Brittany Upgraded: Emma Edition

I have been slowly working through Brittany Upgraded again. I dance. I yoga. I move more. But this was the best thing ever... this makes a really long, super sweaty workout even better. Love this girl. 

Emma stretched with me. 

Okay, now you're just showing off.

Whoa.. reaching for both feet.

<3

Brittany Upgraded: Diet Bet Edition

I'm restarting Brittany Upgraded again. The last serious attempt was 3 years ago prior to getting pregnant with Emma. I had been hearing a lot about Diet Bet and was slight interested in it when Kamber and Suzi convinced me to participate. A $20 buy in (or $28 CAD... damn exchange rate...) with a goal of losing 4% of your starting weight in a month. I figured it would be hard but it ended up being complicated by a slight cold and wicked eye infections. But I was successful and overshot my target... 13.4 lbs lost! 

A big factor was Ian's support... taking care of Emma and the house when I needed to workout. :)

The best of all of this.. This is my resting heart rate over the past month. Ignore the uptick at the end, I'm currently battling the plague. 

I'm not sure that I will do a Diet Bet again. It was a big monkey on my back for the whole month. Which I guess was good.. but it was really hard balancing that and being sick. We'll see what happens over the next few months. :) 

Upgrade 3.3

My birthday has come and gone and I'm now Version 3.3 - not 3.2 like I thought I was going to be..... We had a really good dinner out - a luxury these days with a toddler! At some point, Ian and I will go to Games on Tap for some toddler-less time.

State of the Upgrade

I am 2-3 sizes down in clothes. I've had people, who didn't know I was trying to lose weight, tell me I am looking really good. Last week I had a regular massage and a 15 minute massage. Both people asked me if I had lost a lot of weight. (Who knew your neck could look so different to someone...) It's made me feel really good about my slow progress. It hasn't been all that difficult... which helps reaffirm that my plan of slow weight loss is something that I can maintain. It has also had a great, unexpected side affect - my husband has lost some weight! Of course we are having a ton of Kitchen Adventures, but we are both working on our portion sizes and it's working. 

So what is the current state of the upgrade? I am working off the little bit I gained from our trip to California. I've started focusing on strength training and I'm going to get back to dancing regularly. Instead of dancing, Ian and I have been taking some walks around the neighborhood. But it's getting super hot out so I'm sure that will slow down. I'm looking forward to the next 6 months. At the very least, I feel so much better. :)

35 Down

I made it to 35 lost on Tuesday. 30 to 35 was a tough stretch. It was really hard to keep the faith and believe that I would lose weight if I just kept doing what I've been doing or doing more. I knew this mini-plateau was coming.. it's that time when your body goes... WHOA. What the hell is going on? 

I've done a lot of reading about this. There is something that I call the magical number. This number is calculated using a few different facts about me... body fat %, height, basal metabolic rate, TDEE (energy I would I burn if I just sat on the couch all day). The number returned is the number of calories I would have to eat +1 in order to truly gain any weight. Your body goes up and down all the time with water fluctuations. But to truly GAIN weight I would have to eat the magical number +1. Give or take a few calories, of course.  So when I'm going through the plateau and the number on the scale is higher some days or flat other days, I know that if I didn't eat above the magical number then I'm totally fine. My body is just trying to put the brakes on the weight loss. As long as I'm doing what I've been doing, I'll get over the mini-plateau and continue. At the very least.. this is what I keep telling myself in order to keep the faith. :P I think I see some difference below.

Or even better...

30 Down

I hit 30lbs lost on April 2nd and I'm just getting around to posting a picture. I think I was more happy to hit 31 than 30... but 30 was still pretty cool. :)

I think I see a difference in this comparison... maybe that is just psychological because it's only 10lbs and I would want to see a difference. But it makes me happy nonetheless! I'm on to chase 40 down.

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 277.2

Current BMI: 43.4

Goal Weight: 160

90 Days

It's been roughly 90 days since I started the upgrade. I'm 29lbs down and happy with where I am at. Last week I did a little bit of spring cleaning. Following my Virginia Jeans post, I realized that I have way too many jeans.

