.  Underwear I'll dump cause yeah no but can you donate gently worn bras?  The ones that I wore a lot are just going to have to be made into something else or dumped.

Last bit of information or update for today.  I have totally abandoned my Polar F7 watch.  It worked for like a nanosecond on Monday and then kept giving me the check the heart rate monitor error.  As I have gotten smaller the thing is just glitchy as hell.  My Fitbit is still on preorder so for the next month I'm just going to work out without all the tech you know like before when we didn't know those things existed or that we needed to track those things lol.  Ok I think I'm done rambling for now.  Gotta go update the sidebar. 

Anyway how goes your fitness goals?

P.S.  I keep saying I'm going to share one of my dinners and haven't done so.  So here is last night's very delicious dinner.  It's another meal from my trainer.  Mustard Salmon, brown rice and lemon roasted asparagus.

February Final Thoughts: All Things Fitness (& Food)

This past month was all kinds of bad for working out.  Yes I squeezed ten workouts in and yes I made a point of taking the stairs instead of elevators but I could have done much more.  Between the weather, stress at work and a basic major project hangover it was my not my most stellar month ever.  When I was there it was fantastic and I was amazed at how my body keeps changing.  My workout clothes that used to be snug are loose or too big entirely.  I'm at the point that I may have to adjust the band on my heart rate monitor again cause it's a little slack when I'm working out as of late.  And I have gone from actively avoiding the elliptical machine to spending forty minutes or more on it whenever I hop on that bad boy.  I'm within a half pound of one my bucket list items--lose forty pounds.  That may or may not happen this week but you know what I'm ok with that.  The weight doesn't have to pour off of me each week.  I'm not gaining weight and I'm losing at least five pounds each month which is what brings us to now.

It has felt like forever since I have lost more than five pounds and kept it off so this is a new experience for me.  While other people are noticing the weight loss when they see me for me I'm not seeing major changes anywhere except my belly which is shrinking, it's not flat but shrinking.  I've opted to upgrade the fitness watch as I think I mentioned in a previous post so it's just a matter of waiting until my plum Fitbit Charge HR is delivered.

As I finished my second bottle of water this morning I was amazed at my shift from water is disgusting to that is pretty much all I drink especially when I have my Mio or Minute Maid drops.  I'm not overeating and I'm not overindulging when I do have a cookie or brownie or something at work.  I'm committed to doing the food thing healthy now and can eyeball a good serving size and do check calories on things I'm buying.  I am by default counting calories because of my meal plan but I've been surprised about how not hungry I am eating a more balanced diet than the bored and ridiculous amount of food I was eating before.  And as my trainer has noted I'm still eating foods I like I'm just not making them in a way that would kill me and I'm not eating them to excess.  Time for a snack then beef kabobs and a baked potato for dinner tonight.

Gotta stick with it.  I will be pinup cute dang it.  More than that though I'm happy that I am not continuing to allow my body to be out of control just because I feel helpless to change it.  It's changing, slowly but surely.  I actually slid into a pair of my old size 18 Lane Bryant jeans on Friday and they were comfortable with a little give.  My other jeans are way too big now and if I don't wear a belt they would be in super saggy mode.  I haven't put on my dress pants as of late cause it's really freaking cold.  But I tend to be in at least one size smaller dress pants than jeans so whenever I brave the size 16s to see if they fit I will let you know.  I'm worried they will be too big.  The pants I loved from LB used to have belt loops, these do not which is just stupid.   How is the working it out going in your direction?

Pre Birthday Updates

So I am now on countdown to my 39th birthday.  I'm not sure what I thought I'd be doing at 39 but I can almost assure you my current life isn't it.  That's a good thing though as I am genuinely enjoying my life right now.  Are there things that need to be improved on?  Well most assuredly but I also have the passion and drive to continue to improve.  The best part about being nearly 39 though is that next year, God willing, I'll be 40.  If things keep going the way they are going it will be the best birthday ever but then again I'm making plans to make sure every birthday gets that distinction.  Just because this is more of an introspective post about lots of things not just my hair I'm going to insert a page break here.  If you don't want to go any further not a huge deal as I tend to be wordy sometimes.  Just know that I'm in a good place and enjoying life.  If you are nosy and got time to kill continue after the break.

Hair Updates & Other Stuff

So if you track my hair and weight loss updates you will see the numbers have been adjusted in both cases. I will get to the weight loss piece in a second but let's start with my hair. My poor tired hair.  I wasn't bone straight when I left the salon a month ago.  I was going to roll with that since my plan post this round of swim classes was to be braided or weaved up and try to enjoy some stress free time with my hair as the temperature continued to be crazy.  However, 10 days later after swim class you wouldn't have known I had a relaxer at all.  Now don't get me wrong my hair is never bone straight after swim class.  I don't expect it to be.  The level of tangles and knots though was ridiculous.  I thought maybe it was a one week fluke but nope there were more of them this week after swim class as well.

