2 Months of Easy Maintenance

Heya guys! Just thought I'd check in and give an update.

My last post was on October 1, and now it's what, December 4? So it's been about 2 months. I'm still at 160-163 lbs depending on the day. Two months of maintenance! Now that I've been at this weight for a few months, I'm ready to take it a step further and am committing to a 150 goal for the New Year. Yeee haw!

Last month I ran a 5k and had my best time since I was 13! I ran about an 8:03 mile for a total time of 25:04. What's awesome is that on Thanksgiving morning I ran 4 miles at the same pace. Getting faster and faster!

My marathon is in 4 days and I'm totally ready for it. I did a 17-mile run a little over a week ago and rocked at a 9:57 pace. So for the marathon I'm shooting for a 10:30-ish pace which would be around 4.5 hours. I considered doing the race dressed as Elvis, but ran out of time to get a costume (it is in Vegas after all!).

What's exciting for me about maintaining this weight and size is that I've been able to relax quite a bit with my diet without regaining anything. I fortunately haven't reverted to how I ate a year ago, but I'm not stressing over croutons either. :D I'm mentioning this because I want to encourage everyone who's taking on the challenge to remember that losing weight is a phase. Once we step out of that phase it's a matter of maintenance and wise choices.

Whenever you work out for the first time you're going to get sore. But that soreness passes once you body gets stronger. Then you can take it up a notch, work out a little harder, and you'll get sore again. Eating can work the same way! Make a simple goal with your eating, stick to it, and when you've FORMed a habit, step it up a notch. (Mwahahaha I love a clever play on words.)

That's where I'm at - so come along! Four weeks from today will be the new year. If we focus on 2-3 lbs per week of healthy weight loss, we'll be 10 lbs ahead for 2009! Once we've dropped that weight, we'll never have to worry about losing it again - just maintenance which is 10 times easier! But I'll admit, it still isn't totally easy. Because of my gradual shift in diet during this maintenance period, I've admittedly been eating bigger meals than I did during the weight-loss phase. So FORM will come in handy for me once again.

I have to admit that just making this commitment right now is making me a little nervous. Can I do this? Am I kidding myself? Am I really committed enough? It helps to know that I'm not in it alone, and that I've done it before.

I have these images flash through my mind of me being hungry all of the time and suffering through eating rice cakes and celery ... and then I remember that I never had to do that to lose my first 30 lbs. Ha ha ha. It's like there's this programming in my mind that it has to be hard, it has to be rough and I have to keep reminding myself that I've got all of the tools necessary to make this an easy and fun process! Isn't that so funny and just bizarre?

So despite all of my cheery pump up above, know that I am scared about this. I am scared of failure and disappointment. If you feel that way too, it's cool, and it's because we're believing something that isn't true. This is easy! So I'm going to smile and my fear and just keeping moving forward. I'll let you know how that works for me!

I recommit. NOW! :D

Holly Sue - down 30 lbs in 12 weeks!!

So we decided to weigh in and measure today. And ... I weighed in at 165! Yahoo, that's 30 lbs in 12 weeks!!!

Let me tell you guys, I am looking s-u-p-e-r ... *wink wink*

Here are my measurements, and I'll copy the earlier measurements so you can see my progress:

..........Date: 7/10.........8/20..........9/30............Loss.................
Neck..........34.5 cm........33 cm.........32 cm.........2.5 cm = 0.98 inches
Shoulders......126 cm.......117 cm........114 cm..........12 cm = 4.7 inches
Chest..........104 cm........97 cm.........93 cm..........11 cm = 4.3 inches
Waist...........86 cm......78.5 cm.........77 cm...........9 cm = 3.54 inches
Hips...........120 cm.......112 cm........108 cm..........12 cm = 4.7 inches
Thigh...........72 cm........66 cm.........63 cm...........9 cm = 3.54 inches
Calf............40 cm........37 cm.........37 cm...........3 cm = 1.18 inches
Bicep (unflex)..36 cm........32 cm.......31.5 cm.........4.5 cm = 1.77 inches
Bicep (flexed)..33 cm......31.5 cm.........30 cm...........3 cm = 1.18 inches

So that's a total of 66 cm lost. If I add up all of my original measurements the total is 651.5 and 66 is a little more than 10% of that.

