Well, I did it! I have stuck with an exercise plan for an ENTIRE MONTH! That is the longest I have stuck with exercising in....well....since high school swim season!
I am about 10 pounds lighter and 16" smaller. 1" from my waist and 3" from my hips....I will DEFINITELY take that!
Another goal that I have met: I have not eaten ice cream or anything fried in 1 month! Today I had a 2 point Weight Watchers ice cream cup at an ice cream party at our local homeschool group. It was around 100 calories and I did report it on my My Food Diary. But normally I eat REAL ice cream (Baskin Robbins or DQ) almost weekly. And I used to eat fast food 1-2 times. But NO FRIED FOOD for a month! That is awesome.
So those are the things that I have done well. Then there are things I need to work on:
-Drinking more water on non-Boot Camp days. I seem to do fine on Boot Camp days since I get 32 ounces during Boot Camp and then slam the rest of it usually by noon or so. But for some reason the other days I do not get my water in and I know how important it is!
-NO CHEATING! Wednesday night I ate 2 cups of Chex Mix with 2 spoonfuls of M&Ms. Why? I don't know! Because my God's Girls made it for me and it was calling to me! I was so mad afterwards. Old habits are so frustrating!
-I need a better workout on non-Boot Camp days. This week I have fought a sore throat ALL week so I came up with lots of excuses. I need to drag myself onto my treadmill and JUST DO IT.
I haven't lost any weight this week and that has been pretty frustrating. But I know the scale is evil and sometimes hangs on to weight (I think Satan might live in my scale!) and then 2 pounds will just fall off in one day. I don't understand and don't begin to try but it is frustrating nonetheless.
I also want to say a big thank you to my friends and family. You all have been so supportive and you have no idea how much that means. I don't like people that are high maintenance friends and I hope that your support can someday be returned to help you achieve a goal. But it is, after all....THE YEAR OF BRENDA! Just kidding--I know many of you are on a similar journey!
I also have an amazing husband who wants me to succeed and that has been great. Did you see I have my own Facebook Group and Flair? How awesome is that? Many of you may not know that 2 years ago my sister-in-law walked out on Barry's brother very suddenly and without much warning. Brett says it is because she lost 60# and then felt like she needed to "explore her options". I guess that just goes to show that weight loss (and gain!) can play with people's minds as well as their pant size. I think it is worth considering that this journey is not all physical....there are certainly some mental roadblocks and I am starting to work through some of them. I'm not saying that Barry is worried about anything crazy like that but this weight loss thing has pretty much consumed my life--I go to bed really early (I'll leave it at that!), I'm crabby because I am craving foods that have comforted me for many many years, and eating is a social event and I am not being as social as I typically am because I don't really feel like hanging out in a restaurant with friends. All that to say that I am not really myself; I'm still getting the hang of all of this and am so thankful to be married to an amazing man that loves me through all kinds of emotions and helps me sort through them and keeping me level-headed. I love you Barry!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
January 20, 2009
Brenda is having a bad day today. Not food wise but with my kids. One of them has a sour attitude and a mean spirit today and it may very well drive me to insanity. Okay now I can move on.
Boot camp is almost tolerable now. The 5 am thing isn't as bad as it was the first week. I wouldn't say I am getting used to it but it is easier to wake up and get motivated now then it was then. You would be surprised how many people are up and going at 5 am! There are quite a few joggers and several people on their way to work already.
The food part is going okay. It is not the food I am eating but the quantity of it. I do much better at my house when I have measuring cups and better portion control. Most of the restaurants have their information on www.myfooddiary.com (the tool we are utilizing for Boot Camp) but even when I am done with my meal I find myself picking on leftovers around the table and "bites" of other things that are clearly not on the food calculator! LOL
Victory: I have not eaten a single piece of fried food, dessert, or carbonated beverage (diet or otherwise) in 2.5 weeks. That is awesome! I am really proud of myself. The next temptation will be the cake at Barry's birthday party. If I can resist that I can do anything!
I am so thankful to Sherry (my Boot Camp buddy) as well as several other friends and family that are praying for me DAILY. It humbles me beyond anything I can put into words to know that I have some brothers and sisters in Christ who are lifting me up to the Father who knows exactly what I need, especially on days when I don't want to get up, or the thermometer says something insane like 34! Thank you all so much!
