Humbling Day – March 18, 2016

Hello readers,

I was sick all last week with a chest cold (Ben too).  I still went to the gym 2 hours in the morning, but I came home every afternoon and stayed home.  I did not see measurable progress in “pounds” lost (lost 1/2 pound), but it was kind of to be expected due to the week I had.

This week I started a new “carb cycle” diet.  A lot of chicken and salmon and repetitive, but none of that really bothers me at all.  If I don’t eat correctly, I usually feel really crappy.  So it is well worth it for me to eat correctly.  I have cut out milk for some time now because it is one of those foods that I don’t digest well.  So with this new carb cycle I am to have a protein shake at the end of the night and add almond milk.  I did that and I had a horrible time digesting that.  I was up till way past midnight getting my stomach to settle down.  So now I just do the shake with water.  But that is what I am referring to when I say if I don’t eat right.  It’s just not worth it to not feel well.

I came back to the gym ready to work on Monday morning.  I found I was at about 70% (after having been ill.)  By Wednesday, I could barely walk or move my arms because everything was sore.  But today I’m back to feeling 99% and not quite as sore.  This is my 9th week of the 12 week challenge.

I took a picture of my progress and put it side by side to my starting photo and I could see the progress.  That helped me mentally after having a week of no weight loss.  I could visually see the difference and that is motivating.

This morning when I was in our exercise class at 9:30 a.m. with 18 other friends/gym members, I found out that two people that I work out with in these classes are fighting cancer (and winning). They are there at the gym working out hard with me.  I find this very humbling and inspiring.  They want their bodies to be strong!  God bless them both.  I am definitely keeping them in my prayers.

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Week 8 – March 11, 2016

I woke up Sunday morning with an awful bout of chest congestion.  There was no warning.  There was no runny nose leading up to it.  I just was hit with a chest full of congestion.  That was the beginning of my week 8 of the 12 week challenge.  I wrote my trainer and said I did not believe I should “swim” Monday morning as that takes lung power and I definitely did not have lung power.

I spent the week going to the gym only in the mornings.  I did 25 minutes of cardio and an hour of weights with a trainer each day.  Wednesday was by far my worst day and today was by far my best day.  I had my sense of humor back and my sass back,  so I knew I was getting better.
Have you ever seen this “meme?”
So tonight after supper, Dave said, “Have you lost a lot of inches off of your waist?”  I said, “Yes, 6 so far.”  He said, “I can tell.”  That scored big “husband” points.  🙂
I wonder where I’ll be in 12 weeks?  Stay tuned…….
Next week (Monday and Tuesday) our normal trainers will be gone.  I was kind of bummed by this.  You might think this next statement to be silly, but here’s what I thought about.  On The Biggest Loser, there is usually a point in the competition when they “shake things up” and change trainers.  It teaches you to be ready for anything and that you CAN do this on your own.  So I thought about that and I am looking ahead to Monday and Tuesday with a positive attitude.
Oh yeah, and the biggest change this week!!!!!—- the past two Mondays, my trainer has said “Monday and Tuesday were good with calorie intake (2000 calories), but the rest of the week is where it went down hill.  My response?  “Well that’s because I weigh myself, and I see the scale is not moving, so I think I must be eating too much and I slow down on the calorie intake (1500-1600).  He looked at Dave and said “Get rid of those scales!”  Then to me, “You are only allowed to weigh yourself on Monday mornings here at the gym with me.”  That has been very challenging for me.  I like to know how I am doing.  So once again, I need to “trust the process.”  So I have no idea what Monday’s weigh in will show, but I will report.   Eat, Eat, Eat !  (I am burning 3500 calories a day.)
8 weeks almost done!  Signing off for now.  

