The Paleo Diet - is it for me?

I reviewed my progress last night with my trainer, and have realized that i'm going to need to make some more diet changes to push ahead towards that last 20#'s... so, this weekend i'm going to attempt the paleo diet, which is essentially eating what the cave men ate... no process foods... everything fresh, meats and veggies...

I'm nervous that i can't do it, as it seems like a ton of planning and preparation. But, so far i've been able to do many things i didn't think i could do, so maybe i'll be able to do better than i actually think... crossing my fingers, and preparing my meal plan for the weekend...

22#'s left to my 150 goal...

New Gym Clothes!!

yesterday i ventured out to the Great Mall... a shopping location i do not like!... because the Old Navy was having a 50% off sale!! i was planning on buying new gym clothes that were less baggy and wouldn't fall off while i was on the treadmill, so why not go for 50% off gym clothes. As i got to the Great Mall, i was immediately reminded as to why i hate the Great Mall... but, the gym clothes were AWESOME... and all in size M!!!!! :-) i am officially out of the size L's! :-)

next steps... weeding the closet room of the items that do not fit me anymore!

Back from Europe... and...

i thought for sure i had gained 3 pounds during the trip... i didn't eat anything amazingly terrible, but i didn't move around a great deal either... I had about 3 days of good walking, but the rest of the time was a lot of sitting/meeting/working... i felt super blob-ish!

But, yesterday morning... i was 175!! which means i'm officially down 24#'s for the year and 2#'s down from before the trip! woohoo... but.... now i'm going to vegas... nothing more needs to be said there... :-)

Sunday i actually get to restock my food at home, and Monday i'm back in training! :-) 5#'s left until i'm at my DL weight...

hmmmm and also only 10 more days and i need to finish my online traffic school... gah!

My DL weight...

Today i spent two more hours working on the online traffic school happiness, and in order to validate it was me and not another person, i had to put in my DL weight... and i realized that i'm 6.8#'s away from that weight... i don't know when i was my DL weight in the past, but i do remember not having to work very hard to be that weight! :-)

i cannot believe that this year i'll be back there!! so exciting!! :-)

We were all winners...

I made it through Chicago with as much clean eating as i could do during the glory of vacation... the truth will be known tomorrow morning on the scale... I'm crossing my fingers that I'm still at 177.2... I'm also crossing my fingers that I can actually wake up with my alarm, considering my current insomnia!! :-)

Chicago was amazing, and SO NEEDED... i have returned relaxed and with fun new stories from the inner circle... it has been way too long! Below are my favorite pictures... we were all weightloss winners this weekend!!! :-) Now onward to the second 20#'s this year...

My Concession Post

Hello fellow Galivanters and Gavelers,

4 months ago we embarked on a journey to the promise land Skinnylandia. This far away land, skeptical to many was an exciting challenge. A competition was created between me and my arch rival Leenie P. Who could lose the greatest % of body weight by today. Leenie weighed in at 199.2lbs. I, your hero weighed in at 210.4lbs. As of this morning I weighed in at 204.0lbs for a loss of 6.2lbs. At my best I was down to 201. This of course pales in comparison to Leenie P who at last post weighed in at 179lbs for a 20.2lb loss. Last night via a phone call I conceded and congratulated Leenie P on her achievement. I am very proud of what she has accomplished. She is looking excellente and is determined to continue onto Skinnylandia. Well deserved and two nights at the Venetian is your reward.

Now to my supporters, I want to tell you the goal is not over. After a rough April of working out only twice and eating out like it was 2009, I basically maintained my weight. But starting soon, I will get back on the working out train and trying to eat healthier. My personal goal is to be at 190 by end of June. This will not be easy especially since a week in June I will be traveling for work and then to Vegas but I will try my hardest.

Congrats again to Leenie P.

P.S. To all my supporters by Urban Outfitters(URBN) stock. They are the parent company to Anthropologie and with Leenie P losing all this weight, she will need to replenish her bedroom closet (seriously folks, she has a bedroom that is just a closet) with brand new clothes from her favorite retailer.

New Clothes!! :-)

On Sunday, i went to the place that i like to refer to as "where the white people live"... but everyone else callse is Walnut Creek. :-) Why did i go so far? Because i've been looking at these Marc Jacobs pants online for 2 months, and they had them at the Nordstrom over there and the one in SF, and i didn't have time to go to SF... here is what i purchased:

1 pair of Jo's Jeans (boot cut, size 30)
1 pair of the super cute Marc by Marc Jacobs pants (size 10)
1 Free People (size M)
1 cord pants from Anthropologie (size 10)

hopefully I will have pictures of these new cute, tiny clothes after i get back from Chicago :-)

Shopping vs. Buying...