So this morning I weighed 230.6. That means I will be saying goodbye to the 230's sometime this week. I will NEVER be there again. I will have to do something symbolic like burn the #23 or something LOL. I am giddy at the thought of having my weight begin with a "1". That hasn't happened since a few kids ago. Even when I was on my Phentermine I may have dipped down below 200 but only for a few minutes. :) It all came back on so much faster then I lost it.
Well I am off to school these young 'uns. Even the one with the sourpuss attitude today. I think he and I are gonna go hug for awhile and start all over. Thank you God that your mercies are new every morning.....and sometimes we need those new mercies every hour. What a mighty God we serve!
Boot camp is almost tolerable now. The 5 am thing isn't as bad as it was the first week. I wouldn't say I am getting used to it but it is easier to wake up and get motivated now then it was then. You would be surprised how many people are up and going at 5 am! There are quite a few joggers and several people on their way to work already.
The food part is going okay. It is not the food I am eating but the quantity of it. I do much better at my house when I have measuring cups and better portion control. Most of the restaurants have their information on www.myfooddiary.com (the tool we are utilizing for Boot Camp) but even when I am done with my meal I find myself picking on leftovers around the table and "bites" of other things that are clearly not on the food calculator! LOL
Victory: I have not eaten a single piece of fried food, dessert, or carbonated beverage (diet or otherwise) in 2.5 weeks. That is awesome! I am really proud of myself. The next temptation will be the cake at Barry's birthday party. If I can resist that I can do anything!
I am so thankful to Sherry (my Boot Camp buddy) as well as several other friends and family that are praying for me DAILY. It humbles me beyond anything I can put into words to know that I have some brothers and sisters in Christ who are lifting me up to the Father who knows exactly what I need, especially on days when I don't want to get up, or the thermometer says something insane like 34! Thank you all so much!
So this morning I weighed 230.6. That means I will be saying goodbye to the 230's sometime this week. I will NEVER be there again. I will have to do something symbolic like burn the #23 or something LOL. I am giddy at the thought of having my weight begin with a "1". That hasn't happened since a few kids ago. Even when I was on my Phentermine I may have dipped down below 200 but only for a few minutes. :) It all came back on so much faster then I lost it.
Well I am off to school these young 'uns. Even the one with the sourpuss attitude today. I think he and I are gonna go hug for awhile and start all over. Thank you God that your mercies are new every morning.....and sometimes we need those new mercies every hour. What a mighty God we serve!
Friday, January 9, 2009
January 9, 2009
Well, I know it has been a few days since I posted but I have been in College Station for my dad's surgery as well as DYING FROM SORE MUSCLES. LOL
I had Boot Camp this morning. Did I mention I am NOT a runner? Well, it was pretty clear to me this morning....we ran a mile and a half. Did I mention we were carrying THE STUPID LEAD PIPE? Oh my gosh, somebody kill me now! It was the longest mile and a half of my life. My lungs were burning, my shin splints were literally shooting up my legs, and my arms felt like they were going to fall off from carrying the *@&@&@ pipe. Yowzee. Enough on that. Anyway after we ran we did around 120 lunges. Well let me clarify....we were supposed to do 120 lunges. About half of the lunges that I attemped ended with me on the concrete. It was almost comical but I was not laughing at the time. My legs were quivering so badly that they would not physically hold me upright. It. Was. That. Bad.
After the lunge attempt we did around 200 crunches in various directions. Obliques, bent leg, etc. They were completely heinous and if there had been anything in my stomach it probably would have come up.
My stomach.....leads me to the food portion of The Year of Brenda. I am so proud of myself. I have had so many temptations and opportunities for cheating but I have NOT. The last instance was this afternoon at Classical Conversations. I was alone in the kitchen (all the kids were in their classes) with 6 dozen cupcakes. Yowzee. It would be like taking an alcoholic to a bar. I was also stuck in College Station for 2 days without planning on being stuck there. Since I had not planned my food stuff in advance I was left to my own devices. Now normally this is a HUGE problem. I would have said to myself, "This is a special ocassion because my Dad is in the hospital." or "I don't have access to healthy food at the hospital." Blah, blah, blah. Instead I made good choices and I am really proud of myself.
For someone that is a fast-food junkie, I realized how much I had grown to rely on the trusty old drive-through. But I have not eaten anything fried in a week. That is a small victory for me.
I have lost 2 pounds so far. Not as much as I would have liked after 5 days but I'm not complaining. I have got to keep the faith!
