I should spank you!

Yeah, that's what she said!  Really!

Patrice was in a bit of shock at my measurements today.  She literally said she should spank me.  On more than one occasion, I have been disappointed with my progress and Patrice and I have talked about not being so focused on the scale.  I must have given her the wrong impression about my progress and she was borderline mad when she saw the progress I made. 

There was only time enough to take my body circumference and body fat measurements.  We are planning on meeting on Saturday for the other metrics.  Let's get down to the interesting stuff:

	June 22, 2011	November 10, 2011
Weight	200.6 lbs	171.8 lbs
Calf	15.5”	15”
Thigh	24.75”	22.75”
Gluteal Fold	28.5”	26.5”
Hips	47”	42.75”
Smallest part of Waist	37.5”	33.375”
Navel	44.75”	39”
Biceps	13.5”	12.5”

I have lost a total of 28.8 pounds and 19.625" in under five months.  It's not Biggest Loser style but I also don't have twelve hours a day to devote to working out so I will take it!  The best part of it all was the body fat percentage....dun dun dun dun.....I started at 36.9% and am now 27.1% !!!  I have now moved from "very poor" to "poor."  Woo!  In all seriousness, my goal was 32% and I killed it. 

The three things that I am thankful for today?  Patrice, goals, and killing goals.

Tell me about a goal that you killed :)

For Anyone's Eyes ***EXCEPT for Alex's!***

Busy Saturday!  I had my second to last appointment with Patrice this morning.  We really didn't work out the legs that much but put a good hurting on the upper body.  We also worked the abs pretty good too. The real test is always the day after so I will fill you in later :)

After a good workout and a shower, I was off to David's Bridal with my mom and future mother-in-law :)  It was a day of several dresses....some more interesting than others....

I'm pretty sure I'm the anti-bride.  Of course, I came out of my dressing room and immediately told everyone that I hated this dress.  "Look at me, I'm a mushroom!"  You see, it's a convertible dress.  A longer version for the ceremony and a shorter one for the reception.  The convertible dress I had seen previously had the lower part of the skirt that zipped off under a ruffle.  It was a humbling moment when the sales woman came by and told me the short dress goes under the long skirt.  WHOOPS!  It's even more hilarious that when my mom was helping me into the dress she said "That's so weird, the long skirt seems so much bigger than the dress."  Oh my....

This is what the dress looks like when put on the right way.  Much improved!  It's so funny how when you are trying on wedding dresses, everyone has an opinion.  I had the mom (?) of another bride telling me I had found the one and another girl suggested that I try on this beaded belt with the dress.  Good choice :)

I don't like tiaras and don't think this counts as one

Nothing was purchased today but it was still a lot of fun to go out with both of the moms!  After David's Bridal, it was off to Julia's friend's birthday party.  In true kiddo party style, there were tons of sweets.  I didn't want to be rude so I sampled all of them :)  Good thing I have a run scheduled for tomorrow morning!!!

How was your Saturday?

Last Week = FAIL

This week has been a complete failure for good eating and working out.  Don't get me wrong, it has been a fun-filled and delightful week but not one that makes me feel healthy.  I have spent much of my time working on a few gifts for a friend who had her baby shower this weekend.

Guess who's daddy is a Hokie?

I really love being crafty but I'm really a jack-of-all-trades but master of none.  They weren't bad for a first attempt but they were also perfectly imperfect.  I also made a diaper changing pad for her that was VT colors too.  I did the changing pad without a pattern and many lessons were learned.

I worked out with Patrice on Saturday morning.  I felt like it was an "ok" workout but I didn't think it was stellar.  Well, I changed my mind when I woke up the next day!  My abs are sooo sore and my hamstrings are dying too.  I really think the move that did me in was the rotating push-ups.  You start by doing a regular push-up, then raise one arm straight up to the ceiling while rotating your body and putting your body weight on the arm that is still on the floor.  Make sense?  Maybe I will take pictures of that later...  It was a killer core workout.

To ensure that no calorie deficit was attained, I went over to Stacy's to help her make some lemon-curd cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries for our friends baby shower the next day.  YUM!  Quality control happens to be one of my specialties.

Later that night, Alex and I met up with some friends to play pool.  Any benefit that I gained working out with Patrice earlier that day was negated for sure by the time we went home. 

The next day Alex, our parents, and I went over to Bristow Manor for an open house.  We were able to try some of their food as well as see the centerpieces that are available with the package. 



This would be nice with a scented candle

The table runner is one of the colors I am using :)

I'm so incredibly excited to marry Alex but I hate parting with money, especially large sums of money.  It frustrates me that one single day is going to cost thousands of dollars.  I might upset family members with this thought but I wish eloping wasn't so frowned upon haha.

