Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Weigh-in Wednesday #16 & #17 - Time to catch up!

Seeing as how I just weighed-in this morning for WIW #19, I think it's about time to blog about my previous forays onto the scale.

Weigh in Wednesday #16 - May 8th, 2013   

Starting weight:  292.1
1st weigh-in:  286.8
2nd weigh-in:  280.1
3rd weigh-in:  276.4
4th weigh-in:  274.1
5th weigh-in:  270.6
6th weigh-in:  266.2
7th weigh-in:  262
8th weigh-in:  261.4
9th weigh-in:  257.7
10th weigh-in 251.4
11th weigh-in 247.3
12th weigh-in 243.6
13th weigh-in 241.7
14th weigh-in 235.4
15th weigh-in 235.4
16th weigh-in 227.7

Happy early birthday to me!  Down a colossal 7.7 pounds this week!  What happened?  After looking through my food journals, apparently I drank mostly wine and ate mostly salads.  Interesting.  And, I treadmilled, ellipticalled, walked, spun and ninja sessioned (strength training & kick boxing) my way through workouts, with some yoga thrown in for good measure.  So, my conclusion is...my body does what it wants sometimes...even if I make bad choices (like drinking a lot of wine).

Weigh-In Wednesday #17 - May 15th, 2013

16th weigh-in 227.7
17th weigh-in 223.5

Wow...down another 4.2 pounds...and I had a birthday party in there somewhere!  How is this even possible?  I lost 7.7 the week before...that's 12 pounds in the last two weeks...what is this, Biggest Loser?  So that brings my total up to 68.6 pounds lost in 4 months, that's not bad.  Actually, that's REALLY good (trying to keep things positive here because I know what's coming up).  I was pretty consistent with food until the Friday before my birthday, when I indulged in grapes for dinner...and the next day was my birthday, so I did it again.  Then on Sunday, for Mothers' Day, we hit a fancy fishy restaurant and I had lovely, gorgeous, sexy oysters and a piece of salmon with risotto.  I pretty much spent all my calories in that meal.  Though, I did not drink at dinner...or eat for the next couple of days.  Nasty habit of indulging on weekends and then strict veggies and fruit diet on Monday and Tuesday forming.  Must watch that.  As for exercise, equal parts treadmill and bike, with some walking and aerobics thrown in, and of course ninjaness with Jonathan...and Anahata Moon Yoga on Tuesdays with Taryn

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

I am sooooooooooooooooo bad.

No, I didn't cheat on my diet...or skip a day of exercise.

I just haven't been blogging recently.  1 post a week is simply not good enough for me...perhaps that's why I've been a little more anxious lately...blogging is my therapy.  And, it's not like I don't have anything to talk about.  I have plenty of ideas plugged into my phone or even noted on this site (yet unpublished), but they haven't yet made the cut as I haven't had a chance to go over them and edit.  Must be more disciplined!  Perhaps it's due to my active social life?  Well, not exactly, I did have a birthday and my best friend from Winnipeg was in town...but those are just excuses.  I think it's because I've been spending longer working out and more quality with the dog.  Haha...

Promise to be better.  See what happens when I'm left to my own devices?
x
Suzie

Monday, May 20, 2013

Weigh-in Wednesday #15

I don't want to talk about this one.

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

You know, I've never stalled on my way down to onederland (being under 200 pounds)...but on this day, I did.  I managed to workout like a crazy woman (ninja session, treadmill, walking, more walking, spinning, even more, more walking, ninja session, open water rowing, even more, more. more walking, elliptical, aerobics, more spinning, and walking again, even more spinning, and yoga) not to mention a 10K...and I lost NOTHING this week!  Nothing!  Perhaps having that post-race cocktail was not the best decision.

Starting weight:  292.1
See!  I worked out...and hard!
1st weigh-in:  286.8
2nd weigh-in:  280.1
3rd weigh-in:  276.4
4th weigh-in:  274.1
5th weigh-in:  270.6
6th weigh-in:  266.2
7th weigh-in:  262
8th weigh-in:  261.4
9th weigh-in:  257.7
10th weigh-in 251.4
11th weigh-in 247.3
12th weigh-in 243.6
13th weigh-in 241.7
14th weigh-in 235.4
15th weigh-in 235.4

How is this possible?

My Croatian conscience had an idea:

"Fet lady, you not so bad.  Would you like side of delusion with you wine?"

I know, I know...but I count my calories, I account for it!

My Croatian Conscience sides with the ninja on this one, alcohol is cheating.  It's not about counting calories, it's about fueling your body...and my body, obviously does not need more alcohol.

Hmmmph.  

Um...did I just sign up to be in a race?

Yes, I did!