It was surprising to see that I own 8 pairs of jeans. I say surprising because I rarely wear them... mostly because they don't fit. The Virginia Jeans are loose but can still be worn without a belt. Four pairs don't fit at all. I tried on each of them and they could fit a small child in them as well as me. My belt could barely hold it up - I'm on the last notch. I had one pair that was a little tight... but close to being perfect. So I reduced this this stack to 4 pairs. I was really happy to get rid of clothes that I know I will never need again. :)

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 279.4

Current BMI: 43.8

Goal Weight: 160

Bad Brittany

News Flash: I am truly terrible to myself. I said some awful things in my head before stepping on the scale. Including, but not limited to, fat pig. I was sure that the scale was going to read a gain of a million pounds. Which I guess is reason for me to berate myself. But then I did step on the scale and I had lost a pound - in a week - which is my goal.

Eventually, I will have to learn to trust in the process and that being mean to myself is not going to help anything. The only goal of this whole upgrade is to be/get healthy. It's not healthy to call myself names. It's healthy to give myself credit where credit is due.

I've lost 28lbs in 3 months. That's an average of 9.3lbs per month... 2.15lbs per week... 0.3lbs per day. And that's compared to the 0lbs I lost last year and the year before that and any year that I didn't even try. Pretty damn good I think.

Virginia Jeans!

A few years ago, I bought a pair of jeans in Virginia. They were tight when I bought them but I liked how they fit in the legs. I wore them for a couple months and then they got to be just too tight to wear. I would consider them my one pair of 'skinny jeans'. I put them on this morning and I slipped right into them. They were easy to do up and still had lots of room - almost to the point of needing a belt. :)

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 281.4

Current BMI: 44.2

Goal Weight: 160

The Dress That Should Not Fit

I bought a dress online that was a last minute deal. I got it for about 60% off. It was a size smaller than my normal size; the measurements were on the small side as well. I was going to have it be motivation to fit into it by end of May. It arrived yesterday and when I held it up I thought there was small chance it would fit. 

Fuzzy Picture courtesy of Ian

It really shouldn't fit but it kind of does! It's a little snug in the middle and loose on top (my usual issue!) but it did zip up without any problems. Pretty cool. Hopefully by the end of May it will be nice and loose and I can cinch it with a belt or the tie it came with. :)

The Struggle

Today was a struggle. The last few days I've been up and down weight wise. This is, from everything I've read, completely normal. I just have to keep doing what I am doing and it will work out in the end. But in the middle of it, it's still very hard. It's hard to work through those dips in energy... when inexplicably you feel really tired. It's hard on the days that you eat and then feel like you could still down a whole side of cow without being full.

I went to the gym. Did strength training and a little cardio. At the very least I can say today that I tried.

25 Down

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 283.2

Current BMI: 44.4

Goal Weight: 160

No Fluke

I'm pretty happy today. Today I have come to accept that my weight loss is not some fluke. It's not water weight. It's not something that is going to slip away from me. It's hard work. It's slightly changing what I eat. It's definitely changing the amount I eat... and it's caring. I have moved past the 20lb lost mark and I'm at 21.4lbs lost. I pretty much have no self control and I'm weighing myself almost every day. At some point this will be bad. But I'm past caring about that. Weighing myself every day is more motivation. I fluctuate a pound here... a pound there.. but then there will be a smaller number like today. I'm logging all the smaller numbers and forgetting the larger numbers. The notch up on the chart below was my Puerto Rico trip - I quickly lost it.

I'm losing roughly 2 1/4 pounds a week.. which is more than my 1 pound goal. The best part is - I'm eating. I don't deny myself anything. If I really want it, then I'll have it. But I'll have 2 instead of 4.... or half a cup instead of a cup... or the light version instead of the full fat version. I've eaten pizza, McDonald's (don't care what people say... the breakfast sandwiches are good), french fries, and ice cream. I have smaller portions of them but I still have them. I have strawberries, apples, ORANGES, and all the vegetables I can eat. I'm also drowning myself in water and spend most of the time peeing. But I feel better. :) 

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 286.8

Current BMI: 44.9

Goal Weight: 160

Bloooooood

Last Thursday, I went to the lab and had blood work done. I also did a Glucose Tolerance Test. DISGUSTING. I haven't heard the details... but I got a call from my doctor's office that the numbers look better than they have before and I need to come in to discuss my anemia - shocking. I've never had to worry about results from blood work. My numbers were usually the same every time - slightly high white cell counts, pretty anemic. December's blood test was a little different and there was cause for concern on my doctor's part. This resulted in the gross glucose tolerance test and more blood work. I'm over the moon just to hear "numbers look better...". That's all I want. 