Was your week a PASS or a FAIL?

What was your biggest expense at your wedding?  Was it worth it?

Belts are Non-Negotiable

So I'm starting to feel a little sloppy when I go to work....

I think it's time to invest in a few outfits for work.  It's a great thing that I get $10 coupons for Fashion Bug all the time and that my Banana Republic card gives me rewards too!  I won't be investing too much (I have a wedding to save for after all) since I still have great lengths to go to before I will be in a healthy range for my height.

Rockin' the Maymont 8-miler shirt

I still have four sessions with Patrice left.  I do not think that I will renew my personal training with her.  It's been tough to find time that works for both of us and let's face it, it's a lot of money!  I have decided that I might be better off continuing to train for different runs and investing in some weights for my home.  Tonight I did three miles on the treadmill and tomorrow I have another five scheduled!
In other news, I was super-excited when I went shopping at Bloom yesterday.  They were having double coupons up to $1.99 and I did pretty well!

My favorite purchase was the People Style Watch magazine.  I had a coupon for $1.00 for People from the Sunday coupons and then the magazine itself had a $1.00 coupon on my next issue.  F that, I'm using it now.  So double the first coupon and double the second, that makes four dollars off a $3.99 magazine!  Yay!  I finally feel 1/100 of the joy extreme couponers must feel :)

So a little off topic and just for fun, I thought I would pose a question to my readers to get some feedback on an issue that my friend is dealing with. The little girl is very rough and tumble and loves Spiderman.  Should the little girl wear the classic Spiderman costume for Halloween?  Or should the four year old girl wear a "spider girl" adaptation of the costume?  Does it matter what the girl prefers?

What costume would you let your own child wear?

~Andrea

Closer to my goal!

Happy Thursday!  This morning was wonderful when I stepped on the scale and I had lost another pound :)  Just one more and I will officially have lost thirty pounds since April (twenty since Patrice).  I'm very satisfied with my progress so far.  If I can get over to my parents house, I will try to post a "before" pic.  The picture that I want to post was from a couple years back (2008?) and I was at my heaviest weight of 235 pounds.  Whew, that was painful to say! 

On the road to a healthier lifestyle, I have found some things that I truly enjoy.  One of them I stumbled upon just the other day because I  had a coupon for them. 

Source



I love almonds and I love chocolate so these are a great fit for me!  What I love the most is that you can have a handful of these babies and there is less than one gram of sugar!  AWESOME!  These are my new go-to for a chocolate fix.  There is also a cinnamon flavor that I MUST try next.

Another fun discovery was kimchi.  We have a very eclectic buffet on the main floor of the building where I work and I go there sometimes for lunch or to grab a snack.  I try to keep it to veggies just so I don't blow my day on items swimming in grease.  On one mission to find veggies I noticed some cabbage and cucumbers in a reddish sauce.  I decided to try it and it was delightfully sour and spicy.  I have since googled it and learned that it is kimchi and I love it!

I have also come to the realization that I want to be am a runner.  I feel like I have finally gotten my running feet back under me and it feels great!  Recently, I have really noticed an increase in my speed and my endurance. I'm really looking forward to the Maymont 8-Miler and have no doubt in my mind that I will complete it :)  My goal is to complete the race in less than 1:25:00.  Only two weeks until the big day!

What's your favorite healthy snack?

~Andrea

Back to the Grind

Tonight was my first workout since coming back from vacation and I was really glad that I went.  Exercise is just one of those things that you never regret doing.

The morning that we left on vacation, I got up and went for run around our neighborhood because I knew it might be difficult to get my workouts done while on vacation.  I have to admit that I had Kara in my head that morning.  She's an ulta-marathon runner and she is also the mother of a toddler!  People ask her how she has time to run all the time and her response is "I make time."  If I want to be fit and healthy and want my daughter to see that fitness is important, then I definitely need to make time for it and make it a priority.

This doesn't apply to anything I just wrote about, but aren't we cute? Haha

Last night's workout with Patrice was pretty good.  To be honest, I wasn't hurting as much as I thought I would be.  Don't tell her this, but I thought she could have pushed me more.  I have been toying with the idea of not continuing on with the personal training but investing in some weights for my home instead.  I was thinking about doing it alone for some time and then possibly hiring her again a couple months before our wedding (still no date yet....).  Good idea or no?

After my workout with Patrice, I had a delicious smoothie.  It had frozen peaches, fresh raspberries, spinach, and vanila whey protein.  Yum :)  I really like the spinach in smoothies; you don't taste it at all.  Alex even had some so you know it was at least decent to the normal person.

