You Rock!

I have meet some really fabulous people throughout this whole process. I really cannot think of one person I have come in contact with who has not gone above and beyond for me. I find that astounding. For example (just one of many), I had a concern about a tooth of mine, so I called Dr. Nahata's with a question. My schedule did not permit me to get in there that same day, so they tried to schedule me for the next day. Well, I couldn't make any of those appointments, either (such is life juggling three young children!). So what did they do? Push me off? Tell me to call back later? Tell me to wait it out? No - they opened early for me. Yes, that's right, at 6:45 AM I was in the dentist chair consulting with the hygenist and Dr. Nahata himself. I find that incredible.

So thanks to all you fabulous people out there. This process has been made even more unbelievable just by getting to know you. You rock!

Change of Pace

This week begins a new cardio regime. 45 minutes alternating: 5 minutes high intensity, 5 minutes medium intensity. As daunting as it sounds, it'll be nice to mix things up a little bit. It'll be tough, but hopefully it'll encourage those pounds to fly right off...bye bye belly (my nemesis).

My teeth are nice and white. They were really sensitive the first day, but that is much better now. I do have a big of patchiness on some of my teeth, so I'm going to call Dr Nahata's and see if that's normal. But overall, I am quite pleased.

So I'll be at FT's at 6AM - excited to get another week underway. Lisa said she has some new ideas for our nutrition which she'll be talking to us in a day or two, so I'm very curious what that means.

As of last Friday, I was down 15 lbs, so here's hoping a few more come off this week! I'll keep you posted... =)

Gleaming White

So, my teeth are not gleaming white. But tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM they will be! I am having a 'ZOOM' treatment at Dr. Nahata's. I'll let you know how it goes! Can't wait...And thanks to Cheryl, for watching my children so I can go! I'll do the same for you...

Indra

My facial was amazing! So soothing and exfoliating. My skin feels SO soft. Thanks, Nicole. Can't wait to go back! They were fabulous there - of course - and even let me come back later in the evening for a makeup consult, as we ran out of time earlier in the day.

Beginning tomorrow, I'll be switching some of my FT trainings to morning sessions. So I'll be up bright (or really dark) and early! Looking forward to seeing my friends at FT nice and early.

Another Week

We are now in another week - just that much closer to our big Reveal. Working hard! This week consists of time at FT, a facial tomorrow at Indra, and a teeth whitening follow-up with Dr Nahata. My teeth just are being a bit stubborn - we may need to laser them whiter. Depends on what Dr Nahata thinks.

I think that something must be done about my weekends. I didn't lose any weight at all this weekend. I don't know if it's because I have my day off or not, but it is frustrating. Also, this weekend was really tough in the temptation area. It was SO hard to stay away from certain things - like sweets and carbs. Yikes! Any tips on mental strategies to stay strong would be greatly appreciated.

I took a nice (but tough) walk this morning with my two youngest. Went up lots of hills while pushing a 38lb child and a 25lb child - never mind the weight of the stroller. Fun stuff! But it was a cool and beautiful morning. I should do that more often!

Good Stuff

Cheryl and I had our four week assessment tonight. I think we were both pleased. I won't give you exact measurements (as they still aren't pretty), but overall, things are going down. I have lost 10.8 pounds and 13.5 inches (and that's only counting one arm and one leg!). My most significant places of loss were the waist and thigh. Shoulders came in next and hips shortly after. (For those of you at FT tonight during the reporting, Anna and I realized there was an typographical error in the computer and so this is with the accurate information.)

I did about 15 more pushups than last time, and my heart rate (resting) dropped 14 points and after a 3 minute step test dropped 41 points! And I felt so much better than I did last time I did it.

It was so very encouraging. Today I put on a pair of jeans and literally could not wear them because they were too big. It was great. So that's the news. I am hopeful for continued loss, as Lisa pointed out my first two weeks were SLOW in making improvements, and I've finally gotten on track these past two. And she has lots of tricks up her sleeve to mix up our cardio. Fun stuff!

And finally, I want to say yeah for Cheryl - she is doing SO awesome. I am proud of you! Keep it up. Can't wait to walk around Dresscode with you! And your teeth look super white. =)

And now, back to my protein.

