KJG's 2nd PMA UBC OMG BBQ

Because I am a slacker, and I should have been more on the ball but wasn't, I'm 3 weeks late with my new body challenge blog.  I know, I know, excuses, excuses.  But I have had a lot of homework. 

So big changes this UBC.  Since I loved it so much last time, I threw my name in the hat to be considered for a coach with this one, and lucky me!  I was picked to be co-coach with my bands instructor.  I was and am so excited to pay it forward to a program that did so much for me.  It's really amazing to have the perspective from "the other side", watching newbies come in, wanting to improve themselves, and guiding them on this journey.  Even in three weeks, this has to be one of the most motivated, fired up, ready-to-rock groups of people.  I can honestly say I am so proud of all of them for the work they've been putting in.  

The best part for me, is not only do I get to help these people succeed, I get to get down and dirty with them, kick boxing and leading the bands class.  That's what's so great about this program, you really are all in this thing together.  My goals for this time is 6.6% body fat lost.  It's a pretty ambitious goal for me, but it's really helped keep me focused on what I'm eating, and I've been far less inclined to sneak things here and there that aren't good for me.  One thing that I've noticed is that my shoulders are killing me!  I've already done this once, and I don't remember my shoulders being this sore!  I've just come to peace with the fact that my shoulders will probably be sore the entire 7 weeks remaining, and that's ok with me.  It just means I'm getting stronger and working hard.  It does make push ups difficult, however!  My other challenge this time is leading the 6 am bands class on Tuesday and Thursday.  I am up at 5 (or a few minutes later) those mornings, out the door by 5:35, and at the gym before 6.  Thank God I have a great group of people to work  out with, because those mornings are brutal!  

So the last three weeks have been great!  We have mid-evals in two weeks, and I'm very excited to see what kind of results everyone has.  I think a lot of people are going to be very surprised at themselves.  I'm hoping for some big numbers for myself too, mostly that body fat %.  I'm excited for the next 7 weeks too.  Hopefully, I can remember to get a weekly blog off to update this second part of my UBC experience.  

Week 10-THE RESULTS

Well, today was THE day.  The last 70 days all leading up to this morning.  I was nervous, excited, anxious, and happy.  Obviously, I was nervous about my numbers (this is for money, afterall), but I was also so happy that I had actually done it.  I finished the 10 weeks, with great, great results.  I feel better, stronger, and I know I look better.

I lost 2 inches off my waist and 1.75 off my hips.  Those were my biggest numbers.  The total of all my measurements lost was 6.75 inches.  In 10 weeks!  I lost a total of 1.8 pounds, and 4.4% body fat.  I improved my push ups from 5 to 31, and sit ups from 14 to 29.  I gained 5 inches in my flexibility.

I couldn't be prouder of myself, and I find myself a bit emotional about it all.  Not only my results, by my friends' results too.  Looking at all my fellow UBC'ers this morning,  I couldn't believe how great they all look!  Everyone of them has lost inches, noticeably.  We're happy for each other too!  I know I'm so proud to be in this group of people sitting back right now going, "Wow!  I did it!"  I'm sitting here fighting back tears as I write this because there is really no way to express what this means to me, to my friends.  We have all gone on our own journey to lose this weight, but our paths converged 10 weeks ago, and the results are so amazing.  Tonight is the awards dinner, so we'll see who takes the money, but this has become so much more than money.

I know I've said it before, a big thank you to all of my friends, family, and acquaintances that supported me through the 10 weeks.  You have all been such a great support, and it means so much to know I have so many great people cheering me on!  I will post before and after pictures tomorrow, after I get them back from the dinner tonight!

The Journey-my last 6 months in pictures

 I was going to do this post next week, after my body challenge is over, but I just can't stand it any more!  Here is my weight loss journey, in pictures, from June until now:

Here is the first one!  I wore this to a funeral in June.  It took me a long time (and 5 dresses) before I settled on this outfit.  I thought I looked pretty good.

Also from June.  I loved the tank top, and the jeans fit well, where they were too tight before.

Here is the first time I was ever able to get those jeans up and buttoned!  I bought them a size too small by accident about 3 years previously, and I'd never worn them. (Oh yeah, remember that cute little Buddah belly.)

The next three pics are from August.  Here, you start to see the fruits of my labors.

Remember that Buddah belly?  I don't ;)  This is after 3-4 weeks of the Ultimate Body Challenge, so end of October, beginning of November.  My abs have never looked so good!

Girls just wanna have fun!  It was 80s night for UBC in November.  Love my red mini, even if I couldn't exactly button it.















The rest of these are my "braggin'" pictures.  These are all the most current taken within the last 48 hours.