A fortnight after the finale of the Times Colonist Health Challenge, there's this little thing called the TC10K.  This race in particular is the reason my Wednesday nights have involved power walking with the Crystal Fools, and I was sure...certain even...that participants in the Health Challenge would be forced to participate.  We weren't.  So, I embraced my new lifestyle and the free pass that Shannon had given me via email and signed myself, as well as my parents, up for the walk.  My darling husband, Stéphane, had already enrolled as part of his company's (Genivar) team in the competitive walking section.  If you've ever seen Stéffi on the treadmill at the Crystal Pool, you'll know why he's not in the pleasure category...the man is a machine!

So, what do you do the night before the big race?  Well, in most cases you would eat a good dinner, drink lots of water and go to bed early.  But not us, we had a birthday barbecue planned.  We were only supposed to stop in for a quick hello and a couple of drinks...and doesn't this always happen?  We stayed until 1 AM or something...where'd the time go?  Oh, I remember, we started to have fun talking to everyone at Ron's celebration that we kept bumping up our cut-off time.  Haha...and believe me, we paid for it the next day.

 5:30 AM - Wake-up, Ninja!

Up at the butt-crack of dawn after too little sleep...I got into the shower to wake myself up.  Threw on my stretchy clothing, and, slapped on some mascara, and put my hair in ponytails.  Stéphane did much the same...well, he had a shower...I think.  We both ate our respective race breakfasts and waited for the arrival of my folks.  The thing is...parking would have been killer downtown as many streets were blocked off, so we decided to meet at the loft and then walk to the starting line from there...a mere 2 kilometres away. What were we thinking?

7AM - Leave the Shimmy Shack.
 
7:30 AM - Crystal Fools warm-up in Thunderbird Park.  Yes, we did a mambo...Number 5, in fact...and there's video to prove it.  Everyone was raring to go, but a special few fools congratulated me on being the most improved person to have done the Health Challenge.  Thank you, guys. xoxox


7:45 AM - Muster in start area - Stéffi takes off to his place (the competitive hour and a halfers) and I have decided, in my infinite wisdom, that it'll take me and the folks at least 2 hours to complete the course...so mom, dad, and myself are hangin' with the stroller drivers and octogenarians.  Perhaps, I should have chosen differently?  We'll see.  Live and learn.

8AM - The elite runners cross the start line...and the rest of us follow!

8:10ish - We cross the start line...and there stands Shannon (of the TC) ringing her cowbell furiously!  I gotta have MORE COWBELL!  She cheers us on...and we're on our way towards Johnson.  Moving slowly at first, it's hard to navigate in a crowd of 13,000, but we managed to reach our stride.  

On Johnson...we encountered THE BEST signs in front of Body Dynamics (encouraging the racers)...these were some of my favourites:

GO, RANDOM STRANGER! GO!

WORST CROWD EVER! (because there were only about 10 people standing there..haha)
WHY DO ALL THE CUTE ONES RUN AWAY?

ARE YOU TIRED...BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN RUNNING THROUGH MY MIND ALL DAY!

WHAT KIND OF A PARADE IS THIS?  

On Johnson Street we reached the 1K sign, and I thought...wow, 9 more of these to go.  Better get a move on.  This is how it works for me, generally I take quite a while to get started...but in this case I knew I wasn't walking as fast as I had when I was with my Crystal Fool buddies.  Mom and dad are fast walkers, but I was just caught up in the excitement of it all...there were tones of people around and I was even slowing down to take pictures!  Haha...

When we hit Vancouver, a very special thing happened to me...a lovely curvy girl came up to me, and asked me if I was the girl from the Times Colonist Health Challenge.  I answered yes, of course, and she proceded to tell me that I had inspired her to get fit and healthy.  I'm only on kilometre 2 and I'm crying like a baby...this is not a good sign.

The entire time I was racing, I was also listening to my super workout playlist in one ear...I find it next to impossible to exercise without tunes...but in this case, I found in next to impossible to hear what my parents were saying with music being piped into one ear.  Haha...sorry guys!  The weather was just perfect as were the cherry blossoms through Fairfield.  And then the water station...where I could have downed about 7 times the amount I was handed, that's why I brought some with me in my giant spiky backpack.

Along the route, there were bands set up to entertain us and volunteers a plenty...as a Crystal Fool, I intended to run up and hug a volunteer and thank them, but I completely forgot.  Sad face.  One thing I did get to do was help a blind woman "see" my backpack.  As we pressed on against the heavy and chilly wind on Dallas Road a group from Pearson College were guiding a blind racer.  Apparently, the guide had been describing my backpack, and so asked if the blind woman could touch it...of course!  My grey, snake-skin, spiky packsack constantly sparks conversation on buses, in rec centres, and in general...so, I wasn't surprised when its spikes acted as descriptive braille.  And, wow...walking a 10K without sight, THAT is inspiring.

