Take Measure

Since I've been working out, I haven't lost much weight. My friend told me I should measure myself instead of using a scale, so that's what I've started doing. I've been measuring myself once a month since I started going to the gym and the second measurement was an eye opener!

June (starting measurements in inches):
Shoulders - 52
Chest - 48
Waist - 51
Hips - 53 1/2
Thighs - 27 1/2
Arms - 15 1/2

July (in inches):
Shoulders - 46 (6 inches lost!!)
Chest - 45 1/4 (3 1/4 inches lost!!)
Waist - 46 (5 inches lost!!)
Hips - 52 1/2 (1 inch lost!!)
Thighs - 27 1/2
Arms - 16 1/2 (1 inch gained, must be my bulging bicep muscle lol)

August (in inches):
Shoulders - 47
Chest - 45 1/4
Waist - 46
Hips - 53
Thighs - 28
Arms - 16

When I started the lazy man iron man challenge I deviated from my regular workout. I did a lot of bike miles and burpees instead of my preferred total body workout with weights. I'm confident once I get back to the weights, I'll see more of a change. In the meantime I'm happy with my progress.

It is interesting that 6 months ago I wouldn't even consider posting my measurements. Over the past few months I've been able to look at myself more objectively and recognize my progress. I'm changing the way I think about myself and hope I can continue to grow during this process. Most people that have weight loss surgery still see themselves as overweight even after they lose a lot of weight. I hope I can get to a point where I'm happy with myself inside and out no matter what my size.

Choices

Today I was thinking about the choices we make and how mine have lead me to this point in time. I think it all started last July when my mom suggested I look into lapband surgery and it got me thinking about having surgery. 

Then in November I saw a specialist about a health issue and they found I was also pre diabetic (which was completely unrelated to my issue at the time). I was referred to a nutritionist named Emily and started working towards being healthier. Because I was already seeing Emily, it made the whole process for gastric bypass easier. I had already completed one of the insurance criteria and had 6 months of documented weight loss history because of our appointments :-). 

All it really took to get the ball rolling on this crazy adventure was a blood test result and here I am 8 months later in a totally different mindset! Who knows where this will lead me from that one decision to see a different doctor (no offense to my primary doctor cuz he's awesome!). I am already happy and excited most of the time. I can't wait to also become less afraid of going out in public and having more self confidence overall. And most of all, being able to shop in all the cute stores! Ok I'm only half joking on that last one, but seriously I might become a shopaholic :-)

Quote by Eleanor Roosevelt

Couch to Gym!

When I met with my doctor in mid June and talked about gastric bypass surgery, he told me that he wanted me to start working out. He said 4-5 times a week and eventually work out an hour each time. I thought he was crazy and he knew I thought he was crazy lol.

I've had a gym membership from my work gym for over 4 years and I've only used it twice. I thought going there would be a good start. So, I went down after work the first day and decided to try out the elliptical machine. It was pure torture! I made it (barely) to 3 minutes. It really took me longer than 3 minutes cuz I had to stop and rest! Well I had enough of that machine and decided to walk on the treadmill instead.

The next day I rode on the recumbent bike, which was nice and easy. Later that night however, my quad muscles were so sore! I knew I had to mix up my workouts but I didn't know how.

The next night I met Coach Nick, he's an intern working at my gym. I asked him about different exercises and he went around the gym showing me different machines. It was a good workout except for the time I almost passed out!

I liked doing a little bit of everything, cardio and weights mostly. So that became my routine: 15 minutes on the treadmill and 15 minutes of weights. I made all three coaches workout with me every night :-)

Then one night the head coach was working and he said "we're going to do ten minutes on the elliptical." I told him I hated that machine but I tried it. To my surprise, I made it all 10 minutes without stopping! And this was only a week after barely making it 3 minutes!!

Needless to say, I'm pretty proud of the progress I've made. When I first started I didn't realize how out of shape I was. I knew to some extent, but being at the gym really brought it into focus. Now the stairs at work are no problem, I don't huff and puff when I get to the top. I've increased my time on the elliptical little by little. I even started adding more weights to the weight machines. It's just a start, but I am doing awesome and I'm even starting to enjoy working out.