I had Boot Camp this morning. Did I mention I am NOT a runner? Well, it was pretty clear to me this morning....we ran a mile and a half. Did I mention we were carrying THE STUPID LEAD PIPE? Oh my gosh, somebody kill me now! It was the longest mile and a half of my life. My lungs were burning, my shin splints were literally shooting up my legs, and my arms felt like they were going to fall off from carrying the *@&@&@ pipe. Yowzee. Enough on that. Anyway after we ran we did around 120 lunges. Well let me clarify....we were supposed to do 120 lunges. About half of the lunges that I attemped ended with me on the concrete. It was almost comical but I was not laughing at the time. My legs were quivering so badly that they would not physically hold me upright. It. Was. That. Bad.
After the lunge attempt we did around 200 crunches in various directions. Obliques, bent leg, etc. They were completely heinous and if there had been anything in my stomach it probably would have come up.
My stomach.....leads me to the food portion of The Year of Brenda. I am so proud of myself. I have had so many temptations and opportunities for cheating but I have NOT. The last instance was this afternoon at Classical Conversations. I was alone in the kitchen (all the kids were in their classes) with 6 dozen cupcakes. Yowzee. It would be like taking an alcoholic to a bar. I was also stuck in College Station for 2 days without planning on being stuck there. Since I had not planned my food stuff in advance I was left to my own devices. Now normally this is a HUGE problem. I would have said to myself, "This is a special ocassion because my Dad is in the hospital." or "I don't have access to healthy food at the hospital." Blah, blah, blah. Instead I made good choices and I am really proud of myself.
For someone that is a fast-food junkie, I realized how much I had grown to rely on the trusty old drive-through. But I have not eaten anything fried in a week. That is a small victory for me.
I have lost 2 pounds so far. Not as much as I would have liked after 5 days but I'm not complaining. I have got to keep the faith!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
January 6, 2008
Okay I know you are not supposed to weigh everyday but whatever I did, okay!? I weighed 238.4 this morning. I will take that. Almost a pound down from the day before. No flaming me about weighing every day cuz I will just stick my tongue out at you. :)
Casey the Crazy Trainer told us to also work out on Tues-Thurs-Sat. He actually told us to run but I said, "Do you mean walk?" He said walking was okay as long as it was powerwalking. Well that is pretty funny considering I can barely lower myself up and down off the toilet. I did my best and walked 1.3 miles on the treadmill this afternoon. I turned the treadmill around to face the TV and watched Napoleon Dynamite. It was, as Martha Stewart would say, a good thing. It got my muscles warmed up and I wasn't as sore as I was before I started.
The food part is going okay but honestly, healthy eating isn't rocket science, ya know? Guess what? If you don't eat junk food and don't eat massive amounts of food you will probably lose weight. LOL If only it were that easy. For someone that is as accustomed to grabbing a handful of chips a few times a day (or whatever the easiest food is) as she is breathing, healthy eating requires a lot of diligence. I find myself stopping halfway to my mouth several times a day. It is almost like an instinct. Today I made the kids carrots and a sandwich for lunch. HOWEVER we had leftover pizza from the other night and I told them they could each have a slice. Guess how many pieces of pizza were leftover? Yep, 4....4 stinkin' pieces. Why couldn't there have been 3 pieces for my 3 kids. And did I mention I made brownies last weekend? I made a huge pan and thoroughly enjoyed them all weekend prior to the beginning of The Year of Brenda :) but there was still a LOT leftover.
I don't think I am drinking enough water. I need to fill up all 3 of my new Rubbermaid water bottles every morning and drink them all every day. That would give me 96 ounces of water. Technically for my weight I am supposed to drink 115 ounces. I don't include natural liquid from foods, coffee, etc. so I think I will get there if I just focus on drinking those 3 water bottles. If you ever see my out and about and I DON'T have my water bottle with me feel free to give me a "You could have had a V-8!" slap on the forehead. LOL
Well, I need to get ready for bed. My new bedtime is 10 pm sharp. I miss Bill O'Reilly. He and I have had such a love affair for so many years. I bet he misses me too LOL. I am picking Sherry up at 4:45 and then after Boot Camp and I am showering and then the kids and I are hitting the road for College Station. My dad is having back surgery. If you see this email before 7:30 am on Wednesday morning please pray for him (although the surgery is 4-5 hours long so if you see this before 12:30 please feel free to lift him up as well then).