We walked, walked, walked and walked along the water until we hit the curve around Fisherman's Warf and past the park.  Nearly there, nearly there!  Random spectators cheering us on and telling us to push harder...so I burst into a jog.  What?  Yes, I did.  My mom and dad were still with me...walking strong...and my backpack was flapping around wildly, so I decided to break back into a walk, but before hitting the straight away to the finish line I told my parents that if they crossed over first, I would kill them.  Bad daughter.  And, in the excitement of it all I ran the last 10 feet and jumped over the finish line.  I even heard the announcer say, "And here comes Suzie Spitfyre!"  

Around 1 hour and 59 minutes after the very first person crossed over the starting line in the TC10K  - I finished the race, me..the fat chick...I just walked 10K!  And in 1 hour and 49 minutes, according to RaceDayTimer.com.

So now what?  I'm happy and sweaty and hungry!  Stéphane runs up and hugs me shortly after I finish.  He speed walked the race in 1 hour and 24 minutes, I'm so proud of him and my parents...and of myself.  And, so is he...he tells me so as we embrace.  Just after the finish line, there are juice boxes (juice punches...and I don't usually drink my calories, unless the fruit juice is gape, and those grapes are fermented), full fat yogourt (and I prefer fat-free, thank you very much), and several types of cookies (Really?  Okay, not everyone is as strict with their food as me).  I had the lesser of 3 evils...punch...because Ferris' Oyster Bar & Grill beckoned with après race brunch.  And by brunch, I mean oysters, and by oysters I mean raw, and by beckoned I mean I heard a champagne cocktail call my name.  Huge thank yous to the movers and shakers behind the scenes at Ferris' because they bent the rules and got me something that wasn't on the menu until 11:30 AM...well done, seasoned professionals, well done!   It just go to show that if you go somewhere and habitually order the world's most amazing deep fried oyster burger and fries with a mayo sampler for years and years, they might just make an exception, if you're really nice.  The experience was great, not only did we get the extremely intimate and dark booth at the back (which I now fit into quite comfortably), but the food was superb...if I were going to order brunch, may I recommend the Louisiana inspired poached eggs with chorizo on red beans and rice, it smelled deeelish!  And I know the 3 other parties at the table thoroughly enjoyed it.  Please tip your server generously.  The buzz in the restaurant was decidedly 10K.  All the diners in our section had run the course, and were excited, loud, and content...like us.

22 Days Later -  Here I am writing about this experience, and I'm so sorry not to have done so before...because what an amazing day it was.  Now I fear I have forgotten so many details.  Argh!  Such is life!  It gets in the way of true documentation.  Please kick my ass, dear reader!  Haha...
 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The man in the fancy necklace.

The Times Colonist Health Challenge was over, my period of active rest was done, I had just lost an additional 6.3 pounds by drinking wine and eating halibut...and both Josh & Jonathan had invited me to a "staff party thing" at 10:30 (Thursday, April 25th) in the morning at the Crystal Pool & Fitness Centre.  Cool, a party thing.  Of course, I tried to get more information out of the boys but their being boys I did not get much, "You'll see when you get here."  So, I wore my workout gear...luckily, I washed my hair. 

Blogging in the lobbyI came at my usual time and just set up my laptop in my "office."  And, there I sat writing up a storm until the ninja came up to me, sat down, and told me there would be photos later.  Oh, fabulous, photographs.  Maybe it'll just be someone from the Crystal with a digital camera running around and snapping at things...I suspect not.  Good thing my girlie senses tingled before I left the house and, not only did I wash and style my hair, but I may have put on just a bit of make-up.  And when I say, "a bit of make-up," I mean mascara, some foundation, blush, brow gel, and lip conditioner...so not impressive by MAC standards, but presentable.  I did, unfortunately, take off my new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles baseball shirt and opt for the more practical $5 bargain bin tee that says "ONLY ON THE WEEKENDS."  What the heck does that even mean? 

Next, Josh comes by, says hi, and sets up a rectangular table in my office.  I'm assuming that's for food or something, but I really start to get antsy when a podium is placed by the windows.  So, I pack up my computer and stuff my sweater into my backpack...jokingly telling Josh, "I'm outta here, you guys are making me nervous."  Really, I'm just going upstairs to check my make-up in the mirror.  And when I finally come downstairs, I see a few familiar faces in the main lobby area, and I am greeted by Shelley from the CP and the photographer from the TC.  Wow, there will be pictures indeed.  Oh, and who's that in the fancy necklace?  That would be his worship Mayor Dean Fortin, Mayor of Victoria.  This is a bit more than a staff party, Jonathan and Josh, gahhhh!

(Also, who knew you were supposed to address the mayor as your worship?  I just called him mayor...and then I curtseyed...I don't know what that was all about.  I guess I'm just used to being presented to royalty.  Ha!)

