AquaPandaManda's Fitness Journey

[AquaPandaManda]

Day One - The long way 'round

 

So here's me. For the last 10 years, I've steadily gained weight from 190lbs to 305lbs. As a 6'1" woman, 190 was perfect for me. 305 is not. 4 years ago I dropped weight to get to 225 to look good in my wedding dress, and then I just blew up like a hot air balloon.

 

I've decided that now is the time to get my ass in gear and take control of my life and my body. I started subscribing to the company gym last week, and I was referred to Nerd Fitness by a friend on Monday. As a giant nerd, I think this might be the routine for me. There aren't unrealistic expectations of turning my life upside down immediately. Each small goal seems achievable so that I can achieve real change in my life and keep the weight off and keep myself healthy. 

 

So here is the "Before":

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 305.4lbs

Pants size: 22

Shirt size: 2XL

Bra size (they say your boobs will shrink. I want to document this): 42DD

Pushups: 0

Pull-ups: 0

 

 

 

So join me in my journey as I attempt to get to Mordor and destroy the 100lbs of Fat.

 

[starsapart]

/stalks this~

[Ciara]

You can do it! You're right, it's all about small steps. It took Frodo three whole books to destroy the One Ring, after all. Our lives are made of many chapters. Congrats on starting a new one for yourself!!

[AquaPandaManda]

Tuesday's Workout:

• 10 minutes on treadmill - 3.5mph
• 20 squats - no added weight
• 20 squats - empty bar
• 2 wall sits - 1 min each

 

Yesterday's Workout:

• 10 minutes on treadmill - 2.5mph (legs STILL hurt today from Tuesday)
• 10 bicep curls - 50lbs
• 20 inverted rows
• 3 assisted pullups - 175lb counterweight

 

As for diet, I'm kind of slowly working my way through all the crap food left in my house because Broke Ass Ho Can't Pay. So I try to do about 50/50 Paleo-ish to the crap food. My biggest problem was always portion control. I was a member of the "clean your plate" club as a child, so I developed the habit of eating in order from least desirable to most, so I could finish my dinners on a high note. 

Throw that in with my college diet of crap food like canned hash and bagel bites and you get an even bigger problem. I can eat a whole can of hash and still go back for more. Divorce forced me back into my really bad single living habits. I hate cooking for one. It seems pointless. So all my culinary abilities get shelved in favor of fast food and boxes of mac n cheese. And yep, I'll eat an entire box of mac n cheese myself too.

 

But I can admit progress. I eat a lot more steamed vegetables (lightly salted, with a spray or two of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray, or a small scrape of Smart Balance Lite). I felt pretty good about yesterday's lunch of handmade chicken and rice quesadillas and brussels sprouts. I'm going to start diving into the recipe and shopping sections of the Academy soon. When I can get my cupboards cleaned out (mostly), I'm excited to replace it with healthier paleo foods. 

[starsapart]

Awesome work!

 

For veggies, have you considered just buying a high quality olive oil?  I like the cold-pressed ones of Italian origin especially.  Then you can get an olive oil mister (I think mine's called Misto?) which you fill up and spritz on veggies/other stuff.  Probably better than fake!butter (and more Paleo-friendly if I'm not mistaken?) and with a really good olive oil, the flavor is excellent.  Sunflower oil is another good one.

 

I feel you on the cooking for one - my wife and I have almost no foods in common, so I always have to cook for one too.  What seems to work is making something huge on the weekend, then eating it all week... as long as you don't mind lack of variety.

 

Keep on fighting!

[AquaPandaManda]

Olive oil is a good idea. I'm having trouble cutting back the dairy. I am like Paula Deen about butter. One of my biggest problems with cooking in general is time. I leave at 7:30 in the morning for work and get home at 7:30 at night. Then I have to scrounge around for something to eat, do housework, and attempt to find some time to relax before doing it all over again. 

And weekends are precious because I'm trying to start my own business (very hard for someone up to her eyeballs in debt) and I'm working on making soaps, candles, jewelry, writing a business plan, planning the business, attending festivals and shows with our little table of stuff to sell, etc. 
 

And if I'm not doing that, I'm doing house/yard work. I don't usually think about food during those times. I can go a whole day hardly eating anything because I'm so focused on other things. And then by the time the day is done I just want to sit on the couch and watch a movie or binge on Netflix. THAT is when I get in trouble. I need to keep my hands busy, so I stuff my face. I tried other things like making jewelry and knitting to keep my hands busy, but then I can't pay attention to the TV.