I have a lot to be proud of and a lot to be thankful for.  I honestly only hoped I could look like this again, not really believing I could.  Next week, I will be displaying my before and after pictures from UBC :) 

Nearing the Finish Line-Week 9

I still can't quite believe that ten weeks have almost come and gone that quickly.  It seems like just yesterday that I attended that first orientation meeting, got my measurements, and went home still wondering what I got myself into.  The funny thing is, I'm still so sore from my work outs, almost as much as that first and second week, but I recover much quicker.  I only waddle for a day or two after butt burner rather than four, and can still complete a workout the day after a difficult bands night.

I am proud of myself for being sore, what a strange thing to accomplish.  It means that in 9 weeks, I haven't become complacent in my work outs.  I wanted and want to be better and stronger.  That's been the biggest driving force for me, especially the second half where I didn't have to worry as much about if I was doing things right.  I can focus on hitting harder, hitting faster, and keeping the pace longer.  My goal is to have absolutely nothing left to give at the end of next week.  I am finally realizing that I have only begun to scratch the surface of what I'm capable of.

In a side note, I started collecting pictures for my "progress in pictures", and I had another teary eyed moment.  I have come such a long way, I still can't believe it!  It's truly an amazing transformation, and I can't wait to share it!

Post-Thanksgiving Thoughts

Yes, I realize it's only been 2 days since my last post.  But as I was doing a workout this morning, I got to thinking about where I was a year ago in terms of losing weight.  If I recall correctly, I had just gotten over a couple bouts with sickness, and had lost all motivation because I had been out of exercising for over a week.  It was about then that I gave up on Spark People, and decided that, hey, I wasn't all THAT fat, so it was ok.  Then, I saw this picture from Christmas:

And then I saw this one:

Yeeeaaaah.  Alright, so I know I'm wearing a fleece coat, but quite frankly, the fleece was not THAT cushy (although if it was, I'd never take it off!!).  And it doesn't help that I have a super thin hubby either.  Anyway, I saw the first picture, and thought, "Bad angle, bulky sweatshirt."  Then I saw the second one and thought, "bulky sweatshirt, sitting down."  Then I went through them again, and thought, "I can deny it all I want, but most of that 'bulky sweatshirt' is under the sweatshirt."  The worst part of coming to that realization was realizing that I had already lost some weight in those pictures, and was actually heavier 4 months before.

There are moments in everyone's life where something shatters your status quo.  Although I'd been trying to lose weight already, and there were other factors in gaining the weight (hello stressful job and constant eating out), those pictures were it for me.  I saw those, and that twig inside me snapped, "No more!  I will NOT continue to gain weight, nor will I tell myself it's 'not that much'!"

So far this year, I have done Spark People, an online personal trainer, workout videos, elliptical trainer, and finally, the UBC.  Each one has had an impact in its own right.  Spark People opened my eyes to what I was really eating, portion size, and the amount of calories in food (and no wonder I packed on pounds, with what I was eating regularly!).  The online personal trainer pointed me in a good direction with strength exercises and why they were important.  My workout videos introduced me to kick boxing, which not only provides a great workout, but I absolutely love.  My elliptical provided me with the motivation and accessibility in my own home to work out, without mirrors or other people around, on my own time, so I could keep with it.  Finally, the UBC provided the much needed strength training, but also kept me accountable, provided support from my fellow UBC'ers and coaches, and helped shape my eating habits even more.  The most important lesson here is that everything has it's place and reason.  Each different thing I tried to lose weight guided me to something I can continue and enjoy.  If something wasn't working for me any more, I knew it was time to try something else to keep me interested and motivated.

At this point, I still haven't made the weight goal I originally set out for myself.  I'm not even sure how close I am, because I can't weigh myself right now.  I'm sure I'm still at least 5-7 pounds from my goal of 120.  That's really ok with me, because I'm healthier, feeling better, and looking better than I was a year ago.  I know I mentioned it in my previous post, but I am so excited for the "after" picture in 2 weeks.  To be able to see the progress is so motivating and satisfying.  It's been a hard battle for me to lose this weight, stay motivated, not let setbacks keep me down, and work through body/food issues.  The biggest things that have helped me keep my perspective are:

• the saying my friend Millie gave me, "If hunger is not the problem, food is not the answer."  While I still have the craving to reach for comfort food when I'm upset, this saying alone has made me look at myself and discover other ways to deal with my emotions. 
• you have to do this for you.  There has to be a deep down, deep seated desire to make yourself better, to live longer.  I'm ok that I may not ever get below a size 3 or 4.  I am healthy.  I feel good about me. That's what's really important.  I had to believe that I was worth making the sacrifices in time and effort, which is hard for someone who has had an underlying current of "you're just not good enough."  
• the Japanese proverb "Fall 7 times, stand up 8."  If you know you're going to screw up at times, it's so much easier to accept that fact and move on.  I'm experiencing my success now because I didn't just curl up and say "that's it" when things didn't work for me.  I admit; I had some pretty big failures and losses of faith in the last year, but I kept coming back at it.  
• the surprising thing to keep perspective:  pictures!   Maybe it's because I'm a photographer, but I started taking self pictures in clothes I couldn't fit into before when I started making some solid progress, and I'm so glad I did!  I currently have two sets of "progress" before and after pictures that I'm planning on adding to when I'm done with the UBC.  That absolute visual of seeing the results, which you don't have the privilege of seeing daily, is so reaffirming!  