After a ridiculous impromptu photography session near the doors to the fitness area, involving me jumping up and pointing to the Crystal Pool sign which ultimately ended in laughter and a picture of my boobs in front of my face, I made my way into the fray.  Josh welcomed everyone to the gathering.  He spoke about the Times Colonist Health Challenge, and my progress throughout.  He talked about my training sessions with Jonathan, the ninja, and how I spent my mornings working out, blogging in the afternoon, and then some days coming back and doing it again in the evening.  My face gradually turned from its normal shade of slightly more than pale to pink to red...I had no idea how much I would blush at what he was saying and at the brand spankin' new City of Victoria sports bag prezzie that he gave me.   

And it continued, Josh then introduced Shannon from the Times Colonist who talked about the programme and how it was about embracing a healthier lifestyle and how I had done just that.  She also presented me with a laminated copy of the front page of The TC Health Challenge: Wrap Up...which was rather nice.  She told the collection of people from the city, the rec centre, my trainer, other administrators, random people who were just there, and not my husband...as I told him it was just a "staff party thing"...that out of all the participants, I had been the most improved.  Though I lost the most amount of weight, it wasn't about that...it was about how much healthier we all were, hence fitness testing at the beginning and the end of the challenge.  I already blogged about that in Throwing My Weight Around...so I won't go back into it, but Shannon read out my numbers.  At this point, I was really chuffed and very smiley looking at everyone looking and smiling at me.  Then she handed me an envelope that contained a lovely weekend away for 2 at the Black Rock Resort in Ucluelet (plus she mentioned how well Stéffi did while I was getting my fitness on.  Yay support system and husband!)...Thank you very much, Shannon and Times ColonistAmazing!
 
And then it was time for the man in the fancy necklace...and if I'd known that this whole ceremony was more than just a couple of us toasting my progress with veggies and dip, I would have worn something nice with heels and given him a run for his money in the jewellery department...but I didn't, so the mayor looked very unique in his chains of office.  He went on to say very nice things about the Times Colonist Health Challenge, Shannon, Josh, the participants, me, and the ninja...which means the mayor must have read my blog, as he actually referred to Jonathan as The Ninja!  I laughed and looked at Jonathan who smiled back...who knew that would catch on?  

The mayor commended my commitment to health and said that he knew there must have been a few times where I swore at my trainer, and yet kept going; but honestly, and I may have interrupted him to say this...that hasn't really ever happened.  Okay, I have sworn under my breath at what needs to be done (i.e. run up and down a flight of stairs 10 times and then do push-ups at the end of that and then do it again another 4 times), but never at my trainer because without him, I wouldn't be were I was that day...I wouldn't be where I am now.  This guy taught me not to be afraid of running on the treadmill, he knew that I could lift certain weights when I didn't think it possible (not that I would EVER tell him that), and I don't know how, but he's instilled in me this unrelenting determination to reach what seems to be an unreachable goal.  And, he's done all this by talking to me less than I'd like, by giving me just enough encouragement to make me want to do whatever I'm doing better to get more of it,  by telling me to lift my legs, to break later, to do it faster, to get up, to push myself, to keep my arms above my head, and he tells me all the time not to think, just to do.  He's put up with my accidentally sweating and spitting on him, my incessant chatter, my lame jokes, and a mortifying (yet hilarious) incident involving a mislaid hand.  Haha...so no swearing, I do what he tells me.  End of story.  Please continue, your worship.

What followed was the rest of Mayor Fortin's speech, which made me surprisingly emotional...okay, maybe not so surprising if you've been reading this blog.  But, how would you feel if someone that you had just met said they were proud of you?  It's what I think most of us secretly want...for someone to be proud of us.  And then he hugged me and raised my arm as you would a champion boxer.  So, obviously I did rock 'n' roll fingers and he gave me a number 1 with his, and Sarah snapped a photo with the Crystal Pool's digicam and it looks like I got the mayor to throw down some gang signs.  I'm innocent, I swear.

Josh came back to the podium and thanked everyone for coming, and then I spoke on the fly.  Those who know me will appreciate my spontaneity as I really, really like to be prepared for things such as this.  So in my spandex pants and my $5 T-shirt, I thanked Dean Fortin for being there and saying such nice things.  I thanked Shannon and the Times Colonist for having had the Health Challenge and for granting me the opportunity to be a part of it...plus the prizes!  I thanked Josh and all the crew at the Crystal Pool & Fitness Centre for taking me in and supporting me so much for the last 3 months, and of course many, many thank yous went to my ninja, Jonathan, who took all of me on and cut me down to a more reasonable size in more ways than one.  Then blah blah blah later, it was time for mingling, coffee, fruit, and veggies...great party guys.

xoxoxox

Thanks!