SISTERS – Marcia’s Visit February 2016

I have always thought of myself as very blessed to have six sisters almost to the point of feeling bad for those who do not have a sister to share their life with.  With having only one daughter, I was very thankful for her “girl” cousins and hoped that she would bond with them, like I did with my sisters.  I never felt bad that I didn’t have a brother, I never really thought about it much.  But I have thoroughly enjoyed raising boys and I can say I have a much better understanding of the male species because of having boys.

With mom getting older, I try to plan trips out to Ohio to see her.  When I do get to Ohio, I get to see five sisters also.  But there never seems to be enough time to really visit.  Thinking back over the last year and a half, I was super blessed to have quality time with Teresa during Joe’s surgery.

Then in June of this past year, Lisa got to join me in Banff, Canada and that was a trip of a lifetime.  It was so pretty and we had such a good time just getting to know the adult versions of ourselves.

And now most recently Marcia came to visit.  We couldn’t believe that the last time she had visited, Ben was only like 2 years old or something.

Marcia arrived on a Wednesday evening around 9:00 p.m.  She had come from visiting friends in California.  Our weather was absolutely perfect while she was here as you can see from the photos.  I am very invested in the “gym” right now, so I had asked her if I could spend Thursday and Friday morning at the gym.  She was fine with that and Thursday morning after taking Ben to school I went and did my work out.  Once I got home and showered we headed to downtown Grand Junction to get some lunch at a place called Cafe Sol.  It was so nice that we ate outside.  Afterwards it was close to time to pick up Ben from school.  He has a very organized parking lot with staff coordinating the parent pick up.  We all line our cars up according to grade level and the staff person tells us when it is our turn to enter the pickup loop.  Marcia was taking photos of the process and she even hung out the window to get a picture of Ben walking to the car.  He loved that.  🙂

We got home and made supper and then that evening we drove up to the Colorado Monument.  I really wanted to get some good sunset photos.  I was able to keep up with the hiking and that made me feel good about my fitness progress.  Later that evening we watched our photos on the TV.  We have Apple TV.  She had the photos from her last visit and then the photos we had taken so far.  The boys stayed downstairs and visited.  It was nice.

Marcia and Ben at The Colorado Monument

Colorado Monument at Sunset

Colorado Monument

Friday morning I went to the gym again.  I was given a super hard workout.  OMG.  I came home and Marcia and I took off at about 10:30 a.m. for Arches National Park in Moab, Utah.  There is a whole lot of history here and I wish I could repeat it, but I am not that good at recall. We did watch a short video when we got there and then we did the driving tour.  We got out and hiked at one point and I was so happy that I could do it.  Every other time we have come to Arches, I opt to stay in the car for the hike part.  Part of that reason is we come in the summer and it’s like 105 degrees, but the other part was I wasn’t in good shape in the past.

This was called Balanced Rock
This was the hike – this was called The Windows.
Here we are in the window!

It was such a beautiful day and we had such a nice time talking with one another.  Although there are only five 1/2 years difference between us in age, I really didn’t know much about what she did once she moved out.  She would say remember when I lived here.  And I was like, uh, no.  But honestly, and this will sound terrible, the biggest thing I remember each time someone moved out was how exciting it was to get a new bedroom.

These one on one visits with Teresa, Lisa, and Marcia have just been awesome.  Mary is planning on visiting this summer and Laura and I may go on a trip together sometime soon also. Perhaps Donna and I will find some time also.   I am very thankful to have sisters and I am thankful for any time we get to spend together.  Thanks for coming to visit us Marcia!

Week Four Complete – February 15, 2016

Just in case I have followers of my 12 week challenge journey, I wanted to update you all on my four week progress.  I was down another 2 pounds so in 4 weeks I have lost 11.5 pounds.  My waist has shrunk a total of 3 inches, my hips 2 inches and my thigh 1 1/2 inches.

At first my thigh lost a lot, but it’s slowly creeped back up.  But my trainer is not concerned, because that can happen when you are squatting every day.