So I've lost 15% of my weight and 10% of my size! In ... 12 weeks. So that's about 1% per week I guess.

Did you notice by the way, that my thighs are 3.5 inches smaller? And that my hips are almost 5 inches smaller? I dare any one of you to actually take a measuring tape, and measure your thigh. Now, keep the measuring tape there, but stretch it out 3.5 inches more than where it's at right now ... that's a LOT of thigh Colonel Sanders! Try it on your hips too - wrap the measuring tape around your hips and see how BIG you would be if you were 5 inches bigger in the hips. That's almost a six-inch sub bigger AROUND.

12 weeks. And all I've done is change how I eat.

Yahoo?

YahoO!!!!!!

Holly Sue - days out from the 12 week mark

Whew! I've had a great week!

Last week I started a part-time graveyard shift to supplement my normal schedule. It's a really fun job, and it also took all week for my to get my schedule worked out. On Friday morning, I went to work out with Jess on 1 hour of sleep. I tried to convince him that I was too tired to come in the first place. Well, he left it up to me, and I showed up to work out, and about 30 minutes into it I was so WASTED that he told me to take it easy and go home. Woops!

But I think I have it all figured out now. I went for a long run on Sunday (longest run of my life - 11 miles) and I'm feeling fantastic. Oh, and I ran at night with the new moon so it was cool and quiet and dark outside - really beautiful!

Oh, also with my new sleep schedule the eating schedule is a little weird. I'm playing around with it to make sure I have plenty of starchy carbs in my system before my work outs, and that I stick with more proteins and vegetables/fruit as I get closer to bed time. Since my bed time was moving around all week, it was kind of hit-and-miss.

But I'm about 3 or 4 days out from completing 12 weeks using the O3 products and adjusting my eating. I'll be weighing in and re-measuring in a few days, and I'll post the results. No matter where they come in, I'm going to be THRILLED! I know where I stand and I how feel in my life right now - I can SEE how I look! There's no denying how far I've come!

Thank you, thank you to my fabulous support group!!!!

Holly Sue - Marathon in 70 days

Ever since I was 13 and made the cross-country running team at my high school I've dreamed of running a marathon...

Well ... 13 years later I'ma gonna do it! I just registered for the Las Vegas Marathon this December, and here's the catch: the race is ON my 26th birthday. So I'm going to run 26.2 miles on my 26th birthday. Isn't that the coolest thing ever?!?

I've got 70 days to go. I'm already running 5-8 miles a day, so I can just pick up from here and make sure I follow a schedule to increase my endurance. I have to say that every time I start a run, I kind of get this yucky feeling like, "Ugh, this is going to be hard ..." and then, about a mile into it I'm like, "Hey, this is actually fun and easy!" Amazing what a difference it makes to be carrying less weight around!

Anyways, I wanted to drop a line and say YAHOO - I'm so ready for this!

Holly Sue - Taking it easy

So this week I've been mediocre with my diet and I pretty much haven't worked out at all. I've been making a bunch of big changes to my schedule (like starting graveyard shifts for example) and just working a lot more than usual and it's been too much thought and effort to be hard core with eating and exercise.

I feel good though, and though I haven't been "hard core" I've definitely not reverted to my original diet. I just have been eating bigger meals, less frequently, and not very conscious of my fat-to-carb-to-protein ratios.

The good news is that I certainly don't feel "done!" Just like I've taken a much needed rest.

Tonight I showed my employees at my metaphysical center the form pill - I just did a demonstration with a glass of water. It was really fun to see their faces as we turned the cup of water over and VOILA! it wasn't water anymore. It's interesting how just telling people how it works doesn't sink in, but SHOWING them the Form pill makes their heads spin! Ha ha ha. Fun fun.

Ok, so I'll check back soon!

Holly Sue - better than I was at 19!

Wooty woots! Last week I weighed in at 169. I haven't weighed in the 160's since I was 19! YEEEHAW! (I didn't post for a week because of technical difficulties).

