Diane's Journal to a Happier/Healthier me...encouragement welcome!

[Goofydiane]

Pearlie - Thanks for stopping by and the kind words. They mean more than you will know.


Today was a telecommute day and had I know the drywall was going up today I would have thought twice about it, it was loud and pounding all day long. On the flip side, the guy putting the drywall up was mighty handsome and friendly. He was probably in his late 20's though - I've got almost 20 years on him!

Did a lot of boxing in my workout tonight with Tim, he made a comment about how much force I was putting into the punches into the bag and I was amazed at it as well, I must have been getting out some pent up agression that I didn't know was there. I know my shoulders are pretty tired right now, in fact all of me is. I asked Tim if he had ever done cardio 60 days in a row and he fessed up that he hadn't! So what the heck is he challenging me to do something he has never done. Sunday is day 60 and he told me that if he saw me at the club on Monday he was going to escort me out. Monday is my day of rest, so I guess on the 61st day, God created a rest day. Then it starts right up again.

The changes over the last 60 days are starting to sink in with me - we did split jump lunges today and I swore at him every time I had to do these previously, and today I just did them and they weren't that bad so even if the scale doesn't move a pound, I know I've made progress. I think I had more emotional growth in the past 60 days than physical growth and isn't that what it is all about. A life change. Looking back, I would offset bad food choices by just working out more. The bad choices don't interest me as much anymore, I like the good food and the fresh fruits and I don't like how bad food choices make me feel. Do I still make some of those choices - sure, but not as often and I found out that I can bounce right back into routine. My last weekend was an example - did some bad choices, but kept the workouts going and got right back on track.

Thanks to everyone who has read the first 60 days of my journey - it isn't over and I'm not going away, it's just a great time to reflect back.

Amy and Denise - thanks for all the encouragement from day 1!

Things I'm proud of today:
1. The people I've met through through my journal and what I've learned about myself through the same process.
2. Realizing the physical advancements in the past 60 days.

It's been a great beginning to the next phase of the journey.

 

[Goofydiane]

Note to self - think things through a bit more in the future!

I did water aerobics today for my cardio and decided to do the entire class using the water bouys in my hands. It gives more resistance and works your arms a bit more. I need to do something because even though I like water aerobics, my heart rate just doesn't get up that high. Well, after last night's sore shoulders from all the punching and today's workout with water weights...my shoulders are very sore....after the workout I did a short time in the whirlpool and steamroom. It's like I don't feel like I worked out really today because there was that relaxation after the workout. I really should do that more often.

My contractor called today - by next Saturday they should be done with the taping and priming and the basement will be ready for me to paint. Shaved Chocolate in the theatre area and Dapper Tan in the stairwell, hallway and fitness area. Gee, a food paint and a paint that reminds me of the Dapper Dans. Two of my favorite things - food and Disney.

Prior to this I finally took 5 prints I purchased from Disneyland during the 50th celebration to be framed. For anyone who was at DL during the 50th and saw the prints that showed 5 decades of the park...those are them. Once framed they will each be about 20"x28" in size and they are a limited edition set of prints. Thank heavens I know someone who works in the park and I get their discount when I shop! I went to a historical framer to have these done, the prints have a thin piece of paper between each one, and you don't touch them with your hands, you wear those white gloves when touching them. I just didn't trust Michael's with these and was willing to pay a bit more for it. I was amazed that I get these 5 prints framed and matted and it didn't cost me 4 digits to the left of the decimal point! I was thinking about $200-$250 per print and was pleasantly surprised. This is a mom/pop shop 'downtown' where I live and she even gave me a 10% discount due to the volume! I chuckle at the 'downtown' part, I live in a town of about 17,000 people, we are too small for a downtown, especially when the tallest building there is 4 stories tall.

I have also finally rid my house of all shelves, desks, etc that I no longer need. I spent my afternoon tearing apart old book shelves and desks and throwing them in the dumpster, so I got 2 workouts in today. I seem to always need some changes, so once the basement is done, then I'm going to repaint my bedroom and the guest room.

Food today was a really good day and I usually struggle on Saturdays. I've had Oatmeal, scrambled eggs, pineapple and then salad and soup for dinner.

One thing to look forward to tomorrow is that I should be able to see the Avalanche game on TV. They are playing the Wild so Minnesota will have the game on.

Things I'm proud of today:
1. More house cleaning - getting rid of what isn't necessary anymore.
2. Taking the prints in to get framed.
3. Pushing myself with bouys during water aerobics this morning

 

[pearlieq]

60 days of cardio in a row just amazes me. I think my record might be 6 at the most. That's just awesome!