This week once again I need to EAT MORE.  I was at like 1700 calories last week and i need to be at 1950 calories.  I also have a certain percentage to hit on carbs/protein/fat.  So I am watching that more closely and forcing myself to eat.  Last night after working out, I made a protein shake.  I then ate supper and shortly after that ate a cup of cottage cheese and then before bed I ate some almonds.    Eat, eat, eat.

I also upped my “cardio” from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.  He was asking me to do something on the treadmill that he thought would take me 50 minutes, but I was getting it done in 30.  So now the goal is 60 minutes and tell him my Vertical Feet Distance after 1 hour.

I have the Gold’s Gym official before picture, but not at all ready to share that.  I finally took a before photo at home (waist up – of course).  I am beginning to think this process might work.

Half way Point of the 12 Week Challenge – Feb 29, 2016

I am so excited to have something that is actually working for me.  I can’t even explain my enthusiasm for that.  Today marks 6 weeks of concentrated, trainer-led, food and exercise challenge.  Today I was 17.5 pounds lighter than day one.  I’ve lost 5 inches off my waist, 3 inches off my hips, and 2 inches off my thigh.  My body fat has gone down about 1%.

I am very aware I have much more to lose, but I am thrilled!!!!  Today we were in the pool again and I can tell I was stronger than last Monday when we were in the pool.  It’s still pretty pitiful compared to what I could do at age 20, but it’s an improvement each week.

The one comment I received from my trainer and his boss today was  EAT.  He said the days that I hit 2200 calories were highly responsible for that weight loss (3.5 pounds this week.)  I honestly thought he was going to say that the days I was at 2200 calories was just too much.  NOPE.  Eat, eat, eat, eat.  I’m trying.

I’d say 14 years ago when Ben was just a wee one and I was nursing him, Kristin Moynihan and I joined Weight Watchers in Gunnison.  I was successful then too, but I was much younger and I was nursing.  But that’s the first time I tried eating 6 times a day.  And IT WORKED.

So if you see me eating, it’s okay!

I will write about Marcia’s visit.  We had such a great time.  I just wanted to share my excitement for today.  And I have to keep getting our house ready for the class we have starting on Saturday morning (at 8:00 a.m.).   I’m going to keep up with my fitness goals even with the class.  We have a unique schedule for our class (3 times a week – every other week).  But it works for all of us, so it will be great.

Balanced Rock in the background – defies gravity!

12 Week Challenge – Two Weeks Complete Feb 1, 2016

For all of my statitician fans here are the stats:

                                     Weight            Body fat          Waist         Hips          Thigh
DAY ONE                        X                     X                    X             X                 X
After one week                -4                     same            – .5 in          -1.5  in        -3 in
After two weeksTOTAL  -6                    same             -3 in           – 2.0 in        -2 in

So just to be clear – I have not lost a total of 10 pounds.  I have lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks.  I’ve lost 3 inches off my waist, 2 inches off my hips and 2 inches off my thigh.

Today after the evening workout.

It’s been snowing here and the boys had a snow day today.  That doesn’t happen very often here at all.  In fact I think this is the 3rd one in the 12 years we have lived here.  So we all loved that.

I don’t really have much more to say.  The workouts are kicking my behind and I stayed in my bedroom with ice almost all afternoon and evening on Saturday.  Sunday was a day of rest and I got way caught up on everything which was nice.  I was still stiff and sore today when I went into the gym, but as the day goes on, it gets better.
Have a great week!