I feel G-R-E-A-T! I'm 2 weeks away from my 12 week/3 month mark and if I keep up the 2-3 lbs per week that I've been doing for the past 10 weeks, I should be right at 160 or ... even 159 ... by then!! When I weighed in with Jess on day 1, I was at 194. So, as of a week ago I was down 25 lbs, and I'll be really close to 35 lbs down when I hit the 3 month mark.

I have no fear, no hesistation and no qualms. My life is completely changed! I sit to eat meals with my friends and sisters and they all stare at me in disbelief when I say, "I've had enough. This was enough food for now." I pack up the rest and save it for later. My body is speaking to me very clearly. The other day I ordered a chicken burrito at a sit-down Mexican restaurant and afterwards I felt really sleepy. Because of the way my body felt after the meal, I made a mental note that I didn't want to eat that anymore. Since then I've had several offers to eat that type of food again and its so easy to say no, and choose something lighter because I'm feeling healthy, and I don't want anything to get in the way of that.

The Fixx shake is still my favorite breakfast. I love it with blended with ice, water, bananas and grapes. Jess, was raving about the ingredients in it the other day and the flavor. It's such an easy step to take for nutrition and portion control.

Now that I'm down 25 lbs (and I tried on a size 10 skirt the other day and I'm SO close) everyone is wondering what has changed for me. It's so satisfying to say, "I took a totally natural approach." From any internet access in the world I can show them the Form pill in action, and give them a pill to try themselves. It's ridiculously easy!

I weigh now less than I did at age 19. And the ONLY things I've changed in my life have been nutritional balance and portion control - made easy with Fixx and Form. It has taken me 9 weeks. That's it!

And I haven't even begun to slow down. YEEEHAW!!!!

Back from Vegas!!...So sad

So I'm back from Vegas and I'm a little bummed about it!! It was so amazing to get away from the rigorous and mundane schedule of everyday life! I will say that bringing my pills with me is soooo easy to do. I brought Form with me over the weekend and was able to keep up on my steady diet. Of course it was a little difficult to exercise when there was all that playing to do but I realized that there are so many different things to do that work your body out. On saturday we walked around and went shopping (with the girlfriend of course!! haha) and we walked for probably 4 straight hours. That night I slept soooo good! My legs and feet were tired, but I was glad to have gotten a work out in while on vacation.
I have little baggies that I put my Form and then put them in my pocket. When I order my food (or right when I get there) I pop in a pill with some water and by the time the food is there, the Form is in action!!
I love how convenient the product is! That is my favorite part about it. It's quick and easy and if you're doing everything else right in your eating and exercising, then IT WORKS!!~~> Crabby

Holly Sue - PHEW!

Hey, so I was just on YouTube checking out the mighty special O3 video I'm in and I saw a video made by Joey Strait - she's taking on the O3 challenge. Yahoo Joey and good luck to ya! Way to put it out there and make a total commitment :D

So. Mind games. Yah.

All week I keep saying to myself, "This isn't going to work anymore" and "This is too easy - getting under 170 is gonna take a lot more than this" and "I'm totally screwing this all up." All of that fun stuff. I've been at a total mental block about the possibility of getting any lower or smaller than I'm at right now.

What's weird is that this bizzare "guilty" feeling keeps coming up. I haven't strayed from my eating plan! I haven't cheated! I've been working out! AND I feel guilty like I'm not deserving of any more weight loss or like anything I eat is going to mean failure, or if I don't kill myself in a workout I'm cutting corners. Seriously, I can't figure out what my deal is.

So today I was talking to Jess (personal trainer) about it. He was blown away, because he looked at my eating for the week, and looked at my body, and asked me if I was clinically insane. Well, he didn't use those words exactly, but that was his vibe. Guys, I've been so good about my eating too. First of all, cakes, ice cream, treats of any sort, and candy, and almost all soda have been totally out of my diet since day 1 (I'm not a sweet tooth so it wasn't a big deal, although I do hate going to Kneaders and looking at the eclairs). My biggest challenge is fatty foods like cheese and salad dressing and mayonnaise - you know those yummy creamy things that make food divine? I'm supposed to only eat 2 of those per day, and about once a week I slip up and have 3, or 4. And once 5 (like I'll get mayo and cheese on my sandwich for lunch, and then have dressing on my dinner salad).