I just printed out my food log from www.myfooddiary.com (the coolest website ever!) for Monday and Tuesday. I have to present it to Casey at every Boot Camp or I have to do some crazy punishment involving rolling a 75 pound tire up a hill. I think I will just bring it with me LOL. Oh, another thing about the My Food Diary website. It calculates everything for you and then tells you "If every day were like today, you would reach your goal on _____" and then calculates the day you would make your goal weight. It is quite inspirational. We will see how much I like it in a few months when I am really hard core into The Year of Brenda. :)
In case you were wondering, I didn't have any pizza or brownies. :) That is a huge victory for me. Baby steps, Brenda....baby steps. :)
Casey the Crazy Trainer told us to also work out on Tues-Thurs-Sat. He actually told us to run but I said, "Do you mean walk?" He said walking was okay as long as it was powerwalking. Well that is pretty funny considering I can barely lower myself up and down off the toilet. I did my best and walked 1.3 miles on the treadmill this afternoon. I turned the treadmill around to face the TV and watched Napoleon Dynamite. It was, as Martha Stewart would say, a good thing. It got my muscles warmed up and I wasn't as sore as I was before I started.
The food part is going okay but honestly, healthy eating isn't rocket science, ya know? Guess what? If you don't eat junk food and don't eat massive amounts of food you will probably lose weight. LOL If only it were that easy. For someone that is as accustomed to grabbing a handful of chips a few times a day (or whatever the easiest food is) as she is breathing, healthy eating requires a lot of diligence. I find myself stopping halfway to my mouth several times a day. It is almost like an instinct. Today I made the kids carrots and a sandwich for lunch. HOWEVER we had leftover pizza from the other night and I told them they could each have a slice. Guess how many pieces of pizza were leftover? Yep, 4....4 stinkin' pieces. Why couldn't there have been 3 pieces for my 3 kids. And did I mention I made brownies last weekend? I made a huge pan and thoroughly enjoyed them all weekend prior to the beginning of The Year of Brenda :) but there was still a LOT leftover.
I don't think I am drinking enough water. I need to fill up all 3 of my new Rubbermaid water bottles every morning and drink them all every day. That would give me 96 ounces of water. Technically for my weight I am supposed to drink 115 ounces. I don't include natural liquid from foods, coffee, etc. so I think I will get there if I just focus on drinking those 3 water bottles. If you ever see my out and about and I DON'T have my water bottle with me feel free to give me a "You could have had a V-8!" slap on the forehead. LOL
Well, I need to get ready for bed. My new bedtime is 10 pm sharp. I miss Bill O'Reilly. He and I have had such a love affair for so many years. I bet he misses me too LOL. I am picking Sherry up at 4:45 and then after Boot Camp and I am showering and then the kids and I are hitting the road for College Station. My dad is having back surgery. If you see this email before 7:30 am on Wednesday morning please pray for him (although the surgery is 4-5 hours long so if you see this before 12:30 please feel free to lift him up as well then).
I just printed out my food log from www.myfooddiary.com (the coolest website ever!) for Monday and Tuesday. I have to present it to Casey at every Boot Camp or I have to do some crazy punishment involving rolling a 75 pound tire up a hill. I think I will just bring it with me LOL. Oh, another thing about the My Food Diary website. It calculates everything for you and then tells you "If every day were like today, you would reach your goal on _____" and then calculates the day you would make your goal weight. It is quite inspirational. We will see how much I like it in a few months when I am really hard core into The Year of Brenda. :)
In case you were wondering, I didn't have any pizza or brownies. :) That is a huge victory for me. Baby steps, Brenda....baby steps. :)
Monday, January 5, 2009
January 5, 2008
Okay, so I was on my new favorite website My Diet Plan that my Torturer, I mean Boot Camp instructor told us to join. I came across the funniest quote and am REALLY wishing I had done a few kegels before I read it:
People who are overweight or obese should consider losing weight to dramatically reduce the risk to their health.
Is this supposed to be a news flash or something?
People who are overweight or obese should consider losing weight to dramatically reduce the risk to their health.
Is this supposed to be a news flash or something?
January 5, 2008
Well I did it.....I survived my first day of boot camp! My #1 goal was to not puke. Mission accomplished. Of the 8 ladies that were there, 3 of them did puke but my posse (my 2 girlfriends) were not one of them.