Your basement sounds like it's going to be awesome--I hope the final stages go well!

And I totally agree, on the 61st day, it was declared a day of rest! Enjoy it--you earned it!

Hope the shoulder feels better soon.

 

[Goofydiane]

60 days complete and successful! This is so weird, I'm not ready to not pack a gym bag for tomorrow, I think I will still go workout even though it is a day of rest. I've got a good thing going and I don't want to stop now, besides, I have to walk off the cookies I ate today!

I had such a feeling of accomplishment when I finished today and I'm ready to keep going.

Other than that, my Sunday was pretty boring. I worked most of the day getting some stuff caught up. I didn't wake up until 10:00am and here it is 7:00pm and I'm ready for bed. I think I'm just tired.

What I'm proud of today:
1. I finished something I set out to accomplish.
2. I relaxed a lot of the day.

 

[DisDee]

Diane, Congrats on completing your 60 day personal challenge! You are one strong and dedicated woman! Keep up the great work or should I say workouts.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Diane, YOU DID IT!!!!! I am so proud of you, you must feel so good about this. Hey, you rock more than your trainer does.

And can I just say I so envy your Disneyland prints? I know the ones you are talking about. Can I come to your basement???

So did you workout today? Did you ever think you'd see the day when you wouldn't take your day of rest? Good for you whether you rested or didn't!

I was on 470 yesterday and thought of you!

Again, well done friend!

 

[Goofydiane]

Thanks Amy and Denise - the words of encouragement and praise are much needed today. It's been a struggle of frustration all day.

I did take the day off, not because I wanted to but we got 5 inches of the stupid white stuff and I had to go find floor and paint for the basement. By the time I was done, I was sick of the blowing snow and just went home.

Maybe I should have gone to the gym. Finally, the morning arrives and I get to get on the scale. I'm extremely nervous but also excited because I feel such changes have occurred over the last 8 weeks. I note that regardless of the number, I'm still proud of my accomplishment. Yep, you guessed it - the number wasn't anywhere near what I was looking for. It was 5.5 pounds over 8 weeks. Got in the shower and just had a good cry - even though the head logically knows that I'm healthier and smaller and have lost a lot of size over the past 8 weeks, I wanted that number to go down more than it did.

I've been bummed about it all day. My friends at work are giving me reasons to turn this into a positive - my favorite is everyone gains 10 lbs over a MN winter and you've lost 5.5, so you are 15 lbs ahead of everyone else (I LOVE that math!!). The more I process it, the better I feel - it is a weight loss, and the number doesn't matter, the size of me does and how I feel. I feel better than I have felt in at least 10 years, so these are all good things. Just why or why does that number mean something too us? Scales should be outlawed! The good thing is I'm off it again until May 1.

I emailed my trainer and said that instead of boxing tonight, I want a baseball bat and something to hit, just to let the frustration out. I'm frustrated over just not getting past a number on a scale and I was hoping this was the way to do it, not frustrated over the 5.5 lbs. It's amazing that I can weigh now and have that be the same number that I weighed 9 months ago and be down 2 pant sizes. Logically I get I'm smaller, I just wish the number followed suit - I'm starting to think that my scale is broken and doesn't go lower than that number!

ok...enough venting, time to accept it and move on and start working towards the next 30 days of exercise and a new goal. I will not hit the Dairy Queen on the way home tonight, I will eat a healthy dinner and motor on. Always easier said than done.

Darn...I wish I was ending this post with April Fool's I'm not! I think the April Fool's joke was on me and my scale!

Things I'm proud of so far:
1. I stayed on a food plan even with my dissapointment.
2. I have friends to support and encourage me when I'm down.

 

[Goofydiane]

It's 8 hours later and I've been watching Biggest Loser. This show and my training session really got me back to big picture. I've got to hand it to Tim, my trainer....he was both shocked and frustrated by the results but came at it from a different angle. We redid the tests I did a year ago that measure differing things - he focused on showing me where I have come in the long range, not just the last 60 days.

I can't say that I'm proud of this today, but I'm proud of this over the long run after it was put into perspective by Tim:
1. My cardio VO2 Max rate increased from 26.8 (barely fair) to 41.0 (top of very good)
2. My bicep strength went from average (56lbs) to Excellent (82 lbs)
3. My sit and reach went from fair (13.0) to Very Good (15.8)
4. My body fat went from 41.1 (very high) to 33.1 (high)
5. My overall fitness went from fair (40.7) to good (66.7)
6. Instead of being a 43 year old in a 49 year old's body, I'm now a 44 year old in a 40 year old's body.