Whoa, back on topic. Sorry about that.

Jess said I was crazy but he's paranoid about scales. Oh, by the way, I never weigh or measure myself at home. I'm the type of person who would weigh myself 10 times a day if I had a scale so I just don't. So Jess hates scales because weight can vary by so much, so he decided he'd measure my waist to see if I'm really getting stuck or just being nutso. My waist is down another 0.75 inches since I last measured 2 weeks ago! *PHEW!* So I AM just PARANOID!! Ha ha ha. Then he said that he's tripping over my thighs - that every time he sees me they look like they're WAY smaller. So he measured my thighs just for fun. Each thigh is 1 inch smaller than it was 2 weeks ago! Now, that's NUTSO.

Yah, so I guess I'm just wigging out all on my own here!

I'm REALLY grateful for the peace of mind, though. I've got this! I can SO stick to this for another 4 weeks and go down another size. What do you think, size 10 for October?

That's a great goal, because I can just go to a store where sizes run big and get a size 10 no matter what! Lol. Ok, for the sake of science, I'll shoot for a size 10 of Lucky brand jeans, because those were my tightest size 14's when we started. I'll probably be rich in 4 weeks too, so I may just buy them. And if I'm lucky, stonewashing will be back in style. Mwahahaha ok ok. I'll stop.

Here are some ideas of good out-to-eat food, by the way, that are easy peasy. For anyone who doesn't already know, I don't eat starchy or candy carbs after lunch. This is usually between 2 and 4 pm depending on if I wake up at 7 to work out or sleep in until noon after dancing.

1. Kneaders. Period. It's a local bakery/cafe that has soups, salads and sandwiches and whole heap of pastry items. Stay away from those. If you can't control yourself around brownies, might I recommend the drive-through? I get a 1/2 sandwich there for my meals all of the time on hazelnut bread. They also have a combo platter deal that is really nifty. I get a salad and a cup of soup. I eat the soup and bread for lunch, then eat 1/2 of the salad for my next two meals. Three meals, one stop. Perfect for work and I spend less than $10.

2. You can actually go to Cafe Rio or Bajio, or Costa Vida, or any of those casual mexican dining restaurants and get the salads made with no tortilla, no beans and no rice = no starches. Split the remaining meat, veggies, salsas and dressing in 2 and you've got 2 perfect meals for about $8.

3. Fast food Asian like Teriyaki Stix or Panda Express - like at Panda Express I get the 2 entree meal, ask for only 1/2 rice, and then eat one of the entrees with rice for lunch and the other entree for my afternoon snack.

4. Denny's, IHOP, Village Inn. Oh yah! I said it! Want a FABULOUS carb free meal? Get steak and eggs, no toast, no hashbrowns, but have them give you sliced tomatoes and a big piece of lettuce instead. Delish! I also get any of the omelettes that have no potatoes in them and on the side get tomatoes instead. Late night heaven. (Jess said that late night eating isn't horrible, so long as you eat 2-3 hours before sleeping. What's horrible is late-night starchy carbs - don't go there).

5. Any of the salads from Arby's, Wendy's, McDonalds (they have the fruit and yogurt parfait AND the fruit and walnut salads for CHEAP). Just be sure to ask for grilled chicken, skip croutons and voila! The two evening meals with the only carbs coming from the dressings.

6. Subway, Hogi Yogi or any other deli is an easy winner, so long as you watch your balance of mayo, cheese, olives and other sauces. Trust me - you can live without some of them for one meal at a time.

That's enough because this post is getting a little LONG.

Just throw in a FORM or two as soon as you decide where you're heading and by the time you get there and order, you'll be asking for a doggy bag to take half home for later! I'll admit, sometimes it's annoying to have to explain 15 times that I don't want the rice, beans or tortilla with my salad, but really, REALLY - I'm down almost an inch on my waist in 2 weeks ... it's a killer tradeoff.



You can do it! I didn't even believe I could do it this week, and I am! Woot!