In about two weeks, I'll post a nice pictoral commentary on my weight loss.  I can't say if it will include bikini pictures just yet, but maybe after I do another UBC, it will!  

What I am Thankful for in week 8

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and happily I don't have to cook a darn thing (thank you, Auntie Celia, and the rest of the Schumacher clan!!).  Of course, now is the time of year in which people tend to be thankful for what they've been blessed with over the past year, and quite frankly, Thanksgiving is more up my alley that Christmas.  Giving and receiving presents is fun, but Thanksgiving gets people thinking about their family, friends, and all the good things we have in our lives.  And, we get lots of great food!

This year, so many people I know, myself included, had such a rough time, whether financially or otherwise.  I know I have asked myself "are things ever going to look up for me" so many times since January, I've lost count. It makes you very jaded, introducing a "what now?" attitude towards life.  And with each challenge, each setback, each disappointment, it's a little harder to bounce back and move on.  People say that attitude is everything, but it sure is hard to have a positive outlook when the hits just keep coming.

So, what am I thankful for, in a time where it's hard to find anything positive?  Obviously, I'm thankful for my family, my friends, my dog, my home, etc.  I'm thankful for all the extremely hard lessons I learned this year, the ones that broke my heart and left me questioning who I am.  I'm thankful for the new people I've met, the ones who have challenged me to be better than I was.  I'm thankful for the risks I took by stepping outside my comfort zone.  Highly unpleasant, highly nerve-wracking, but so totally worth it.  I'm thankful that I'm still breathing, walking, seeing, smelling, hearing, even in the moments where it feels like that's all I have.  I'm thankful for having the strength to push beyond what I think I can handle, where I think my threshold is, and emerge victorious, with my head held high.  I'm thankful for internal arguments that "what makes you grow" wins over "what's easy".  But most of all,  I'm thankful that each day I open my eyes,  I have another chance to do better, to be better, to live better.

3 Weeks Left!

I finally broke down and bought another pair of jeans.  They were on sale for $8, and having just paid $6.50 for a pair of used jeans at the thrift store, I figured paying $1.50 more for a new pair was justifiable.  They are a departure from my usual style of boot cut jeans.  These new ones are wide-leg, higher cut, yet still below my belly button, and I absolutely love them!  They are so comfy, I'm glad I took a chance and got them.  I did have to hem them a bit, since they were way too long for my short legs, but even that took less than half an hour.  They look great with boots and nice sweater to dress them up, or chunkier shoes and a t-shirt for dressing down.

Why on earth am I telling you about my jeans in this saga of my workout progress?  Two reasons: A) they were a fabulous find and I'm bragging, and B) (the real point of telling you about the jeans) I am feeling pretty darn good about the way I look!  For the last three or four years, getting dressed in the morning was not a pleasant experience, nor was shopping.  Both these things were difficult for me because I didn't know how to dress my body once it was heavier.  I always had my trouble spots (hello lower tummy and hips), but I had learned how to hide them or accentuate what I did like.  When I started putting on weight on some of the parts I could accentuate, I didn't know what to do.  The shirts I used to buy and wear bulged funny, so much of my wardrobe became loose and less tailored.  It's hard to feel good about how you look when you have a hard time finding clothing that is flattering.  I have a challenging body type as it is (wide and short), and the extra weight made it so hard for me to feel comfortable in stylish clothing.

After 7 full weeks, I am feeling good about how I look again.  I have tone and muscle definition in places I didn't even know I had muscle (who knew I had triceps!!!).  I'm slimming down again as well, and clothes that I packed to send to Goodwill, I've pulled out to wear again.  But above and beyond this, I am really getting comfortable in my own skin again.  I've always considered myself pretty self-assured, with the run of the mill insecurities.  Even at my heaviest, I would fret about how I looked, and then promptly forget when I had my daily work to attend to.  I didn't let my insecurity about how I looked get in the way of my life.  I still liked who I was, who I am, I just didn't like the changes I saw in my body.  The best part is that I knew I could change my body.  Maybe I couldn't get it back to what it was when I was 18 (thank you babies!), but I could slim it down to something I was more comfortable with, maybe even proud of.  I'll freely admit that I'm not where I want to be just yet, but I know I've made some great strides in the last 7 weeks.  I have to admit, I'm pretty darn proud of what I've done, and I'm getting really excited to see the "after" pictures in three weeks.