So the weigh in might not have given me the number I wanted, today has given me the understanding that this isn't a 60 day committment, it is a lifetime change and there are bumps along the path and today was one of them. I'm in this for the long haul and not the short trip, so another chapter started today with some changes. Tim and I have added a day of rest into the routine and changed our focus from cardio improvement down to fat burn workouts and muscle toning. At the end of the next 60 days we are going to do the tests again and see what improvement is there. I was really lucky with him, he knows what he is doing and can turn me around pretty quickly. After this testing, he put me through a ringer of a workout with weights.

Now some different good stuff from today. Finally picked a floor for the basement! This required all the paint colors to change, but those are decided too. So, here it is:
Floor: Antique Mill Cherry
Paints: Toasted Bread in the theatre area, Vanilla Creme in the stairs, hallway and fitness area and Mountain Sage in the bathroom.

Still not sure what it is with me and paint named after food, but I didn't choose these, a friend at work who understands and can visualize color did. I'm a garanimal in the easiest sense. I wear solid colors and 1 of them is always a neutral because I know neutral goes with everything (thanks Clinton and Stacy!)

Thanks for stopping by everyone and I did update the ticker this morning!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Diane, you have lost over 100 pounds and look at all those impressive improvement numbers! I am so proud of you!

I do understand that the 5.5 pounds isn't what you had hoped for. You know how far you have come but its okay to be a bit peeved at the stupid scale! I am glad that your trainer and the Biggest Loser helped get you back into the groove. Your next weigh in will more than likely show a bigger loss. You have come so far but little bumps on the road are just part of the process and still annoying too!

Great job, again, I am so impressed and proud! You make me feel inspired and motivated!

 

[DisDee]

Diane, P l e a s e do not beat yourself up about the weight loss. You are so much more committed than most people here on the Wish boards, and your total weight loss shows that! Most of us are full of talk but when it gets right down to the nitty gritty, we don't have any where near the results that you do. I bet not one of us who posts on your journal can say that we ever followed through on a 60 day commitment. You should be extremely proud of yourself-just look at the other indicators of the overall improvement to your health.

I think you should celebrate you! Go out and buy yourself something that
you've been wanting, or go somewhere fun-anything out of the ordinary. You work very hard at your job, and very hard at the gym. Its time to reward your dedication. Think about it!!!!

Have yourself a really good day today!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Right on Denise, I couldn't agree more! Diane, I hope today was a good one and that you didn't get anymore snow. Lord, I don't know how you survive those Minnesota winters. But its April now so the end is in sight! Keep up your good work!

 

[Goofydiane]

Denise and Amy - Exactly what I needed to read/hear. It takes me a while to process things some days and to understand all the good and the bad. You are both right - I've come a long way and I need to be proud of that. Thank you for always providing encouragement - it keeps me going.

After a morning of feeling bad, I'm back to feeling proud for my accomplishments.

Tim's got me doing a detox that started this morning and I read about it in a book he had me read. At this point I'm ready to try almost anything to get to a new threshold. It's a lot of fruits, vegatables, and then some products that are meant to clean out the toxins in your system. It's a 10 day program and I can deal with anything for 10 days. I say that so confidently on day 1. There's no processed foods and none of some other stuff, so I'll wait and see what happens.

Things I'm proud of today:
1. I am hanging in there and am still trying to change.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Things I'm proud of today:
1. I am hanging in there and am still trying to change.

Diane, that statement right there says it all. That right there is the bottom line and you keep that up and you will have the rest of that weight off in no time!

I am betting you will make the ten days of the detox. If you can do that sixty day cardio you can do this! I am putting my money on you!

 

[Goofydiane]

If days 3-10 of this detox are anything like day 2, I'm not going to get past day 4! It's not the food or the drinks, it is the detoxing part that hopefully is shortlived. I'm glad I worked at home Thursday and Friday so i could get used to it and by the time Monday rolls around, I will be able to do the 'bring the gunk' to work process.

I made my flight and booked my hotel for Disneyland at the end of May. I'm going May 27 - June 2, with Club 33 on June 1. It is a friends 50th birthday celebration and I'm looking forward to it. With fuel prices the way they are, I finally broke down and purchased my flight, I figured it wasn't going to go down in price, only up - especially with airlines going out of business. So it's Disneyland and the Hilton Anaheim for a nice long weekend.