12 Week Challenge Update – Jan 26, 2016

I am doing three hours a day of exercise, probably 4 hours a day or more when you add in driving there and back (Gold’s Gym.)  My week one was very successful.  This was the note from my trainer after week one.  
1/25/16.) #3 kick starter 8am semi/Ryan   1000’  VD 4: FND
1/26/16.)  1000’ VD 9:30FND 4pm semi/Mana
1/27/16.) 20 Min Stairs 15 min rower, 9am semi/Ryan, 4:30 FND
1/28/16.)  1000’ VD 9:30 FND 4pm. Semi/Mana
1/29/16.) #4 Kick starter 9:30 AB/Ryan 4pm semi/Ryan
1/30/16.)  8:30 FND 20 Min HIIT 20 min stairs
1/31/16.) OFF Rest recover cheat meal in a.m
Alright Patty here is next weeks game plan.  I think you did a great Job this week with the food getting to the gym, and the effort you put into your workouts.  A few  areas to improve on  this next week will be getting every cardio session in this week, keep the calories around 2000 by lowering your total carb grams between 200-250g, and last nutrition note is to lower sodium levels. Keep up the effort everyone is noticing at the gym.  We will discover the cheat meal later in the week. Please continue to ice your shoulder and any other nagging aches/pains you may have.  Shoot me a message on Facebook and let me know if this exercise plan works for your schedule this week.
My carbs were higher on Monday and Tuesday because I hadn’t figured out that dark, leafy vegetables are carbs and that is what I should do at supper time.  I’ve made that adjustment now and the carbs are right where they are supposed to be.   The above is my workout for the week if anyone wants to join me.  🙂  Week One I lost 4 pounds and a lot of inches.  1000′ VD – is Vertical Distance as measured on a certain treadmill.  I usually attain this in 40 minutes at a 10 incline and a 3.0 pace.  I keep working on getting faster than 3.0.  FND – is the Foundations class we all attend (Dave, Joe, and I).  It’s a one hour cardio/weight class.  Semi – is a semi-private training session. 
On Monday my 8:00 a.m. semi with Ryan was to walk with two 30 pound kettle bells back and forth until I couldn’t do it anymore.  Then I did 100 step ups and 4 minutes of bear crawls.  Then we did it again and again.  It was quite the work out.   Tonight’s semi with Mana was similar.  

Gold’s Gym 12 Week Challenge – January 18, 2016

In January, Gold’s gym holds a 12 week challenge.  I actually wanted to do this a few years ago, but the trainer I was working with highly discouraged me from signing up.  She told me I would not do well.

During our past few months in NLP, we have been working with several trainers.  One of them has been talking to me about signing up for the 12 week challenge.  He has said he can help me.  I really don’t feel like anything has helped me in the past 10 or more years, so I was very skeptical.  But I had a persistent friend who kept encouraging me to give it a try.  I stressed to this trainer, that I would need some serious coaching to be successful – especially in the food category.  He was very willing to help.

So on January 18, I began the Gold’s gym 12 week challenge.

WHAT IS THE
GOLD’S GYM CHALLENGE?
The Gold’s Gym Challenge is a 12-week body transformation contest exclusively available to Gold’s Gym members. Not only will the Challenge help you get fit, exceed your goals and improve your overall health, you will also have a chance to win $100,000 in cash prizes!
In January, Challengers participate in comprehensive “Before” measurements and photographs. Then, 12 weeks later, final measurements and “After” photographs will be taken to document results. Each Gold’s Gym will choose their local winners who will then be eligible for the National prize pool!
1 male / 1 female winner in each age group: 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 and 60 and up
The top male and female in each age category at National judging will take home $6,500 cash and a Microsoft Band! The runner up in each age category will win $2,500! And the third place transformation will win $1,000.
In 2015, the average Challenge participant lost 12 pound and 11 inches!

NLP – August 2015 – January 17, 2016

As soon as Joe and I joined the NLP program (August 18 and August 20, 2015), I began going to the gym once a day every day.  I had always wanted a trainer’s help.  There were many times in the past few years where I had bought trainer sessions, but I knew they would run out and I wouldn’t be able to afford more, so  a lot of times I didn’t show up for my sessions.  I was defeated in my mind before I had even begun.  
But now that we were paying for NLP, we could see a trainer every day – multiple times a day if you were that ambitious.  I started out with once a day. 
September 2, 2015
September 4 – post workout
September 27, visitng my cousin.  (a good before photo)
October 18 with Jessica in Denver.
October 30, made it in the pool.  Very out of shape.
Nov 26 – Turkey Trot – Grand Junction
Marivel changed her schedule almost daily so I had a friend to work out with. 
NLP Group – December 2015

Despite all my attempts to work out, I had not lost one single pound.  This was very frustrating, but I tried to look at the positive things that were happening.  