That's also why I haven't taken that many photos of this travesty.  I do have some to share today of working through wash day but without some serious heat my hair is going to be fluffy.  I have considered doing a corrective relaxer after swim classes end next Saturday (the 13th) but haven't decided for sure.  I'm also thinking about just going with braids.  I'm worried about what that would do to my hair and that could mean I'm in a styling chair on my birthday instead of relaxing which is what  I would like to be doing.  And this will be the most shocking.  I've even considered doing it myself because I'm tired of haphazardness with who does my hair, how they do it and what happens post relaxer since I know what my hair should feel like and the last two relaxers it has definitely not gotten there.  Input please oh and if you use Affirm Fiberguard relaxer where do you get it.  Can't buy it on their website and not sure about Amazon.  On the upside I was able to roll my hair without looking at a mirror and keep it symmetrical the entire time.  Photos in order: hair loss, rollered up and a pseudo close up of nothing resembling straight roots.

I am nursing my hair right now.  Keeping my ends tucked away as much as I can.  I'm moisturizing daily at the moment and resuming my vitamins.  Soon enough I hope to see some progress.

As for the weight loss, can we just say that is rocking right along.  I'm down almost 15 pounds since Nov 2 when I started training with Elizabeth.  I'm not eating much more/less than before but pulling that together with the working out at the same time has been stellar.  As of today, I'm 28 workouts past last year.  I may not hit 100 like I wanted but at least it won't be flat and barely equaling last year.  Even going out to eat I'm being more cautious and while I've had a day of less than stellar snacks it hasn't derailed my progress.  My pants are getting a little roomier which is different but now I need to grab my belt and make it work.  Even though no one believes me when I say it I'm still over 200 pounds and that's not good for a number of reasons.  My target goal right now is to hit 180 and see what I feel like.  I don't envision going too much smaller but maybe I'll become one of those goofy fitness nuts.  How goes life around your neck of the woods?  Yoga, swimming, gym rats anyone?

Black (and Silver) Sports Bra Fitness Friday

Hmm that looks way more awkward than I planned in my brain, oh well. So I held to my annual tradition of avoiding all things Black Friday shopping like the plague.  I lounged around longer than I should but after breakfast and a bit of time on Farmville 2, yeah I know, I got up and went to Planet Fitness.  Turns out it was the only parking lot that was not packed today which is saying a whole lot because most days that gym parking lot is like the Hunger Games with slightly less violence.  I got a spot right down front with no hunting.  I went in and there was no line, no crowd in the women's locker room, and no fighting whatsoever for any of the equipment.

In short, it was a great day and I loved the sweating.  I had an epiphany later too which is just that I'm getting comfortable in my own skin again and I'm kind of loving it.  Now the workout totals haven't been ticking up as much as they did a few weeks ago an that would be my fault but for a different reason than you would might expect.

Last week I was having the mother of all cramp fests which killed the Wednesday workout.  Thursday I thought I'd make it up but I was just exhausted after the cycle of work.  And Friday I followed through with a major decision that had been looming.  I'm no where near menopause apparently, gotta screw the family curve there too, and all of the birth control options are contraindicated for me based on age, possible risks (blood pressure can be wonky every now and then), and whatever else the universe wants to include.  That left me with the option of an IUD or the Novasure Ablation.  IUD seemed scarier than the ablation so I went with the ablation.  I did debate it for a few months before I made a move.  The ablation basically moves there will be no little Southern Girls or Boys springing forth from me.  I kinda knew that already but it was confirmed that if I moved forward that was where life would end up. So yeah last Friday ablation won out.  Which wouldn't have been so bad except I couldn't eat all day prior to the procedure which wasn't until 2.  But by about 1:55 I was doing the happy drug express and by 3:30 I was up again and hungry.

My trainer gave me the go ahead to skip that workout since I'd be damn near a zombie by then and we weren't sure who the drugs would impact me.  Turns out I slept a lot.  I felt better in the morning but not good enough to trust myself in the pool so I slept in.  I did get back on track workout wise on Monday but I have to say that I haven't slipped up on the diet.  As of my last weigh in on Tuesday I think it was I'm down 12.6 pounds from where I started at the beginning of the month.  So yeah I'm totally endorsing the trainer option.  I'm learning better options for food, better ways to keep myself busy in the gym and better ways to just enjoy me.  I've just gotta slip by my birthday and Christmas without sliding completely back into dessert hell lol.