Holly Sue - Plateau?

So yesterday I was doing a little upper-body workout with Jess, and at one point he said to me, "Dude, I'm really proud of what you accomplished in your race on Saturday, but you are really being a wuss today." It was true. I normally do 3 sets of 20 bench presses with two 20-lb dumbbells. Yesterday I was struggling to do it with 15 lb dumbbells. (Yes, yes we use dumbbells instead of a bar because it uses more muscles groups.) Weak - sauce.

I showed up to my workout with my food log only 1/2 filled out. I was complaining to him that I hated filling it out because it's getting tedious. For 2 weeks now I've shown up with only 1/2 of the weeks' meals completed. Jess emphatically informed me (and for anyone who meets him, you'll know what a spazzed out Jess is like) that when a person stops logging their nutrition, they've taken their first step to a plateau; that is, no more progress.



I've added an image of Ayers Rock here just for the sake of a visual. Pretty techy, huh?

So as I was struggling my way through the workout, and thinking about what Jess had said about a plateau, I suddenly realized something: I didn't care if I plateaued!! AHHH!! NOOOOOO!! Wait, I mentioned this in my last post, didn't I? About how, since I've weighed around 175 for the past 5 years, I find it totally weird to even imagine myself any lighter than that. I mean, think about it, the last time I weighed in the 160's I was like 19 - a teenager. How could I possibly try to get back down to a teen weight?

I told this to Jess and he nearly died. I told him, because it was the safest way for me to not use it as an excuse, right? I'll tell you the truth - I was already plateau-ing. In my mind I've been using the excuse of doing so well up until this point, and the excuse that my race went well, to justify "taking a week off." I'm admitting it here folks ... I was making up excuses to settle at 175.

So yesterday I recommitted. I've changed the way I'm logging my food so it won't seem so tedious. (I have a really simple day planner that I'm just going to write short notes in, instead of preparing an excel sheet that I have to update constantly.) I'm mixing it up! Recommitted - back to total focus on my goal.

I'm officially a size 12 now. I started out as a tight 14, then got to a nice 14, and now 14s just look baggy and kinda gross. Today I'm wearing a pair of "skinny" jeans that are a size 12 and they're fitting perfectly. I don't even have my love handles hanging over the waist (my sister calls this the muffin-top look.) It's a great fit.

But I'm thinking to myself ... what am I going to do when I get smaller ... I don't own any size 10 clothes ... ?!?!?!?

Here's some pictures at my tri by the way.













This one is a great shot of my gluteus maximus:














And lastly my run picture, which I'm not super fond of, but will post for the sake of posterity:

Running Stairs!

So yesterday was my first day of having Tuesdays and Thursdays off. It is going to help me out a ton! I am still working a lot, which takes away from my workout time, but now with these two days off I can go to the gym or track. Yesterday I went to the track with my friend and we were video taped running stairs and going around the track. It's pretty amazing how tired I can get so quickly. I have noticed a huge difference in muscle mass since starting back working out! It's amazing what a little effort can do. So I'm pretty jealous of Holly having all of her measurements. I think I will go take them within the next week and post them. I'm not sure what I have lost in inches yet so today is as good a day as any to start those measurements! I will get those posted so we can watch not only the weight go down, but also the inches! Have a wonderful day! ~~>Crabby

Holly Sue - RACE!

Ok, so woops. Haven't posted in a long time. I think about it all the time, so I don't know what took me like 10 days.

Here's the scoop! At my 6-week appointment last week I weighed in at 175. That's a 19.5 lb drop in 6 weeks. Yahoo! I haven't weighed below 170 since I was like 19, so I'm just a couple of lbs away from that. Who knows, that was a week ago so I may already be there!