Next Level Performance – What Have I Gained?
“My son and I began Next Level Performance in August of 2015. I committed to one hour a day, six days a week. It’s easy for me to become disheartened when I don’t “lose” weight and I was not losing weight. But let me tell you what I have gained. When I began NLP I had high blood pressure. I no longer have high blood pressure. When I began NLP I couldn’t do any exercise that required me to be on my knees. My knees are now strong enough for me to do all exercises. When I began NLP I could not squat or lunge. I can now do both. When I started NLP, my joints were so tight, I could not bend down to tie my shoe. I can now tie both shoes with ease. I used to take a nap EVERY afternoon. I now never nap in the afternoon. I used to have restless night’s sleep. I now sleep all night every night. I have gained a lot of new friends that encourage me each and every day. Just today, I said, “I just cannot do this (exercise) anymore.” My new friend said, “Yes you can. Just do 3 more.” And that was enough to motivate me to keep going. After the session, she thanked me and said that I inspire her. Funny – I was thinking how she inspired me!
I found this quote for my Facebook page for the New Year.  “May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you delight them. May someone love you enough to forgive your faults, be blind to your blemishes, and tell the world about your virtues”

About Me

 

January 2016

This is me – 1981ish – college swimmer.  I was never “super” thin, but I was very “fit” here.  This would be my goal, to get my weight down enough that I am not embarrassed to be seen in a swim suit and to get back in the pool.

I am now 54 years old and about 130 pounds overweight.  I wouldn’t say that having three kids did that to me.  I would say that getting too busy to exercise did that to me.  I actually did okay until turning about 45 – since then it’s been challenging.  Out of the blue, five years ago I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.  With the treatment plan came prednisone, which tends to work against any weight loss goals.  I also developed high blood pressure and things were not looking good for me.  I now have the arthritis under control by way of medicine, but the blood pressure was still high.  I have had an under active thyroid since the age of 17 – and yes medicine for that.  I am off the prednisone which is a great thing.

I have been an “In and Out” Weight Watcher for years.  I know every plan.  I know the “how” of eating correctly, counting “points,” exercising, drinking water, etc.

Weight Watcher Journals over the Years

I have tried Nutri Systems.  I have tried Dr. Furhman’s Eat to Live.  I have tried juicing.  These were all great, but with no weight loss results.  I have tried the Plexus products (which were great) and more recently my rheumatologist suggested The Metabolic Center as it worked well for one of her previous patients.

I began the Metabolic Center in June of 2014.  I was beginning to feel hopeless and I knew my health was greatly suffering.  About this same time, I quit my 2nd full time job and stepped down for one year from our ministry responsibilities.  The Metabolic Center worked well at first.  I lost about 20 pounds, but I was restricted to about 1100 calories a day and as you can see from the picture below, they all said I needed ALL of those supplements several times a day to lose weight.

In May of 2015, my 16 year old son and I headed back to Gold’s Gym because he was six months out from having had spinal surgery for scoliosis and he wanted to work on getting strong again.  We paid for about $1000.00 worth of one-on-one training sessions for him.  He was wanting to go to the gym three times a week and this was about $50.00 a session.  By August we were talking to the head trainer at Gold’s asking if there were any other options (more affordable) available for him.  That is when we were told about the NLP program which stands for Next Level Performance.  For the cost of about 3 trainer sessions we could have access to trainers but in a group setting.  We signed Joe up for this on the spot.

A few days later, I signed up.  About one month later my husband signed up.  After having so many failed attempts at weight loss, I still firmly believed that diet and exercise should be enough.