31 December 2011

End of 2011

I'm not entirely certain that have the time or the energy to appropriately recap the entire year in the detail that it truly deserves, but I felt that I needed to give it due, at least in a small way. 1) I started out the year wearing a size 20 pant. I am ending it in a 6. Yoga, tennis, cardio...I'm still working towards toning some things, but I've lost nearly 100 pounds this year and have literally never felt healthier. 2) the workout buddy I mentioned in a previous post has become lots more than a workout buddy and is the very best partner I ever could have asked for. We spent our first holidays together this winter and I'm excited to spend many, many more with him. 3) I still need a new job but at least I love my resume and am actively searching. 2012 is going to be really interesting I think....

14 March 2011

BRAG

Today I did something amazing.

5 miles on the elliptical. 60 minutes total. Nearly 600 calories burned.

BOOOOOO YAHHHHHHHH haters to the left HOLLER AT YOUR GIRL

/booty dance

Amazing-er? I think I'm going to head back over there in order to do a yoga class later and then sit in the sauna.

And let me say this- I've been doing the sauna at least 3-4 days a week and my skin has NEVER looked better. I slather tons of awesome moisturizer (a facial massage bar from Lush that I love: basically an oil bar for your face) and then sit in there and meditate. My nasal passages get all cleared, I get a good sweat on and then I take a rough gym towel and scrub my body down as I sit there. Exfoliating and relaxing...not bad at all.

Also, as a fair warning, I am seriously thinking about doing a mini-triathalon in the fall, maybe spring 2012. We will see...

07 March 2011

IT IS ON

So, I realize that I'm the kind of person who's fairly all-or-nothing, which sometimes works in my favor, but usually leaves me a little cold. Like the blogging, I've started countless projects where I go whole hog and then miss one session, one goal, etc and stop doing it because I feel I've failed. How limiting.

So, due to a lot of random health issues in the past year or so, I've decided that getting healthy is my #1 priority. The biggest kick in the seat is the small matter of a bulging disk in my back. The doctors basically said that pain management is out of the question (50+ years of it might not be a good thing!), the surgery is not 100%, has a long recovery time and pretty much means a life of less flexibility and screws in my back. Oh HELLLLLL no. So my new exercise plan- do it everyday- isn't really something I can slack on. It's something that will keep me from painful physical and financial repercussions. And so....


IT IS MOTHERFUCKING* ON.

I have never felt quite so energized and I have to say that marking a month of not smoking today doesn't hurt. I've lost a great deal of weight in the past six months without much effort and actually adding cardio and strength training will help keep things melting off as well. Plus, getting a strong core is imperative for me to live with a bad back. So far, it's been 4 days in a row which isn't terribly amazing until I think about this:

1) On Friday, I conquered my social fears about taking a workout class at my gym. Not only did I speak to the instructor before to let her know that I had an injury but she was really great about calling out amendments for me (and others with back issues). I ended up taking both of her classes back to back and while I felt sore the next day, it was a good sore and not debilitating as I'd feared. I also did 40mins of cardio (20 pre, 20 post) wihout feeling like I might die

2) On Saturday, a friend of mine had his annual pub crawl. Because of a late night on Friday, I got a late start on the day and hadn't gone to the gym yet by the time I had to go to the crawl. I knew I had late plans that night so figured if I made an appearance at the crawl, I'd have time to hit the gym. Pie in the sky idea? Nope. Didn't have a drop to drink (except three glasses of water which was perfect because I'm so poorly hydrated most of the time and adding lemon is also good for weight loss), stayed for about 45 minutes and then headed home so I could hit the gym. Ended up having kind of a lazy workout (30 mins of cardio), but the fact that I made a point to move my day around to accommodate it at all is mind-blowing coming from me. I'm a lazy girl who, generally, loves making "Tomorrow Sarah" do stuff.

3) Sunday I actually went to the gym with a friend and allowed him to set the tone. There was bitching and moaning about being on the elliptical for nearly an hour, but having someone next to me meant a) talking the entire time (good for passing the time AND making sure you're keeping a steady heart rate) and b) amping up my competitive nature. I don't like being the one lagging behind. The partnership should turn out great considering he and I have very similar fitness goals...and have similar pitfalls (rich food, bourbon, laziness).

4) I went to the gym at 630a with my buddy and did a bunch of cardio and am most likely going to set up my Wii Fit at the house so I can do some yoga later...we will see.

So I'm trying to couch this in a bit of skepticism, but I think that because I've been told that it's either shape up or ship out (to the surgeon in 5 years), it's going to stick. ;) Plus, I'm actually really enjoying my body for the first time in ages. I feel more flexible, I'm breathing easier, I wore leggings to the gym unapologetically...it's a good place to be a week into my 30s.

24 February 2011

Really?

Yikes.

So my last post was in JUNE of LAST YEAR. Sheesh. I'm not going to apologize- life is what happens while you're making other plans- but for my next trick, I'm going to try to be better about updating and writing and reading and being an adult and being a better friend and listener and lover and...

Amended: I'm going to try to be a better blogger. BABY STEPS. Especially since I have the Oscars this weekend. Fashion blogging makes me happy.

Anyhow- I've got a big birthday coming up and a friend of mine reminded me of my birthday post from last year. Which I re-read. And made me cry. Because for all of the things that I said I wanted some progress on, I've only gotten to a few. But a few is better than none, right? Let's recap:

1) I'm single.
2) I'm a non-smoking superstar (2+ weeks but I feel like this one's going to take- I've had few cravings, haven't fallen off the wagon at all, and generally have a distaste for smoking ever again. Come find me in a year)
3) I'm 45 pounds lighter, primarily due to not taking care of oneself, burning the candle at both ends and see #1.

However, the job thing still looms...grrr. And I'm still not entirely certain about the long term stuff- kids, family, etc. BABY STEPS. I will say that since October, this is the most forward progress I've had in a long time. Part of that is going through a breakup and its way of changing the focus just enough to see other things fall away or some come into sharper relief. Part of it is just realizing that small changes are just as important as the big ones and a collection of small changes can LOOK like big change, making you more fearless for the next steps. It is equal parts mindfuck and brainwashing I think. It's very The Little Engine That Could over in this piece.

With the weight loss piece, now I have to say that it's becoming a bit of an obsession, if only because for the first time in nearly 10 years, I'm consistently wearing misses' pants and am not sized out of most traditional stores. I spent time yesterday trying so many things on and while I didn't love the way everything looked, everything I tried on FIT. And in some cases, I had to go down a size to get a better fit. Be still my heart. I need to start doing a lot more strength training for a number of reasons, but I must say that it's been a pleasure to see people I haven't seen in a long time and have them express shock over my current appearance. Not bad at all.

Anyhow 30. Yep. A new way to feel old and unaccomplished. Or, as I see it, a big fat cosmic dare. We'll have to see how this pans out...