 

Today's obstacle is a familiar one. When something bad happens, I feel justified in eating crappy because I feel bad. For example, this morning I saw a kitten get hit by a car and after sobbing my way through traffic to work, I grabbed a bottle of soda and thought to myself "I'm having a bad day, I'm drinking this whether the health gods like it or not." I felt like I was entitled to it for some reason, because I saw something bad happen that didn't even involve me. WTF was I thinking? 

 

Anyway, yesterday's workout: 

None. I had a hard time walking because my leg muscles hurt so bad. Today, I can walk, and that means I'm going to the gym. 

[starsapart]

Wow, seems like there's a lot going on with you.  It's okay to have slip-ups, as long as you realize what happened and don't repeat mistakes over and over.     I'm really sorry about what you saw happen - I would have sobbed, too.  Now I want to go home and hug my kitties.

 

If you feel like you have to eat wile watching TV, you can always eat raw cabbage.     I know this sounds insane, but sometimes I'll buy the coleslaw packs in the salad section (just cabbage and carrots, no dressing of course) and crunch on those while I zone out.  It's nutrient rich and has almost no caloric value.......

 

Granted, this isn't a Paleo thought (so take with a grain of salt etc etc), but I feel like a bit of real dairy isn't bad in moderation... but if I'm going to use butter, I use actual butter instead of the chemical-laden processed stuff.  The fewer ingredients on the label, the better (I'm pretty sure most fake butters are made with canola and soybean oils, which are always GMO in the US, palm oil which is flat out awful, and they often have sweetener hidden in them, too).  Margarine even contains artificial colorants to make it yellow since naturally it is gray!!!!!  Food for thought!  When I became a label reader, a lot of my junk food cravings went away because ugh, who wants to eat something with an ingredients list of chemicals 18 pages long that has to be dyed to look like real food???????????????

 

Be strong!  Remember that the best way to combat muscle soreness is to work out lightly and stretch.  You can do it!

[AquaPandaManda]

All righty. Friday was arms day.

 

10-minute treadmill at 3.5mph

10 pull ups with 175lb counterweight

10 dips with the same

10 wall push-ups at roughly 45 degree angle

15 second plank

10 chest presses with 15lbs in each hand

5 knee push-ups

 

Not necessarily in that order.

 

Friday's diet was... eh. I'm getting better at cutting back my portions, which is probably my biggest problem. I did go out with some friends on the weekend and had some Marine City Fish Company mac n cheese. Was tasty. Didn't finish it. Proud!

 

Saturday and Sunday weren't anything really worth talking about. Saturday I went out with friends and harvested the lavender in my front yard. Sunday I spent most of the day working on a website for a local spa. 

 

Although on Saturday I did have sore arms. Good sore. Right in the front armpit area. 

 

Morning snack: dark-cocoa almonds. Healthy and extremely tasty. 

[Ciara]

Wow sounds like you've got a great plan. I second the use of olive oil. It tastes better and is a little better for you as well. But I toootally get you on the portion control thing. I am not able to pre make my meals, otherwise I'll just eat everything I've made all at once! The eating cabbage thing sounds pretty brilliant. I know how easy it is to eat mindlessly, so why not do so on something low in calories? Personally I'd eat something like carrots or apple slices, since they're a bit sweeter

 

Good luck! You seem to be on the right track. Keep it up

[starsapart]

You're awesome, Amanda!  Keep on plugging away!

 

Also, I am jealous of your mac and cheese.  Oh god, I want lobster mac and cheese now.........

 

I know how easy it is to eat mindlessly, so why not do so on something low in calories? Personally I'd eat something like carrots or apple slices, since they're a bit sweeter

 

Hilariously, I've found it's easy to overeat on apples!  I like them, so I can eat several in one go.  A single apple is 80-100 calories, so eat a few in one sitting and oops.  The same calories and sugar as if I'd eaten a cookie (though it's a less harmful sugar in theory, sugar is sugar, right?).  Carrots are good, though they are also moderately calorie dense for produce.  Cabbage turned into my go-to because you can literally eat like... half a bag for those same 100 calories.

[AquaPandaManda]

Watermelon is a pretty good substitute for a sweet snack. It's mostly water and very few calories, so you feel full (from all the water) without having consumed all that much. 

 

My eating habits aren't quite up to par yet. I'm still working through all the processed foods in my cupboards, but since I try to eat veggies with every processed thing, I'm more in control. I feel good now that I can better distinguish bored hungry and actually hungry. I can head off the bored hungry at the pass with some better ideas. 

[Ciara]

Hilariously, I've found it's easy to overeat on apples!  I like them, so I can eat several in one go.  A single apple is 80-100 calories, so eat a few in one sitting and oops.  The same calories and sugar as if I'd eaten a cookie (though it's a less harmful sugar in theory, sugar is sugar, right?).  Carrots are good, though they are also moderately calorie dense for produce.  Cabbage turned into my go-to because you can literally eat like... half a bag for those same 100 calories.