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 288.6

Current BMI: 45.2

Goal Weight: 160

20 Down

I hit 20lbs lost yesterday and confirmed it today. Pretty cool. :)

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 288.6

Current BMI: 45.2

Goal Weight: 160

Family Day Workout

I worked really hard to earn this sweat drenched photo. 62 minutes. 615 calories.

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 289.6

Current BMI: 45.4

Goal Weight: 160

The Scale

I've decided that I am only going to weigh in on Wednesdays. I found that I am probably focusing too much on the numbers. The numbers are good... but I step on the scale too much.

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 289.6

Current BMI: 45.4

Goal Weight: 160

Hard Day

I was tired. Achy. Annoyed. Had to rush to the gym. Had to rush back from the gym. I just wasn't feeling it. But I still went. Had a very good workout. I did 9 total minutes warm up/warm down and then it was an upper body day. A good hour of strength training and I'm just beat. It is nice to know that I am done for the day though.

I feel the need to rant a little. We all know them. We all hate them. The guys - sometimes girls, but mostly guys - who feel the need to let you know THEY ARE WORKING OUT. Shocking I know... but I am fully aware that he is working out. I don't need to hear the grunting, the slamming of equipment, the moans and groans of some old dude who looks like he is about to give birth. Either grow a uterus and ACTUALLY give birth... or shut the hell up. (Clearly, I was more annoyed today than usual...)

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 291.2

Current BMI: 45.6

Goal Weight: 160

Where Did January Go?

This is post #1501. :P I've been MIA for the month of January on this site. Where have I been? The best answer is "working my butt off". At the end of November I quietly starting to look at where I want to be in the next 10 years. The last 10 has been an even mix of fantastic and awful. I started working. I did a u-turn across the United States. I got a very good job. I met a gnome online and moved to Canada to be with him. I lost a loved one. I married the gnome and we built a house together.

In that entire time I would say 90% of it I have felt uncomfortable. It's not a big secret that I am carrying far too much weight. I'm not the kind of girl to "embrace" it. I never accepted it. I was always uncomfortable, anxious, embarrassed.... every bad emotion - almost all of the time. Who wants to live like that? So in December - not really the best time to change habits.... - I quietly started looking at ways to change. For me, it comes down to technology. Sad that I needed something like technology to help my efforts... but having something that is tangible is the sole reason why I'm feeling better. The combination of my Polar H7 Heart Rate Monitor, Digifit to track the output from the H7, and MyFitnessPal to count calories and track stats has been an absolute gift.

Since I started tracking my weight on December 30th, I have lost 16lbs. 16.4 to be exact. It's been easy for the most part. There are days that I feel like I'm chipping away at a mountain but then there are days that I come in way under my calorie goal and I don't feel deprived. I haven't changed a whole lot. I track my calories.. if I put in that I will be eating a cup of something and find out it's a billion calories then I cut it in half. I dance - a lot. (Big thanks to my husband for putting up with bumping music in the evening... He probably doesn't like to hear Justin Bieber blaring from the living room... but he puts up with it.) I added an extra strength training day. Nothing that really disrupts the good life that I lead.

I haven't been posting on here since I've felt a little more busy.. or tired.. or sore... but I have been posting a little on another site - Brittany Upgraded. I've decided to upgrade to Brittany 2.0 - this version will faster and leaner. :P

Feeling Better

After a month of effort, I'm feeling better. I'm tired. I'm sore. But it's for all the right reasons. The last few days I've stepped on the scale just to confirm Puerto Rico was a little blip. I'm back on track and will stick to Wednesday and Sunday weigh-ins.

By far the weirdest thing is that I am really looking forward to spring. It's not really an option to go for a walk in the middle of winter. It's painful to be out in the cold air and it usually triggers my asthma... but the worst is the slippery pavement. 99% of the time I am barely stable. Adding ice, snow, slush into the mix means I'm probably about to break something. Spring is a couple months away but for the first time in my life I'm really looking forward to it.

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Brittany Upgraded By The Numbers 

Starting Weight: 308.2 

Starting BMI: 48.3

Current Weight: 291.8

Current BMI: 45.7

Goal Weight: 160