This Workout Brought to you by... Netflix

Recently, Mr. Kawaii and I joined the golden age of video rental by joining Netflix.  Although it's been around for years now, it took our local video rental store closing down for us to finally make the leap to give Netflix a try.  As we have been browsing through the instant downloads on our Xbox, I noticed that there are quite a few workout videos available to watch instantly, and DVDs available by mail.

This morning when I poked my head out the door and a blast of cold air hit me in the face, I decided to stay in and give the Netflix queue a try.  I quickly found Self: Bikini Ready Fast! and decided to give it a shot.  It was a pretty low-impact strength training workout, and I pulled my trusty Kidney Bean cans out of the cabinet to substitute for weights.  It was easy to follow along, and I was SUPREMELY pleased when at the end of the exercise the instructor gave tips on eating a healthy diet including a little bit of everything.  She spoke of the importance of including fats, carbs, protein and fiber into well-rounded eating habits as well as giving ourselves a break now and again to splurge on our favorite foods.

With all the hype of wildly popular shows like The Biggest Loser focusing on how to lose as much weight as possible - and fast - a big gap has been left for people who are looking for sustainable solutions.  Restrictive diets and hours-long exercise routines are difficult for most people to follow for more than a few weeks at a time, and it takes a big reality check for those of us who need to come to terms with understanding that eating 1,100 calories and spending 3 hours at the gym every single day is just not something we can do.

I have learned over the last year that the most difficult and rewarding part of living a healthy lifestyle is finding patience.  We need patience for ourselves so that we can move at our own pace and find long-lasting results, we need patience for others who think we aren't getting "enough" results and we need patience for our bodies to know that they will change in their own way and time.  Changing the way we live is a very difficult task, which is why so few people are able to see their goals through to the end.  The most important thing for me, and for you, is to just keep trying.  We'll get there when we get there!

Recognizing My Own Success Story

I realized this morning that I have been blogging about my exercise adventure for just about 6 months now, and what a journey it has been.  I've seen my share of highs and lows over the last six months, have been witness to great changes in M and K, and even a few in myself.  I spent the morning on a 2.5 mile walk with Pooch, and we spent our time out on the sidewalk reflecting on where I've been and where I'm heading.

When I started this blog, it was with the idea that if I had some outside accountability that maybe I'd be able to stick with the whole "lifestyle change" concept long enough for it to start working.  Work it has, although not in the way that I had expected it to.  I was seeking instant results on the scale, expecting to drop 40 or 50 pounds within six months and be back to a size 8 before Christmas.

Although those aren't the results that I've seen so far, I am confident that they are on the horizon and I am taking one step at a time in the right direction.  Unfortunately, in my past I have done a number on my body through 10 years of binge eating and starvation topped off with 4 years of eating fast food roughly 12 times a week.  Because of my past diet insanity, my body is still afraid to let go of the pounds although it has started shifting things around and transforming some of those former lumps into muscle that are so real you can see and feel them lurking under my skin.

All those trips to the gym, laps around the track and yoga sessions in the living room have given me results that are frequent and substantial enough to keep me going, and through blogging about the craziness of trying to jog with a dog who wants to paint fences every 50 feet and being attacked by flora and fauna in equal doses in the back yard, I have been able to share my experience with others.

This experience has reminded me that sometimes we just have to recognize our own success story instead of comparing ourselves to others.  We might not all be millionaire-triathlete-raceway-superstars, but we are all treading the paces of our own journey to shape who we will become in the years ahead of us.  And while yes, it is great when there are enthusiastic people like M and K to encourage us along the way, there will always be those days when we just have to get up and be our own cheerleader.

So, in the spirit of cheering for myself, here are my awesome results that have stacked up over the last six months:

• Gone from barely being able to zip up my size 18 jeans to comfortably fitting into my size 16 jeans and size 14 dresses.
• Lost 3 pounds since starting this blog, and 6 pounds overall.
• Have traversed the gap in my belt, going from barely able to get into the last notch on the belt to now being 4 notches in.
• Discovered that I have "tank top arms" for the first time in years, with muscular shoulders and emerging biceps.
• Went from walking a 22 minute mile to being able to walk/jog a 16 minute mile.
• Have slimmed to a point where my fingers are thin enough to wear my wedding ring every day, even to sleep.
• Can see my wrist bones for the first time since 1997.
• No longer feel like I am "spilling out" over the edge of chairs, car seats or benches.
• Have more energy than I know what to do with some days!

Sure, I haven't met my goals of losing 40 pounds and dropping to a size 8, but look at all the things I HAVE done!  Most of the things I have achieved are things that I never even thought of as goals, but they went ahead and showed up anyway.  The proof is in the fat-free lactose-free sugar-free pudding, and I know that as long as I continue avoiding the drive-thru lane and keep finding ways to be active that I will continue to inch my way towards the smaller bottom of my dreams.

Nearing the Finish line at the 2010 Great Columbia Crossing
October, 2010

10 Days Left!

Day 20 of the 30 day 10 Pound Slimdown Challenge... can you believe it?  It seems like we've been at this exercise thing forever, and at the same time it feels as if its just begun.  It is really satisfying to be able to look at the 30 day calendar and see so many days crossed off the list.  That's progress!

Today's focus was Upper Body and Lower Body.  We went back to "Sexy John" (John Spencer Ellis as he is formally known) for his Real Housewives workouts part One and Two.  The workout left me tired, sweaty but not completely out of sorts, and although I've increased the weight I'm working with I didn't feel like I was going to keel over at the end of them.  I dare say that I am stronger than I was 20 days ago, and my biceps echo that sentiment.

In addition to the upper/lower workouts, M and I headed out into the back yard for about 45 minutes of gardening.  This too has miraculously become easier than it was at the beginning of the summer.  It's like magic!

The only hiccup with the yard work came when I pulled on a large thick vine of blackberry bush that looked like it was going to try to strangle the cat and down came a large clump of what looks to have once been a bird's nest or perhaps the leg of a long-forgotten wood nymph fell from high up in one of the trees that the bushes have consumed on the other side of the fence.  I eyed it suspiciously and poked it with a stick before Pooch came over, sniffed and ate it.  At least it didn't fall on me, even though I am pretty sure it is going to give Pooch gas and so I'll be paying for the discovery later on this evening.

Happily, day 21 of the workout program is a day off, so you wont' be hearing from me again until Wednesday.  Enjoy your Tuesday, and I hope you are finding all the success and drive you desire in your own workouts!