 

You know I learned later after I posted this that I have no real grasp of what a calorie is and how much there actually is in food. Amanda, don't listen to me! I have a lot of learning myself in regards to food, lol.

 

 

My eating habits aren't quite up to par yet. I'm still working through all the processed foods in my cupboards, but since I try to eat veggies with every processed thing, I'm more in control. I feel good now that I can better distinguish bored hungry and actually hungry. I can head off the bored hungry at the pass with some better ideas. 

 

What ideas do you have to prevent eating out of boredom? I'm still trying to figure that one out...

[AquaPandaManda]

For me, it's the worst when I'm watching anything on TV. I have to have my hands busy but also pay attention to the screen, so stuffing my mouth is the easiest.

 

My solution for now is to play tug-of-war with my dog, or catch. I can keep watching and to top it off, I get dog slobber on my hands, so I have to wash them before I touch any food.

If my dog isn't into it, that's when it gets tricky. I've done all sorts of things, like beading necklaces, shuffling my tarot cards for 20 minutes straight, I attempted to start knitting, I might doodle on a notepad, or play a game on my phone. 

It takes a conscious effort to PDTF (put down the fork), but if you realize that you're walking into the kitchen simply because you're about to sit in front of the TV, you can stop yourself. 

[Ciara]

It takes a conscious effort to PDTF (put down the fork), but if you realize that you're walking into the kitchen simply because you're about to sit in front of the TV, you can stop yourself. 

THIS. All of my this. I'm proud of you for figuring this out. And for finding other ways to keep yourself busy! Way to go

[AquaPandaManda]

Today was a "rest" day, whether I wanted it to be or not. I just could NOT get the energy to work out at lunch. BUT!! I did get my new resistance bands in the mail today, so there is yet time.

 

Today's meals... eh. Lots of veggies, but the chicken I had was fried the first time and breaded the second. I'm still doing good on avoiding the greasy work breakfast, and that has me very happy. 

[AquaPandaManda]

Welp!

I felt like a jackwagon yesterday because I forgot my gym clothes when I went to work. Instead, I took a mile walk around the block. Then I got home and used my resistance bands for some arm exercises and squats with "added weight". 

 

Food is a battle right now. I have very little self control during "Shark Week" (so called because there's blood in the water, I bite heads off, and nothing is safe from my insatiable appetite). 

 

Today I did remember my stuff, and lessee if I can remember everything I did....

 

10 minutes on the treadmill at 3.5mph

25 leg presses at 100lbs

25 rows at 50lbs

5 assisted pull-ups with half bodyweight counterweight

5 assisted dips with half bodyweight counterweight

20 chest presses with 20lb weights

 

And some other stuff. I feel like I can actually see a difference in the mirror now, even though there's all the extra water weight I gain during Shark Week hanging on too. Every day when I get done I feel like I accomplished something good and it makes me excited to do it again, even if it is a giant pain in the ass to take a shower every day during my lunch break.

[Ciara]

Oh yeah, shark week. It's tough, lady. Good for you fighting through.

[starsapart]

You go, girl!  Shark week will pass, and you'll be stronger at the end.

[AquaPandaManda]

I've been working my ass off (literally) and I'm starting to see results! I measured my tummy and my hips a few days ago just for giggles, and I lost 2 inches in my belly and 1 in my hips! In just a couple weeks!!! Woo! Right now, I think my biggest goal is not to lose WEIGHT but to lose INCHES. Losing 100 pounds was the starting goal, but I think that's changing to "fit comfortably in size 14 pants". I'm a 22 right now. I wonder what the measurements are for size 14 pants. I'll have to look it up sometime. I remember when I could wear my brother's 36x36 pants (in middle school). Neither of us can fit them anymore, and my legs have gotten longer since then, but it's a noble goal. 

 

So anyway, this weekend I'm going to change the official measurements in my signature. And I have been hitting the gym every day except yesterday because it was my boss' first day back after 12 weeks of maternity leave. That was a conscious decision to eat crap for the work day. I even made raspberry pie. It was delicious and since I made it, it didn't have all the preservatives and crap that store-bought pie has. She's gonna start hitting the gym with us too next week. That will be cool. We'll have the whole marketing team in the gym yet!

 

I think I'm getting sick though, and that makes me mad. Yesterday a coworker had lost her voice and was sucking cough drops all day. Today I've got a tickle in my throat and a headache. I don't want to be sick. I need to keep my workouts getting better and better.