I picked Sherry up at 4:20 to be there at 4:30. We were the first ones there....we even beat the instructor. Points for us, right? Well he pulled up and Sherry said, "That is definitely him!" He stepped out of his car in full drill instructor garb....camo pants, utility belt (what kind of tools/weapons could he possibly be carrying at 4:30 am?) and the infamous DI hat. It was pretty intimidating. The first thing he said was, "Step over here so I can measure you." Wow...I normally like a guy to take me out to dinner or something ahead of time. He measured every fat roll on my body and recorded it down in my file. I would have liked to have been in HIS head at that time, or maybe not. Then he input my weight, height, and age into this secret contraption and he handed it to me. "This will measure your body fat percentage." Oh and by the way, I gained 6# in the last week so I had to write "239" on the "Record of Torture" (I mean my Weight Loss Tracker). Oh and by the way, my hormones played a terrible trick on me and I started my period on Sunday. So I'm not sure how I feel about weighing 6# more then I thought I did (and it was on MY scale both times so you can't say, "But Brenda, different scales weigh you differently!" You are all my good friends and I know you would like me to feel better but don't even try it. :) ANYWAY period = huge weight gain for my body. But who cares, right? I mean was I thrilled to write 233 but not so thrilled to write 239? After you reach a certain point it really isn't a stretch!
Anyway (had to start a new paragraph since I digressed so).....I grabbed his little thingamajigger and smoke started coming out of it! I broke the machine! Okay, no seriously....I didn't break it but my body fat was almost 40%. I almost died on the spot.
Did I mention he was doing all of this measuring and body fat calculations IN THE DARK (remember it is 4:30 in the morning) so that made all of this almost comical. He was using his headlights to measure my thighs....I mean that is just something I never thought I would type or say or do.
After he gets done measuring he barks "Take t-shirt out of box." I comply and then he moves on to the next person to begin their measurements. "Go stretch out", he barks again. So I am walking around trying to find a place that is out of the wind (did I mention it is 46 degrees and 4:30 in the morning) when it suddenly hits me.....this is completely insane! If Sherry hadn't been there I would have surely slid into my car (did I mention I have seat heaters?) and gone home to my Keurig and fattening creamer. But alas, I had my boot camp buddy with me so after she finished her torture, I mean measurements, we headed for the covered pavilion to begin the workout.
"Oh, good!" I thought, "I bet it is not as cold and windy under the pavilion." Nope. Wrong. Then I look up and my heart is warmed when my other friend Missy walks up. She is my amazing friend that has lost around 80 pounds using this crazy man's boot camp method. She looks adorable and is chipper and upbeat and I was so excited to see her! I jokingly asked her to come but never in a million years did I think that she actually would have come to support me on my first day. So now I have 2 good friends with me and I am ready to take on the world, or at least 1 crazy Jamaican boot camp instructor (I'm not sure if he really is Jamaican...I am guessing from his accent that he is from somewhere near the Caribbean....Bahamas maybe?)
My pride was quickly deflated when he brought out this crazy torture device. He called it a "pipe". He made it sound so mundane like, you know....a "pipe". Well I picked up my "pipe" and realized very quickly there was something wrong with my pipe. I told Sherry, "There's something wrong with my pipe....it is filled with something and feels really heavy." She said, "Yeah, mine too!" Well I was about to complain to Mr. Boot Camp that my pipe was damaged when he began barking orders....."First we do squats. Then we do jumping jacks. Then we do push-outs. Ready! 1, 2, 3, go!" And then we began. Well, so much for letting him know my pipe was messed up!
Well a few minutes later I quickly realized that I had other "pipe" issues as in I wish I had done those Kegels they told me about! Note to self: do kegels before jumping around holding lead pipe!
Well after we did 3 sets of 4 different exercises we moved on to "arm workout". What!?!?!? What was that we just did? Apparently a warmup or something. So anyway we moved on to arm lifts, curls, and something else I would rather soon forget. We did 3 different sets of that. In between all of this the 3 ladies walked off to puke and he said, "Find a tree!" Then after they had hurled he said, "Now come back to your mat!" Geez. Enough said about that.
We also did too many push-ups to count. Thankfully he let us do girl push-ups on our knees but I'm not sure how long that luxury will last. The last part of the workout was crunches. I can do a few crunches. I DO have ab muscles somewhere under my 39% body fat. However, I cannot do 100 crunches. I really thought this part was going to kill me.
That was the last part of the workout. I felt like Rocky after running to the top of all those stairs (do you think he had 39% body fat?)