Busted by a Three Year Old

I was impressed with my three year old today when on the way to Target, he saw my protein shake and asked if I was 'drinking my energy thing' to get healthy. I guess even the littles ones are noticing changes.

However, as I was leaving Target and verbally expressed my desire for coffee (there's a Starbucks inside my Target), he said to me 'No, mommy, you can't have coffee. It turns your teeth a funny color'. Obviously, he's heard me mention I shouldn't have coffee while teeth whitening. Oh my, out of the mouth of babes.

No food in the house

So I had a lapse yesterday. I went to eat dinner (after too long without food) and found the only thing in the house to be frozen chicken breasts. Bummer. I should have planned ahead. And I could not eat the chicken last night. No way. So I settled for cottage cheese. Probably a bad idea, but better than no protein. I am already planning for dinner tonight so that doesn't happen. But I felt I had to confess...

Early Morning Fog

I woke up to the most beautiful morning. It was not quite dawn and so very foggy. Breathtaking, really. It was earlier than usual, as I wanted to do my cardio in the early morning versus at night. I am missing out on a lot of bedtimes with my kids, and as much as possible, I'd like to get a few back. So at 6 this morning I headed over to FT and was greeted by a very cheery Anna. I did 45 minutes of cardio then headed home to begin the day.

I went to a mother's group this morning for it's kickoff - and yup, you guessed it - brunch. My nemesis. But I was good (I think). Had a little bit of non-carby fruit and some eggs and broccoli. Could have been a LOT worse...there was a lot of good looking food there.

I find with these cool temperatures it's been a struggle to resist the coffee (not supposed to have it while teeth whitening). I think I'll enjoy getting coffee back more than anything else. Really.

Assessment tomorrow. I'll let you know!

Quiet

Although I have been quiet on the blog, things have been quite the opposite. Now, though, I think life will return to normal and I'll be blogging more. Sorry for the silence.

Did a good hour of cardio yesterday, which felt great. My hamstrings are still sore and tight from Saturday - yes, that was three days ago. Hopefully by tonight (my next leg workout)they'll be feeling a little better. After my upper body workout last night, I could barely, if at all, lift my arms. Brutal.

Had an appointment at 7AM with Dr Nahata today. There is improvement in the color of my teeth. We are hoping to go a little bit whiter, though, so I'll keep using my whitening trays for another 10 days, then we'll re-evaluate.

Nutrition I thought was going well, until my three carb day yesterday Lisa informed me was actually five carbs. Ugh - frustrating, when I thought I understood it. I just hope I didn't do too much damage. At least with the Vitabot tool, Lisa can catch it right away. So glad she's so diligent and caring. Thanks for catching it, Lisa! I had a struggle with trying to ignore birthday party and restuarant food this weekend. I normally wouldn't even go to a restaurant, but I didn't have much choice this weekend. That was tough, as there was literally one thing on the menu I could eat, and the side options were all carbs. They had no non-carb veggies. Annoying. But I survived.

As Cheryl posted, I, too, am looking forward to our fitness assessment this week. Very curious where all the measurements and heart rates will fall. I'll let you know.

All right, well, I will post more frequently from now on. Back in the swing of life. Have a good day!

Sorry for the lack of updates

Hi there. Sorry it has been a few days since my last post. Life ran away from me this week! Between my husband's birthday last Friday, my daughter's birthday today (a ray of light every September 11), my mother-in-law visiting for a week, first full week of school, birthday parties and four doctor's appointments in two days...it's been hard to find the time.

Thankfully, I was able to manage my life just enough to fit in my workouts and trainings still. I was a little low on my cardio today, but did well yesterday - an hour on the elyptical trainer. I'll hope to do a full hour again tomorrow. I did have a good session with Dorothy today - arms and abs.

Still whitening my teeth - I have a follow-up on Tuesday with Dr Nahata. Using my great products from Indra. Also, because I have been running around so much and live almost downtown Andover, I have driven past Dresscode MANY times these past few days. They have some great stuff in their windows and I can't wait to get in there and look around. It's one of those place I've always loved the look of but never went in because I was sure nothing would fit. So I'm hoping that will change and I can go much more regularly! (Just don't tell my husband...)