I do feel that I have come out of my rut a little.  I have felt like there has been a little more swagger in my strut (haha!) and my mood has definitely been elevated.  I did not get up this morning for my workout so I am will work out tonight. 

So I'm feeling good again and I love it!  Today is my "Friday" and it's a holiday weekend so I am off for the next four days!!  Woo hoo :)  My plan for the weekend is to clean my house (read: unpack from vacay), run every day, and do some scrapbooking!  Alex's parents have also set up and official meeting of our families on Saturday too :)  I will let you know how it goes!

What are your holiday plans?

~Andrea

The two week trial!!!!!

Hello again :)  Most of you already know, that I took the plunge and hired a personal trainer to help me get back on the right track back in June/July.  Things have been going pretty well with her and so far I do not regret the investment in myself.  I have eaten through half of my sessions with her and will soon be faced with the decision of whether or not to renew.

I have been toying with the idea of signing up for 30-minute sessions as opposed to the  60-minute sessions I have been doing.  Here is a breakdown of their fees:

Personal Training Fees*Buddy Training = 2 people
	Individual Training	Buddy Training*
1 60-min Session	$60.00	N/A
6 60-min Sessions	$289.00	$205.00/person
10 60-min Sessions	$408.00	$288.00/person
20 60-min Sessions 1 30-min Session 10 30-min Sessions 20 30-min Sessions	$750.00* $35.00 $300.00 $500.00*	$533.00/person
*Installment payment plan available for 20 session packages Click here for Trainer Designation Sheet              Click here for Health History Forms
Youth Personal Training Services (ages 12-15)*Buddy Training = 2 people
1 60-min Session	$45.00	N/A
6 60-min Sessions	$250.00	$175.00/person
10 60-min Sessions	$330.00	$245.00/person
20 60-min Sessions	$615.00	$430.00/person

I have a hard time breaking it down by fee per session and paying more per session even though I am paying less at the time.....do you follow?

I cancelled my personal training session for this Wednesday because I will be going to Busch Gardens with Julia and Alex.  Then on Saturday we are heading down to Myrtle Beach!  Woo hoo!  We will be down there for an entire week and it's going to be fabulous!  So basically, I will be without Patrice and left to my own devices for two weeks (this week and next). 

I am taking this time away from Patrice to do some soul and bank account searching, haha.  I think I have it in me to continue down the path of healthiness but I know that I can easily get discouraged and slip up big time.  I liked having someone to hold me accountable to my workouts.  Do I need to pay $750 for that?????  Maybe not.

How do you keep yourself accountable?

~Andrea

*Hot Yoga*

Good morning!  Last night was an incredible night's sleep after getting my booty kicked by Patrice.  I have to admit that I am still not achieving my goal of a ten o'clock bedtime.  I just feel like I have too much to do to be going to bed at ten. 

I was a bundle of negative emotions last night.  I was very stressed about my current situation with my trainer.  It was important to me to make sure that she was available during times that were convenient for me.  I made sure that was the case before I gave her tons of my hard-earned money.  I was under the impression that we had agreed on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  We have trained on Wednesday only when I have that day off and can workout in the morning and we have maybe trained one or two Saturdays.  She always is out of town or attending a meeting or something.  I have known her for quite some time and I feel that she is taking advantage of that.....plus, for the most part, I'm a pushover.

So I was frustrated with Patrice because I wanted to train on Saturday but she is going to be out of town (again).  On top of that, I got into my negative mindset and started focusing on all things wrong.  My house is a mess.  My yard needs to be mowed.  I have tons of laundry to do.  I am not getting into bed by ten o'clock.  Whine, whine, whine.  Blah, blah, blah.  So today, I will be making an action plan of the things that I need to get done to get back on track.

In other efforts to calm my frustrations, I bought a four sessions of hot yoga for $30!  I think this is a very awesome price.  It's up in Reston so that is kind of a bummer but my friend Jen I think lives close and goes there too :)

Source

I'm really excited to try this out!!  Click here for the bloomspot deal.  Hurry though, it's only good for another two days :)

How do you relieve stress?

~Andrea

Stats

Hello!  Tonight I had a great workout with Patrice.  She definitely works me hard and I love every minute of it :)  She gave me my measurements and my beginning strength benchmarks.  I thought for kicks and giggles I would share those in this public forum so I can be motivated to make progress.