Also, we measured my body! I'm going to type below what I measured on day 1, and what I measured at the end of 6 weeks:
..........Date: 7/10.........8/20..........Loss
Neck..........34.5 cm........33 cm.........1.5 cm = 0.59 inches
Shoulders......126 cm.......117 cm...........9 cm = 3.54 inches
Chest..........104 cm........97 cm...........7 cm = 2.76 inches
Waist...........86 cm......78.5 cm.........7.5 cm = 2.95 inches
Hips...........120 cm.......112 cm...........8 cm = 3.15 inches
Thigh...........72 cm........66 cm...........6 cm = 2.36 inches
Calf............40 cm........37 cm...........3 cm = 1.18 inches
Bicep (unflex)..36 cm........32 cm...........4 cm = 1.57 inches
Bicep (flexed)..33 cm......31.5 cm.........1.5 cm = 0.59 inches

So that's a total loss using those 9 measurements of 47.5 cm, or 18.7 inches, or 2 inches per spot on my body. Not bad, eh?!?!?



That's the progress report.

This week I've been bored with eating well again. That's pretty bad, I know. I've been keeping a pretty intense record of everything I eat and when, and this past week I haven't been tracking almost at all, because it feels tedious. I just want to live life normally, and it's hard after 6 weeks to want to be all hard-core about it.

I did the Jordanelle triathlon on Saturday (under my sister Sunny Jo Lawrence's name - which is against the rules so SHHHHH don't tell). I took 3rd place in the Athena division, which means women over 150 lbs. There were 17 women in the division, and I took 3rd. Yahoo! The 1st and 2nd place winners both finished 10 minutes ahead of me, which is a HUGE gap, lol. Next year I'll take first ... that is, if I still weigh over 150 lbs. Hmmm....

The swim was 800 meters, or 1/2 mile. It took me 25 minutes. The bike was a 20k or about 14 miles and took me 49 mins. The 5k or 3 mile run took me 30 minutes. My overall time, including transitions was 1 hour 50 minutes. We'll post pictures as soon as my sister sends them over to me. It was SO MUCH FUN!

Yesterday we had a picnic in the park, me and one of my sisters and her family. We bought a watermelon, and when we weighed it at the cash register, it was a 20 lb watermelon. I handed it to my sister and said, "Feel how heavy this is? See how BIG it is? This is EXACTLY how much weight I've lost." Folks, it was one big, heavy watermelon. I thank God that I'm not carrying that weight around anymore.

Umm...so I think that's about it. I'm feeling fine, kind of tired still, but that may be because my landlord keeps turning off the A/C and it's still really hot. I still love food. And I love being the President of the "Holly Sue and Her Relationship With Food Committee." I've gotta thank O3 for bringing such a kickin' opportunity into my life. The lifestyle that comes with using the Fixx and Form products matching my body's needs perfectly.

Oh, and one more thing ... wait a minute ... what was it? Um ... oh yah! My sister-in-law brought over a bunch of clothes that her neighbor was getting rid of and we were going through them. Now, when we started this thing, I was SQUEEZING into size 14 pants. Well, I tried on a size 10 skirt from Old Navy. I could fit in on my body and over my hips, zipped up and everything. I'm not claiming it looked good. It looked pretty tight lol. BUT the point is that I fit it onto my body. I'm saving the skirt (also because it's flourescent green and how cool is that?) and I'll try it on in another 3-4 weeks. I'll take a picture if it's smoking hot :D

Ok that's all!

Getting Stronger!!

So I went hiking this past weekend and it was pretty tough! I'm not going to lie. I struggled a lot of the way. It was up a mountain so that may be some of the reason. We went up the mountain to a cave and did a tour. Luckily for me it wasn't too hot. I was excited because I was able to do it and recover quite quickly. Today (tuesday) I am almost fully back to normal. I also had a workout last night with Jess and that went really well. We did arms and abs (no fun haha). My arms are starting to feel really really good. I can tell i'm gaining muscle and because of my eating habits, gaining muscle instead of fat is much much better!
Speaking of eating, I'm doing pretty dang good at it. With the fixx in the morning and the form in the afternoon it's going amazing. I keep the form at my desk at work since that is where I am eating. It really is helpful to have everything I need in a little baggy haha! Well everything is going well so far. I weigh in tomorrow and fingers crossed, I think I lost more!! ~~>Crabby

Holly Sue - Detox ... yuck

Ew I have been feeling like garbage these past few days. I have been feeling sick sick sick, but not sick. Runny nose, stuffy sinuses, headaches, nausea, super tired all the time ... just yucky. At first I thought it was allergies, but it feels different. As I talked to Jess about it he pointed out to me that I weigh less now than I have in 4 or 5 years - the toxins that I'm realising as my body is burning fat have been sitting all yucky in my body for years.