Mr. Boot Camp spent a few minutes talking about the food plan. Wanna know what it is without paying a gajillion dollars? Don't eat anything that tastes good or looks good. There ya have it! Oh and also don't put anything that could be considered "flavoring" on any of your food. This includes creamer (my coffee!), sugar, Splenda, butter, Ranch dressing, etc. And then he had 1 other "don't eat".....diet soda. WHAT!?!?!? No Diet Dr. Pepper? This man has seriously crossed a line. Now he has entered "Brenda's Addictions" territory.
But it is THE YEAR OF BRENDA (did you forget?) That means transformation, friends. That means getting rid of the old and taking on a new! I will not be defined as anyone's Token Fat Friend (did you see that old Friends episode--truly hilarious). If I am YOUR TFF....you need to find another one because this TFF is no longer.
I picked Sherry up at 4:20 to be there at 4:30. We were the first ones there....we even beat the instructor. Points for us, right? Well he pulled up and Sherry said, "That is definitely him!" He stepped out of his car in full drill instructor garb....camo pants, utility belt (what kind of tools/weapons could he possibly be carrying at 4:30 am?) and the infamous DI hat. It was pretty intimidating. The first thing he said was, "Step over here so I can measure you." Wow...I normally like a guy to take me out to dinner or something ahead of time. He measured every fat roll on my body and recorded it down in my file. I would have liked to have been in HIS head at that time, or maybe not. Then he input my weight, height, and age into this secret contraption and he handed it to me. "This will measure your body fat percentage." Oh and by the way, I gained 6# in the last week so I had to write "239" on the "Record of Torture" (I mean my Weight Loss Tracker). Oh and by the way, my hormones played a terrible trick on me and I started my period on Sunday. So I'm not sure how I feel about weighing 6# more then I thought I did (and it was on MY scale both times so you can't say, "But Brenda, different scales weigh you differently!" You are all my good friends and I know you would like me to feel better but don't even try it. :) ANYWAY period = huge weight gain for my body. But who cares, right? I mean was I thrilled to write 233 but not so thrilled to write 239? After you reach a certain point it really isn't a stretch!
Anyway (had to start a new paragraph since I digressed so).....I grabbed his little thingamajigger and smoke started coming out of it! I broke the machine! Okay, no seriously....I didn't break it but my body fat was almost 40%. I almost died on the spot.
Did I mention he was doing all of this measuring and body fat calculations IN THE DARK (remember it is 4:30 in the morning) so that made all of this almost comical. He was using his headlights to measure my thighs....I mean that is just something I never thought I would type or say or do.
After he gets done measuring he barks "Take t-shirt out of box." I comply and then he moves on to the next person to begin their measurements. "Go stretch out", he barks again. So I am walking around trying to find a place that is out of the wind (did I mention it is 46 degrees and 4:30 in the morning) when it suddenly hits me.....this is completely insane! If Sherry hadn't been there I would have surely slid into my car (did I mention I have seat heaters?) and gone home to my Keurig and fattening creamer. But alas, I had my boot camp buddy with me so after she finished her torture, I mean measurements, we headed for the covered pavilion to begin the workout.
"Oh, good!" I thought, "I bet it is not as cold and windy under the pavilion." Nope. Wrong. Then I look up and my heart is warmed when my other friend Missy walks up. She is my amazing friend that has lost around 80 pounds using this crazy man's boot camp method. She looks adorable and is chipper and upbeat and I was so excited to see her! I jokingly asked her to come but never in a million years did I think that she actually would have come to support me on my first day. So now I have 2 good friends with me and I am ready to take on the world, or at least 1 crazy Jamaican boot camp instructor (I'm not sure if he really is Jamaican...I am guessing from his accent that he is from somewhere near the Caribbean....Bahamas maybe?)
My pride was quickly deflated when he brought out this crazy torture device. He called it a "pipe". He made it sound so mundane like, you know....a "pipe". Well I picked up my "pipe" and realized very quickly there was something wrong with my pipe. I told Sherry, "There's something wrong with my pipe....it is filled with something and feels really heavy." She said, "Yeah, mine too!" Well I was about to complain to Mr. Boot Camp that my pipe was damaged when he began barking orders....."First we do squats. Then we do jumping jacks. Then we do push-outs. Ready! 1, 2, 3, go!" And then we began. Well, so much for letting him know my pipe was messed up!
Well a few minutes later I quickly realized that I had other "pipe" issues as in I wish I had done those Kegels they told me about! Note to self: do kegels before jumping around holding lead pipe!