Tim and I have changed our workouts and I like the change, we had been focusing on a higher heart rate to burn calories, but now we've started focusing on more fat burning sets. I'm amazed that I'm burning almost the same amount of calories and still sweating as much...I'm weighing myself mid-detox per his instructions to see if this is helping, I wish he hadn't told me that, even though I know it is just a number on the scale, it is a number that I want to reduce and I'm worried again that it won't.

Things I'm proud of:
1. I'm on day 3 of the detox and haven't cheated at all!
2. I finally made my reservations for Disneyland

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Diane,

So glad you got your DL trip booked. That must feel great. Think of how much easier the parks will be to tour now that you are in such great shape! I am so jealous of your Club 33! I have always wanted to stay at the Anaheim Hilton, have you stayed there before? You will be in DL the same time I am in WDW!

That is great you and Tim are mixing things up. Hang in there with the Detox thing, you are a third of the way there. I am keeping my fingers crossed the scale gives you some good news!

 

[Goofydiane]

It's weird that I feel I struggle at the parks since I've changed my lifestyle. I am a late afternoon/early evening exerciser and I never want to leave the parks to go back to the hotel to work out. I adjust and work out in the morning, but then never get to the parks until lunch time because I don't believe in setting an alarm clock on vacation. I'm not sure what I'll do this time. I've been to Club 33 before but it's been a few years so I'm looking forward to going back.

I love the Hilton Anaheim! When I lived in Denver, part of my area was southern CA from Anaheim to Ontario to Palm Springs to San Diego. I always stayed at this resort and knew the staff well. I had my reserved rooms and always had a Disney view in a quiet part of the resort. I spent 2 weeks a month at this hotel for about 12 months. It's dated and needs some updating, but the beds and blankets on the executive floor are so comfortable and it's a great walk to the parks. That walk may be the workout when I'm on vacation.

The detox has gotten better as the day went on. I'm feeling better with it and went and bought some different vegetables and fruits. One thing I hate doing is cleaning fruit, so I'm one of those people who will pay to buy pineapple already cut up or melon already cut up. Because I'm that way, I don't buy a lot of pineapple or cantelope but I splurged today at Super Target. They had some great mixed fresh fruits and one of them hand mango in it and I've never had mango so I'm going to try it tomorrow. I've got to google the difference between snow peas and sugar snap peas...I always though a pea was a pea and now there are two kinds. I bought some of each to steam to see which I like better. Like Amy says, I'm a third of the way done and probably the worst third is over.

I cancelled my massage for tomorrow; one of the items discussed in this detox is no lotions or ointments on the skin as one thing you are detoxing is the skin, so I postponed it until 2 weeks from now. I tried for next weekend but my massage guy is out of town that weekend. I'm going to check and see if he is in a week from Monday and move it to then so it is right after the detox - my mini reward for both the cardio challenge and making it through the detox.

I'm weighing in on Tuesday at the midway point of this detox, so hopefully everyone will see a new number in the ticker. I'm hoping for .5 lbs in the 5 days.

I thought I wouldn't have energy for the workouts, but we've changed those up too - and my heart rate I'm trying to keep at is a fat burning heart rate and not a cardio heart rate. I'm amazed, I burned almost the same amount of calories in 65 minutes that I normally do.

Things I'm proud of today:
1. Working out. It has finally gotten to be habit and part of my routine.
2. Getting outside and catching up with neighbors. It was 60 here today and all of us that hibernate all winter are starting to get out again.

 

[Goofydiane]

Phew - Day 4 of the detox is much better and I'm starting to understand why it goes for 10 days. My stomach is as upset as it was on day 2, and even though it is liquids until noon, I'm not feeling hungry either. I really thought I'd be out of energy because there is really no protein and no carbs, but I'm not yet. Tomorrow will be the test - going to work at my office and not my house. I worked out for 100 minutes today doing over 6 miles on the treadmill and still have energy - maybe there is something to say about eating and detoxing. I LOVE my new steamer - I've never owned a steamer before and I'm learning how to steam food. I bought a electric juicer today, I was getting really sick of squeezing lemons every morning.

I do have to admit that I did cheat this morning....I had to check the scale to see if there was any change because I couldn't stand it anymore. Geez, I can push myself to go 60 days without getting on a scale and then I'm on it twice in a week. Let's just say that if the number that was there this morning is there on Tuesday, the ticker will be moving downward again. I'm not keeping my hopes up because of water retention and everything.