This is funny though. I told Jess about my mess-ups with eating this week and he was pretty upset. He thought it would be a good idea to weigh again this week and just see how badly my beer, buffalo wings, and onion rings, oh and pizza, messed up my flow. Last week I was at 180.5. Oh, and by the way, I didn't work out for 4 days this week. It was bad. SO! We weighed me in....

176.5 - lol I'd lost 4 more pounds. So now I'm at 18 down ... in 5 weeks. Ye - haw!

I don't feel like writing more because I gotta blow my nose :D

Ahhh Yeah!!

So I'm pretty excited about things. I worked out HARD on Monday. It was pretty tough, but that's what I needed. My eating has been pretty good, typical ups and downs like expected. Like Holly, I've been really craving certain foods. For me I crave Wendy's food haha. I will say, I've stayed away. I just moved a bike up into my room and rode for about an hour and a half yesterday. It's so much nicer to have a bike in my room. I've found that I like to watch sports, and with the Olympics in full swing, I can sit down on my bike and ride my life away haha. It passes time much easier than staring at a wall at the gym. I'm working on finding a place to swim during the winter. It's so nice to swim and get a good workout in without feeling all sweaty!! Plus, with my knees and back not being in the best shape, swimming takes all the pressure off of them but I'm still BURNING CALORIES!! I weighed in today and I'm down 14.5 lbs so that makes me pretty happy considering the week I had to take off because of my back!! Now as long as I can keep from being injured I'll be golden!! Here we go....~~Crabby

Holly Sue - Must ... eat ... hamburger ...

These past two days have been weird, weird ... WEIRD! Just becuase I'm craving lots of food, and especially in the evenings, and when I do eat it isn't very satisfying. My body seems like it won't stop triggering the "hungry" button until I give it what it's craving.

A few weeks ago Jess told me that when I feel serious cravings come on, to be sure and NOT act on them - because the cravings are a sign of my body detoxing. If I feed the cravings, the detox is ineffective. At the time, when he told me it didn't matter. But man oh man, these past few days have been a struggle.

First of all, I went out with some friends to celebrate 8/8/8. Jess has told me that beers are the worst form of alcohol, as far as calories, carbs, and general nutrition go. So I haven't had a beer since I started the study. But, at the celebration, in the evening (when I'm supposed to avoid starchy carbs) I had a few beers. And then I had a buffalo wing and an onion ring. I'm wondering if eating those things made me begin to crave nonsense.

The next day my family had a meeting for a charity we run. I had been in a hurry all day, and needed to eat my next meal, but didn't because I would be late for the meeting. There was pizza there, and I had 3 slices. Pizza isn't that big of a deal, except I was already at my fat limit for the day (so I shouldn't have eaten cheese) and it was at 7 PM that I ate it (so I shouldn't have been eating starches).

THEN ... the next day, all I wanted was a hamburger for lunch. I stopped by my sister's house, this was Sunday, and her husband was barbequeing burgers for the kids. I decided not to have one, because I was "going to go home and make myself a nice, healthy wrap..." But the minute I got in my car, all I could think about was a $1 double-cheeseburger from McDonalds. On my way home I took the longest route possible that passed the highest number of burger joints. I kept talking myself out of it, and then deciding to just do it, then talking myself out of it, etc. Finally, I settled for a chicken sandwich at Carl's Jr. with no sauce. It was a close substitute. But my next meal that day (I made a veggie/tofu stir-fry) seemed almost tasteless to me. After I ate it I didn't feel like I'd eaten at all. I just wanted a nice, heavy meal - full of starches and carbs ... yum yum yum. Ha ha. A little form pill added to that meal at least shut my grumbly tummy up and I stayed on track the rest of the night.