Well after we did 3 sets of 4 different exercises we moved on to "arm workout". What!?!?!? What was that we just did? Apparently a warmup or something. So anyway we moved on to arm lifts, curls, and something else I would rather soon forget. We did 3 different sets of that. In between all of this the 3 ladies walked off to puke and he said, "Find a tree!" Then after they had hurled he said, "Now come back to your mat!" Geez. Enough said about that.
We also did too many push-ups to count. Thankfully he let us do girl push-ups on our knees but I'm not sure how long that luxury will last. The last part of the workout was crunches. I can do a few crunches. I DO have ab muscles somewhere under my 39% body fat. However, I cannot do 100 crunches. I really thought this part was going to kill me.
That was the last part of the workout. I felt like Rocky after running to the top of all those stairs (do you think he had 39% body fat?)
Mr. Boot Camp spent a few minutes talking about the food plan. Wanna know what it is without paying a gajillion dollars? Don't eat anything that tastes good or looks good. There ya have it! Oh and also don't put anything that could be considered "flavoring" on any of your food. This includes creamer (my coffee!), sugar, Splenda, butter, Ranch dressing, etc. And then he had 1 other "don't eat".....diet soda. WHAT!?!?!? No Diet Dr. Pepper? This man has seriously crossed a line. Now he has entered "Brenda's Addictions" territory.
But it is THE YEAR OF BRENDA (did you forget?) That means transformation, friends. That means getting rid of the old and taking on a new! I will not be defined as anyone's Token Fat Friend (did you see that old Friends episode--truly hilarious). If I am YOUR TFF....you need to find another one because this TFF is no longer.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
January 4, 2008
Well.....the day has arrived. Well actually it is the day before the day but whatever. What day is it you ask? Well Monday, January 5 will begin THE YEAR OF BRENDA. Huh? What in the heck is she talking about? Well the time has come for me to take control of several habits that have been forming over the course of last few years and even decade. The problem:
MY WEIGHT IS SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL AND I HATE WHAT OBESITY IS DOING TO MY HEALTH, ENERGY LEVEL, AND LIFE IN GENERAL!
I am not professing to be the 2010 Sports Illustrated cover model or anything. I am realistic in my expectations. I have given birth to 3 children....those stretch marks are not going away. That being said, having given birth to 3 children does NOT equal being fat. I have been using that as a crutch for too long. My "baby" will turn 6 next month.
So tomorrow morning at 4:30 am I will be at Boot Camp (http://www.fitnessbootcamp4u.com/) having my THIGHS MEASURED (the horror!) by a man that could bounce a quarter off of his abs. Let me say for the record right now that I would rather have a root canal then have my fat body measured by someone like that (or anyone for that matter). After they do body measurements there will be a pleasant little workout that I hear makes people barf. I'm not kidding. And when you do complete your barf-o-rama (Think: Stand By Me barf-o-rama) he makes you COME BACK TO CLASS to complete your workout. And I am driving myself to this place voluntarily? I hope I gain my mind back as I lose the weight!
But I have a secret weapon that I'm not sure I want to tell you about. Oh, don't be jealous....you have this same secret weapon, too. I have not used this secret weapon as the powerful weapon that it is. I have kept it hidden and I'm not sure why. No, I do not have a Bowflex in my home gym. I do not have a miracle diet drug (I tried those once and the results were fleeting). I do not have a personal chef to cook for me.
I have...................(are you ready for the big reveal?)..........
I have the power of Christ within me! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Phillipians 4:13 tells me that. God's word tells me "His Word (the Holy Bible) is TRUTH" in John 17:17. Well since His WORD is true then I can believe, no I can CLAIM that I can do all things through Him! Isn't that amazing? The same God that breathed life into Adam, hung the moon and stars, and created you and I.....that is THE SAME GOD who will help me transform myself during The Year of Brenda.
So The Year of Brenda is not about Brenda making changes in her life and getting skinny and becoming an underwear model. That would truly be a sitcom. :) The Year of Brenda has some basic goals:
-prioritize my daily living
-make changes that affect my health and body
-make my relationship with the Lord a priority over all other relationships
Let me elaborate on my goals, not really for your sake but for my own. I want to read over this blog a year from now, declare the year a complete victory, and like Joshua and many others, set up an altar in HIS name and give Him the glory and fame for what He has done. I'm not sure what the altar will physically look like but I'm hoping it will be located out in the country somewhere (more on that later).