I have realized today that my stress relief activity of shopping is really actually just buying. Since my sizes have moved to unknown, i've had a hard time buying things!! Not because i don't know what styles i like, but because i don't know what size to buy. I now have to try on things... and i think i'm having a hard time knowing (or accepting?) that i should go to a lower size that i've never imagined i would wear... when you are the largest size, your only thought is "is it to tight or not?" Now, it's "is this the right fit or should i try one size down?" i feel like i've moved from a Go-No Go decision to a parametric sizing decision... which isn't quite as relaxing than the buying activities...

Sunday morning, before the mother's day activities, i'm going to try on, try on, and try on... hopefully resulting in 2 outfits and a pair of jeans that fit me...

This morning my scale read 179.0, btw... WOO-HOO!! love skinny colleen, as so many more clothing options!! :-) now, i just need to commit/buy...

.3 lbs to 21...

This morning I woke up at 179.2... second day in a row! i'm almost to the glorious 21 lbs. down point... though, i was starving on the way to work, so i had to stop and have an egg mcmuffin... booo... hopefully no impact to tomorrow's morning weigh in.

three more weeks until i get to do my blood work... the true test if my diet and exercise plan is doing what i really need to have happen... moving all of my measurements into the healthy range. crossing my fingers on that one!!

tonight at the gym was SUPER hard - my body is sore and tired!! but, my feet are healing, which is awesome!!

Sunday will be a new clothes shopping day, in preparation for Chicago awesomeness... i will definitely post pictures of my new Chicago outfits!! :-)

YAY - It's Spriing!! :-)

This weekend i got to be outside SOOOOO MUCH and it was gooooooddddd... i have my first awkward sun shading... i'm hoping with less shade from my previous large chin, i can avoid the usual sad tanning i usually get each summer... we'll see! :-)

Today i was able to achieve something i've never done... After living in Fremont for the last 35 years, i have never made it to the top of Mission Peak, only the midway viewing locations... today, with 25,000 steps and 3.5 hours, i made it both up and down! so awesome!! i do have two massive blisters on my feet, which i taped up with my sports bandaid (after, of course, INCREDIBLE pain when shower water touched both of them...). I'm hoping that they don't impact my training tomorrow...

by the time i got off the peak, i was/am EXHAUSTED... resulting in the rest of my sunday spent on the couch. i can't think of a better way to end the weekend! Springtime, i've been SOOOOO waiting for you!!! :-)

I'm back!!!

this morning i weighed in at 180.4!! i think, after my gym awesomeness tonight, i will be back in the 179's tomorrow morning... woo-hoo!! my trainer thinks my weight gain was due to sodium eating, rather than actual poundage... possible with the soy sauce/sushi on Friday... either way, i feel good again... this morning, i was actually at the last loop on my belt!! yay!!

tomorrow i'm taking a gym break as i'm physically and mentally exhausted... but i will do my 500 jumps, either tomorrow night or Thursday night in the garage gym! :-)

Next Monday is my annual physical... i hope that i rock it in all possible ways! because seriously, i cannot do more with this weightloss than i'm currently doing!

Re-Grouping and Re-Focusing...

OMG - i have moved back to 182.4 in the last four days... i blaming chris and easter, oh and being sick resulting in my not having any healthy food choices at home!

but in truth, i hit my half way point of -20#'s and thought "lets' take a mini-break"... bad, bad, bad... so, on Sunday after eating BAD BAD BAD food for breakfast with Chris at La Pinata, i gave myself a strong talking to about getting back on track. and so i went grocery shopping for some healthy food choices, and then i finally pulled out my jump rope and did 500 jumps in the garage. I'm thinking of setting a new goal of 1k jumps per week...

Anyways, today, i got back on track with bringing my lunch to work, and pounding it out at the gym. it felt really good!!

i'm thinking about expanding my garage gym... with a stabilization ball and a mat for abs work... i'm kinda liking the garage gym!!

anyways, onward from here... oh, and July was marginally fascinated by the jump roping for about 5 minutes, and then retired to her napping location... :-)

Work and Working Out Balance..

Lately my motto has been "If it's not work or the gym, I've not been doing it". This week, I actually had after work activities on Tuesday and Wednesday, and gymmed on Monday and again today... Today was my weakest workout since i started training!:-( All of the weights felt so heavy, and i barely could do a single pull up or push up on my own... i don't know what was wrong with me! I just felt so exhausted!!! physically and psychologically exhausted. I only wanted to just sit on my couch, and watch bad TV... not talk, not move, not think...

I was super embarrassed in front of my trainer due to my lack of effort tonight! :-( So, i'm thinking that during the week days, work and gym may be the best i can do... maybe one additional social activity night... but i can't do two and two nights of training... i just don't have the energy. :-(

oh well... next week i'll be back to my old training schedule... and if the weather stays pretty... maybe i'll be able to fit in a swim lap or two this weekend... so happy to see Friday at last...

I have arrived...

at the 170's!!! :-) this morning i weighed in at 179.2 lbs! yay. Tonight, the gym kicked my a**!!!! I only made it through 2.75 sprints at the end of the workout, but i did all the other weights. Still disappointing... i can't seem to get to 3 sprints during training!