I didn't do much today, did some crossstitching and worked out and then took a nap. I read some dis-boards and did some other internet stuff, but overall it was a nice lazy day. It rained most of the day so I just stayed inside. One thing I noticed is that I'm cold a lot, not just this week but more and more. Not sure why this is happening - I usually sleep with just 1 blanket and now I sleep with 2 or 3. Maybe that is due to losing my insulation of extra weight - I just don't know.

Looking forward to the week. The basement floor gets put down tomorrow so I'm sure I'm going to find a way to leave work early to come home and see it. It get's closer and closer each day now.

Oh - and I don't like Mango's, thankfully the fruit I bought only had 1 slice in it. It just had a weird taste for me. I always tell people I'm a garanimal when it comes to clothes, I only wear solids and own a lot of neutrals so I can match them easily. Maybe I'm that way with food too - I'm a garanimal there too....simple, easy to put together dishes. Not a lot of variety and I seem to eat a lot of the same stuff. I don't like eating food that I can't pronounce or understand what it is.

I bought snow peas and sugar snap peas, but don't know how to cook them. Do you steam them in their pods or de-pod them first? Help!!

Things I'm proud of today:
1. Relaxing! I didn't do any work and just had a lazy day.
2. Worked out. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest now, but I felt like walking, so a nice 90 minute zone 2 walk. Worked the heart rate at the fat burning stage.

 

[Goofydiane]

Relief, relief, relief hit me when I got home today. Even though I purchased the floor for the basement last week and loved it off the sample, you never know what it is going to look like until it is in. Let me just say..LOVE IT!!! I'm so glad I went with the cherry finish, it brings such a warmth to the basement. I can see it all start coming together now.

Couldn't sleep last night, I was still frustrated at 2:37am going...you have to wake up in 3 hours, wouldn't sleep be a good idea? Finally fell asleep about 4:15 only to oversleep this morning. I did ok all day with very little sleep, so I guess I must not have needed it Yeah, that's not true, I'll be exhausted tomorrow. Made it through another day of the detox, 1/2 way there and hopefully I'll be posting a weight loss in the morning since I'm weighing in at half-way to see how this detox is doing.

Made 2 dining reservations today for Disneyland. One to have breakfast with Goofy with some friends of mine and the other for Cafe Orleans, so the food is set - the rest of the time I'll do counter service or snacks. I haven't been to Goofy's Kitchen in years, so I'm looking forward to this one....I'm a breakfast person. Holy cow...Goofy's Kitchen is expensive, but it will be worth it as a special treat for my friends. My friends been sick for about 2 yeasr now, if it isn't one thing it becomes another and her daughter has heart issues and has never been to Goofy's Kitchen so this will be my treat to them. The price went up to 32.99 per person though! YIKES.

Work was good - there are our field team leaders that don't necessarily understand everything I'm involved with and think that their requests go to the top of my priority list. Started having bi-weekly statuses to review all the requests to prioritize and give timelines to them. I'd been pushing back on something they wanted that was going to take me 2 days to do and challenged again today explaining that doing this would push back something for our entire team by about a month and they decided that they didn't need what they wanted anymore. I wish my boss did a better job of communicating my workload and job to others, it unfortunately isn't the way he is. I need to continually work to get him to stand up for me when needed.

Things I'm proud of today:
1. All day at work and I stayed on plan with this detox.
2. I took a rest day from working out according to the plan.

 

[Goofydiane]

Quick stop in to say....check out the new total on the ticker!!! 1 of these guys for each pound I have lost so far on this detox.

I do understand that some of it is water weight, but I'm taking it. I'm .5 lbs away from seeing a number I haven't seen in at least 10 years and I'm sure longer, I never got on a scale so I never know. I'm going off clothes sizes and I'm comfortably wearing a size 18 trouser today. Woohoo...clothes that start with a 1!!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Diane, I am so super happy about that weight loss! !!!

Great job, that is so deserved, you have earned every one of those pounds to be nuked off your body! I am proud of your new steamer and juicer, great job. It takes the right equipment to be a healthy cook and now you have that.

I may have to check rates for that Anaheim Hilton. The motels on Harbor are okay for a short stay but for the longer ones we need something that is cheaper than the onsite ones but nicer than the ones right there. How long is the walk?

I am impressed you workout when on a vacation that involves so much walking! That is so great you are near weighing what you haven't in so long. Be proud of you, I sure am!