So now I am off to the birthday dinner. But I'll be good - it's not worth it to cheat.

Shaking

Well, Lisa got what she wanted - my arms are shaking! I just left FT and am snacking on a delicious (really!) peanut butter and rice cake. Nothing ever tasted so good! We did drop sets tonight - upper body. Wow - they were tough. But I really felt like I pushed to the max - which is usual at FT.

I ate an exact 'day' which Lisa gave me - meal by meal, everything she said. Yeah! It really is so pathetic, but this is hard for me to completely grasp. So her providing that for me was awesome. I did everything except I completely forgot the almonds at snack #2 and market basket did not have flax seed oil, so I picked some up tonight to use tomorrow. I even weighed my chicken and meat.

The best thing to report is that this weekend I wore a pair of pants that I haven't worn in two years, and my shirt felt a little baggy.

Well, my rice cake is almost done, so I'm going to have some protein powder, shower and tooth whiten. That's my night!

Have a good one.

Indra & Updates

Had my consult at Indra yesterday. All my dreams are coming true - they are going to straighten my hair! I cannot wait. And I am going to have my skin look more "radiant" by having facials every 3 weeks. No complaints here! Sounds like a dream.

I am now using my teeth whitening trays, so that process has begun. As Cheryl says, it does taste nasty, but last night was better than the first. Another day or two and I should see progress.

Although the weight is not sliding off, I do think some clothes are fitting better. Toning is good, at least for now!

Had weight training with Brian last night, and cardio this morning with Dorothy (and Cheryl). Then tomorrow is an off day. Yeah!

Spoke with Lisa last night about nutrition - this new tool is so helpful. Yesterday was much better than the day before. I realized that the salads I have everyday for lunch, because they're so good for you, was actually horrible and full of calories, fat, carbs and too much protein! Yikes. Who knew? That'll change. I found some awesome Flax & Omega 3 pitas with very low carbs, so I can use those some.

My cardio seems to be right on track. I am doing just what Lisa wants, so that is good. 45-60 minutes on my no training days, 20-40 on training days.

We get another fitness evaluation after next week, so I am excited to see what that says. Hopefully inches will be done, if not pounds.

OK - gotta run to cardio!

Online Nutrition

So starting today, we have begun logging everything we eat/drink in this really great program online that Lisa gave us. It actually grades your day based on your goals, including all your vitamin and minerals. So I got a whole lot of F's today. A couple A's, a few in between, but overall, not pretty. So let's start from scratch, now that I can track it better. Hopefully I'll see huge improvements. Lisa can watch much more closely, as well, and let us know when something is out of wack before it goes overboard.

I had a good exercise day - an hour of cardio. 45 on elyptical and 15 on the bike. Felt good and didn't kill me as much as usual. Odd. It was 8PM. Oh well, I'll take it!

Well, we are embarking upon a week of birthdays and family visits. I will stay strong, and not waste my nights of cardio on frivolous calories. I do hope, however, that by next Saturday, the 13th, I'll be allowed just one little slice of cake....

Oh Man

When I walked in tonight and Brian was singing along to 'You're a Loser, baby, so why don't you kill me', I knew it was gonna be tough. We did 3+ sets on the weights and my legs are killing me. Seriously. Killing me. Oh man.

I am a bit discouraged with the weight loss, so I am curious what Lisa will say tomorrow night about nutrition and cardio. I need some advice.

I am going to try to get in more cardio - whether that means splitting my time during the day (if that's even OK, I don't know) or figuring out someway to make more hours in the day. I'll try to figure it out. Now that school is starting, hopefully I can take very brisk walks pushing my 37lb son and 25 lbs daughter up some hills. It can't hurt, right?

Resisted a LOT of food this weekend - went to a baseball game and said no to the free hot dog, soda and ice cream. Willpower! No treats on our rare date night, and no carbs at our cookout Monday. Little by little, meal by meal.

So that's it for now. School starts tomorrow so we should fall into a routine soon. That'll help all of this, I think. I'll keep you updated on all the appointments this week. Thanks for reading!