So here it is:

Cardiovascular Heart Rate (after 3 minute step test) 114 bpm
One time maximum Bench Press 105 lbs
One time maximum Leg Press 410 lbs (this was my best area)
Sit-ups (one minute) 36
Push-ups (one minute) 23 (modified)
V-sit-and-reach 21.25 inches
Body Composition 36.9%

It turns out that my bench press results were rated as "poor" because it is done as a ratio to your body weight.  I'm still happy with my initial benchmark because I did more than I thought I could. 

The thing that is most disappointing (but not surprising) is the body composition.  It is rated as "very poor" and the range for "very poor" is 27.2 - 38.9% so basically I will have to lose 10% body fat to even make it into the "poor" range.  Sigh. 

I just need to keep with it.   I have been exercising at least three times a week and have been tracking my calories during the week and allowing some wiggle room on the weekends.  It have steadily been losing weight and feeling more energetic and peaceful. 

So here are my goals for the next 15 sessions with Patrice:

Cardiovascular Heart Rate (after 3 minute step test) 112 bpm
One time maximum Bench Press 125 lbs
One time maximum Leg Press 425 lbs
Sit-ups (one minute) 46
Push-ups (one minute) 30 (modified)
V-sit-and-reach 22.25 inches
Body Composition 32%

Wish me luck!

~Andrea

Hello Again!

What a long time it has been since I last posted...Yikes! I have been busy meeting with Patrice and doing lots of holiday activities so I have been pretty busy.

So far, I have not been disappointed with the investment in personal training. Patrice really works me hard and I am sweating buckets and breathing hard through every workout. I keep thinking that I need to be writing down these workouts so I can duplicate them once my time with Patrice is done. ***mental note to self***

I haven't seen any dramatic progress so far in the way my body looks but it does seem as though some of my clothing is fitting a little looser. I just keep reminding myself that gradual progress is more likely to be permanent results. If you get results too quickly, it's likely they will leave just as quickly!

Yesterday Julia came home for a day after being with her father for a week and a half :) It was soo good to see her again. I have missed my little girl! In the afternoon, I made us a smoothie of almond milk, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. YUM! It was a healthy treat that was very satisfying.

After dinner, the whole family went out for a bike ride around the block. G-pa has an attachment for Julia that makes his bike a tandem. She loves to ride it! It is about a mile around the block so it was a good bit of exercise too.

That's all for now!
~Andrea

Patrice :)

Yesterday with Patrice went really well.  She had me perform a series of tests to determine my physical ability.  Of course, the standard calipers were there.  she also measured my circumference.  She didn't say what my calculated body fat percentage so I will have to remember to ask about that on Saturday.

She took my resting heart rate and active heart rate, both of which were in the healthy range.  My blood pressure was low (I definitely get that from my mom).  Next came the fun stuff!  She had me complete a three minute step test on a 12-inch step.  Number of push-ups and sit-ups in a minute.  I whooped the v-sit-and-reach; I'm flexible like that.

Overall I am in pretty good physical shape.  The thing that I really need to improve on is my body fat.  For the most part, I eat very well and get my five fruits and veggies each day.  My portion sizes are probably too big and I also have a cRazY sweet tooth that knows no limits! 

Recently, I have been tracking my calorie intake just for informational purposes.  I haven't really given myself a target range or goal to achieve.  On average I think I am eating between 2000 and 2500 calories, which Patrice says is a lot.  Since I have decided to invest in myself, it's now time to be serious about watching what I eat so I can get the most out of my time with Patrice. 

On another note, I did my BOSU DVD and it was great!  It was only thirty minutes but sweat was rolling off me!  I really liked it :)

~Andrea

Personal Investment?

This mornings workout was a good one!  Thirty-five minutes of intervals training and the sweat was flowing.  I felt really accomplished this morning because I knew I had pushed myself.  Pushing myself is something I only do occasionally.  Sometimes I feel that the lack of pushiness is from ignorance (i.e. I just don't know what to do) and sometimes it is because it's the easier thing to do.  My goal for future workouts is to have one good pushy workout and the other two can be decided by me that day.  The idea/hope is to increase the number of pushy workouts over time.

I have most definitely been thinking about signing up for personal training.  A family friend does personal training at a local rec center and seems to get results out of her clients.  She strikes me as a very Jillian-esque trainer, which I think would work really well with me. 

Besides introductory "personal training" sessions at gyms I have joined in the past, I have never had a personal trainer.  I am excited about the prospect of a fresh perspective on exercise and external motivation to get 'er done!  The only road block for me is the cost.  It's $750 for twenty one-hour sessions.  That's no joke and a whole lot of money. 

I e-mailed the rec center to see if the trainer has availability that matches my schedule and she has forwarded it onto the trainer.  Hopefully it matches up :)  I think it will be worth the personal investment.

I'll keep you posted!
~Andrea