The last time i was in the 170's, i was in college... the last time i was in the 150's (my ultimate goal) i was in highschool. In both cases, i don't remember ever having to work at it, i just remember that it just was... and now, at 36, i have to work so hard for it! if ever there was any doubt at how the metabolism changes as you get older, that doubt should now be erased!

here is my interesting observation of the day... every guy i have ever spoken to about this challenge and weight loss, always ALWAYS offers up their weight numbers... their heaviest and what they are today. I find that really interesting, because i don't share ANY of my numbers! i feel like even if i weighed 110 lbs., i probably wouldn't ever say anything... all afternoon i've wondered why that is... other things that people are really private about, i am not (like money/salary), but for this, i won't talk about it... i'm still not sure why i don't want to share it with others... maybe when i get to 150 i'll shout it out in normal conversation! :-) or i'll go to therapy to understand why... :-)

In July news, for the last hour, i've been attempting to take a picture of July using my PS3 controller as a pillow, but she keeps waking up and moving. by the way, SO HAPPY to learn that the PS3 remote doesn't have to be plugged in! :-) thank you Roma!!

Day #2 spent on the couch...

I never thought i would be tired of watching bad TV, but after being stuck at home sick for two entire days, i can honestly say that i'm done with the bad TV! ... for now... :-) I am hoping to leave the house and have some personal contact tomorrow... so, this will hopefully be my last day/night spent on the couch snuggling a box of Kleenex!

There have been some benefits of this swift and unexpected sickness:

1. I've lost weight due to not being hungry :-) i weighed in at 181.1 this morning...
2. I've caught up on MUCH NEEDED sleep... i have slept more soundly and dream-free (thank you Nyquil) for the last two days/nights than i have for the last 4 months!
3. I got the day off from work i've been dreaming about for the last 3 months! granted, most of it was spent sleeping, blowing my nose and feeling sorry for myself, but that was SO much better than spending it worrying about product launch/readiness details - which just gives the sad picture of what has been work-life for the last 4 months.

I'm really hoping that in the next two weeks i can hit 179.9#'s as that will be my halfway point for the total weightloss goal for the year, and i'll be 1 month ahead of schedule... woo-hoo!!

soooooooooo very sick......

but weighing 182.1 pounds! :-) Sick never looked so good! :-)

I hope it's just stress.......

because i'm SUPER not feeling good today... i've had 5 cups of tea and 1 cup of coffee... and yes, i'm still going to training tonight... because i DO NOT HAVE TIME TO BE SICK, and thus must power onward... oh, chicago vacation, when will you get here... ???

hello black pencil skirt..... it's been a long time!

today i got to wear my favorite black pencil skirt, which hasn't zipped up for well over 8 months! YAY... it is somewhat less pencil-y than it should be, but omg it fits me... YAY!! i cannot wait for the fall, where i will do some serious shopping in smaller sizes, but for now, i'll just rejoice in re-visiting my favorite clothes in the larger sizes...

Career Advice... hmmm... where to start?

Gymmed my bootie off on Sunday at training, where we did the killer cardio work out... which, yes, almost killed me. Luckily it didn't, allowing me to eat my bootie off on Sunday afternoon at the fun surprise party for Ling. I'd have to call this a weightloss wash... :-) This morning, i packed my gym bag, with all intentions of doing killer cardio on my own after work... but that quickly faded at about 30 minutes into the morning commute, when i was fighting off closing my eyes to go back to sleep!:-) which strangely carried on the WHOLE day where i fought off the urge to go back to sleep!! :-) After work, i'm meeting up with a friend of a friend for coffee and some career advice about how to move out of logistics in the retail industry to logistics in the electronics industry. I'm always excited to talk to other women about career advancement, especially when they have a great resume as this girl does... i think i get as much out of it as they do, just a reminder to give up the planned escape to a career as a trophy wife! :-) lately there have been so, so many hard days, it's hard to remember that i actually like this career... :-) all of my mentors and career people have all been men (well, and my mom)... i've never reached outside of that for advice and encouragement... i have to say, i do like that i'm someone that people reach out to :-)... Happy Monday... back to the gym tomorrow!! :-)

On the comeback trail

Ok so I haven't been doing much the past few weeks besides work. Work has been killer lately and I've been coming home late, eating late and just watching tv. Not even been on the net much. Got around to reading Leenie's updates and got motivated since I can't lose this bet right? Well the truth is I will probably lose but I am going to try my best to make it respectable. I weighed my self this morning after working out again this week and eating a lot less and am down to 201.2. My lowest since this began. I've dropped 5lbs in four days. I am down over 9lbs total. With about a month left to go, it is a long shot for me to win but I'll be downing the laxatives or having gastric bypass done if need be.

Seriously, congrats on the work so far Leenie. Can't wait to see you in a few weeks. WE will have to hit up the Piñata whiel I'm in town!!