Specific goals:
-Lower weight from 235 to 175
-Lower BMI from the "obese" category to the "healthy" range. To do this I either need to grow about 7" LOL or weigh 175
-Maintain a consistent daily quiet time
-Read through the bible using the One Year Bible plan
-Spend a maximum of 1 hour on the internet per day
-Spend a maximum of 1 hour having my brain sucked out by the television per day
The Year of Brenda is about becoming dependent on God for all things, claiming victory over obesity in HIS NAME, and making some changes in my life that reflect my belief that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
So that is about it for now.
Goals for tomorrow:
-Survive Day 1 of Boot Camp
-Not kill the Boot Camp instructor
-Not throw that fat measurement thing-a-ma-bob into the lake
-Read my January 5 daily bible reading
-Set up a weight loss goal chart to hang above the scale
-Peel and cut up all the carrots in the frig
-Throw away that creamy salsa in the frig (it is just too tempting)
-Do not eat any of the brownies that are in the frig but instead send them to work with Barry (that will be a tough one)
MY WEIGHT IS SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL AND I HATE WHAT OBESITY IS DOING TO MY HEALTH, ENERGY LEVEL, AND LIFE IN GENERAL!
I am not professing to be the 2010 Sports Illustrated cover model or anything. I am realistic in my expectations. I have given birth to 3 children....those stretch marks are not going away. That being said, having given birth to 3 children does NOT equal being fat. I have been using that as a crutch for too long. My "baby" will turn 6 next month.
So tomorrow morning at 4:30 am I will be at Boot Camp (http://www.fitnessbootcamp4u.com/) having my THIGHS MEASURED (the horror!) by a man that could bounce a quarter off of his abs. Let me say for the record right now that I would rather have a root canal then have my fat body measured by someone like that (or anyone for that matter). After they do body measurements there will be a pleasant little workout that I hear makes people barf. I'm not kidding. And when you do complete your barf-o-rama (Think: Stand By Me barf-o-rama) he makes you COME BACK TO CLASS to complete your workout. And I am driving myself to this place voluntarily? I hope I gain my mind back as I lose the weight!
But I have a secret weapon that I'm not sure I want to tell you about. Oh, don't be jealous....you have this same secret weapon, too. I have not used this secret weapon as the powerful weapon that it is. I have kept it hidden and I'm not sure why. No, I do not have a Bowflex in my home gym. I do not have a miracle diet drug (I tried those once and the results were fleeting). I do not have a personal chef to cook for me.
I have...................(are you ready for the big reveal?)..........
I have the power of Christ within me! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Phillipians 4:13 tells me that. God's word tells me "His Word (the Holy Bible) is TRUTH" in John 17:17. Well since His WORD is true then I can believe, no I can CLAIM that I can do all things through Him! Isn't that amazing? The same God that breathed life into Adam, hung the moon and stars, and created you and I.....that is THE SAME GOD who will help me transform myself during The Year of Brenda.
So The Year of Brenda is not about Brenda making changes in her life and getting skinny and becoming an underwear model. That would truly be a sitcom. :) The Year of Brenda has some basic goals:
-prioritize my daily living
-make changes that affect my health and body
-make my relationship with the Lord a priority over all other relationships
Let me elaborate on my goals, not really for your sake but for my own. I want to read over this blog a year from now, declare the year a complete victory, and like Joshua and many others, set up an altar in HIS name and give Him the glory and fame for what He has done. I'm not sure what the altar will physically look like but I'm hoping it will be located out in the country somewhere (more on that later).
Specific goals:
-Lower weight from 235 to 175
-Lower BMI from the "obese" category to the "healthy" range. To do this I either need to grow about 7" LOL or weigh 175
-Maintain a consistent daily quiet time
-Read through the bible using the One Year Bible plan
-Spend a maximum of 1 hour on the internet per day
-Spend a maximum of 1 hour having my brain sucked out by the television per day
The Year of Brenda is about becoming dependent on God for all things, claiming victory over obesity in HIS NAME, and making some changes in my life that reflect my belief that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
So that is about it for now.
Goals for tomorrow:
-Survive Day 1 of Boot Camp
-Not kill the Boot Camp instructor
-Not throw that fat measurement thing-a-ma-bob into the lake
-Read my January 5 daily bible reading
-Set up a weight loss goal chart to hang above the scale
-Peel and cut up all the carrots in the frig
-Throw away that creamy salsa in the frig (it is just too tempting)
-Do not eat any of the brownies that are in the frig but instead send them to work with Barry (that will be a tough one)
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