How was your day folks?

 

Fitness Friday: First Full Week of Training

So I officially started with my trainer on the 2nd but I totally forgot about the 90 million things I had on tap for last week so it meant I didn't really get a full week in on the training schedule and managing my diet without a lot of distractions. I'm going to give you a sectional update as I think I will make more sense than blabbing for the next few paragraphs.

Meal Plan: Is actually really flexible and is helping me work on eating 1) on schedule and 2) enough so that I'm not starving and 3) not so much that I'm overindulging.  Tracking everything I eat has shown me some days I'm hungrier than others but have managed to stay within my allotted daily calories all but one day and I was 20 ish calories over that day but really who has ONE fajita and goes to bed?  Best of all I'm learning a lot of fantastic new recipes that still indulge my major food craves but aren't horrible unhealthy.

Workouts: When I was having a better time of things at the gym this year I was there three to  four times a week for at least an hour and while I got a good sweat in I was also getting bored and losing motivation often.  I've managed to make it all three scheduled days this week and each was a different challenge but perfect at the same time.  Although I'm slow sometimes it seems like Monday is more of an ab and upper body day plus cardio.  Wednesday is a good general workout day.  Today is a butt and cardio day.  All of it was good.  I think I was sore a few weeks ago because I hadn't been at the gym regularly in a WHILE.  This week my body feels great, I can tell what the exercises are honing in on and I feel accomplished when I'm done.  Sweaty too but accomplished.

Trainer/Elizabeth: She rocks, not a lot else to say but who am I to stop talking prematurely.  She's very encouraging, supportive and answers my questions about workouts and food like super fast.  I know it's early in the process but she really is fantastic.  And if nothing else it seems like I'm losing weight.  Things aren't fitting the same and six pounds isn't enough to account for all of it.  Can you lose weight in your feet?  Cause really shoes are feeling a little BIG lately.  Regardless this feels like the best present I've given to myself in a while.

How goes your journey to healthy?

Fitness Fridays: Getting in Gear

So this blog is meant to document both my hair journey, which I am usually pretty good about, and my fitness journey which let's face it has been hit or miss.  I have lamented many times that I would love a trainer.  Preferably one that was already at my gym so I didn't have to travel to yet another gym to get trained. When I joined the Y so that I could take classes in addition to the swimming I thought I could find a trainer there but literally no one has ever called me about it so I was getting discouraged again.  Yep I had added the yoga classes to my swimming classes but two hours a week of sweating and moving my body wasn't putting a dent in the spare set of tires around my belly.  I was still wanting plan B to come together but I wasn't putting much effort in after getting no where with local folks for months.

As I was tending to Influenster and my participation in the Vidal Sassoon campaign, I noticed another relatively new thing on there called VoxPerks.  I clicked on it and actually paid attention to the one I had scrolled over before for a website called FitOrbit.com.  Influenster was offering a discount on registration so I said what the hell let me check it out.  Turns out I was pretty impressed with the program and went through the registration.  The sign up is easy enough and actually more detailed than I would have thought.  From there you are given your top three matches but can keep looking at others if you don't think you will click with the ones they suggested.  Oh and if you hate your trainer you can switch to another one which I thought was great too. 

I chose my trainer, Elizabeth, because she seemed to be good at all the things I wanted to work on and was friendly.  We started narrowing down my wants, interests, routines and habits even more as well as any food limitations I have.  She's been great in the few days we've been working together so that I can officially start on Sunday.  I spent part of the day working on part of what will become my Friday workouts.  I went partially because I haven't been in a while and partially because next Friday and Saturday I will have to work to get a good workout in because I will be at a conference.  I totally forgot about that when I picked the 2nd as my start date but I will do something even if it's a short workout.  It was great to be moving again at the gym that got my lazy behind off the sofa in the first place but woosah it was a killer and I didn't even finish it all.  It's good to know that it's set up to be a good sweaty workout and as feared I need to mix them up instead of doing them in order because my upper thighs hate me right now lol.

I spent the rest of my afternoon/evening shopping for the things on my new meal plan--that's right no guessing what to eat on top of the workouts--that I didn't already have at home.  I did switch out a few things that were allowed switches (yeah I kinda hate broccoli) but for the most part I have the ingredients I need to start things off well.  I will still hit the pool and yoga in the morning.  And then Sunday morning both Maroon 5 and I will be singing a new tune.  In case you have no idea what I'm talking about with my estranged scruffy tattooed yoga enthusiast Jewish rockstar husband I will leave what I mean at the end of this post.

Who has a trainer?  Or had one?  Or has questions?  See ya for the next wash day.