So, who knows? Since my last meeting with Jess I've felt really confident, and I'm thinking I've been feeling a little over-confident. I don't have any instructions to change my nutrition at all, but I'm constantly saying to myself, "Well, I've been doing so well, that just ________ won't hurt!" Dah! Also, now that I'm into the 170's, which is a 10-lb range I've been in since I was 20, I get this thought in my head that I've done "good enough" and that I can stop now. No! I want to get FIT, not just part way!

That, my friends, is my total confession. Ha ha. My clothes are fitting WAY better though, I even wore a pair of jeans this week that I'd retired about a year-and-a-half ago because I'd gotten too big for them. They fit me comfortably! (I even got compliments - woot woot) So, I got really brave and tried on another pair of "skinny" pants. They were a no-go. Lol. Next time, next time.

I'm back and ready to go!!

So as you probably have noticed, I had been out for about a week. I was having some back problems (which are weight related of course) but now i'm back and ready to get rid of the weight. Tonight I have a training with Jess. Tomorrow I'm moving in a stationary bike so that I can work out when I'm watching T.V.!!! I am soooo excited for that.
Last week on Friday I got the chance to get some video and pictures taken of my progress. That is really what keeps me driving. The people I know that are watching and cheering me on!
I can't wait to get weighed in again. The last time I weighed in was the day before they took the scale from work for maintenence. I'm hoping it will be back shortly. If not, I will go into a gym that has the equipment to weigh me. Soon I won't even have to worry about whether a scale will weigh me or not!! I'm so excited for that. Ok, well I'll let you know how my workout goes tonight!
~~>Crabby

Holly Sue - end of week 4, down 14 lbs! Woot!

So I weighed on Tuesday and was down another 5 lbs in 2 weeks. My weight was 180.5. It would have been cool to have dropped into the 170's, but I accept being 0.6 lbs away from that. Yahoo! Down 14 lbs!

Jess was a little nervous about me getting on the scale, because he doesn't like weighing so often. But we've discussed how I've been eating and he says that I'm on a perfect track. It is getting easier and easier. I talked to him about what I've been eating when I go out to eat, and so far I've been making great choices. Yahoo! It's really liberating to know that what I'm doing is working, and that I'm not "trying" anymore. I'm just doing it! I know exaclty what to do, I know that it is working and that my body is happy with the changes I've made, and now it's just a matter of keeping on!

One of the coolest things about this is that I've never lost any weight in my life, and so the idea of losing weight or whatever always seemed really daunting, because it was a huge mystery to me. It's like I've solved the mystery and now I know, for the rest of my life, what simple little things I can do that will keep me fit and healthy forever. No wondering if it will actually work, because I know it does. No trying out new fad diets or whatever, because I know what works. If for some reason I ever gain weight back (like if I have a baby for example), I know exactly what to do to bring myself back into health. It's so simple: eat small, regular meals; avoid starches in the evening; never go more than a few hours without food; keep track of how many fats I eat each day and stay within a reasonable limit; serve myself small portions. The end! That's all it takes.

So yahoo! I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal of losing about 50lbs, and I'm exactly 1/3 of the way through the 90-day trial. Right on track!

Holly Sue - Moving is fun

So I moved yesterday. I own basically nothing, so the whole process, including cleaning took only about 14 hours. I kept losing track of time, though, and forgetting to eat. Arg! The worst thing I could do right now is lose by body's trust that I will feed it regularly.

I'm assuming, now, that there will be some adjustments to my lifestyle slightly because of my new living situation. Previously, I was living with my boyfriend in a condo. Now, I'm renting a room from a friend of mine in her GIGANTIC house. LOL. Sharing a kitchen with her may be a little weird at first. But I'm always up for a challenge, right?

My work schedule is changing a little this month too. I'm working more hours, and I've taken on several new responsibilities. Time to REV it all up I suppose.

But I'm feeling great, eating is great. Pretty much everyone in my life has begun commenting on how I'm looking thinner. I haven't weighed in 2 weeks, but probably will tomorrow.

I'm also getting really creative and efficient with my cooking. I used to manage an Asian restaurant, so I know the recipe for lettuce wraps by heart. Well, by making a few alterations here and there in the recipe, I have a fat-free, meat-free, carb-free version of the wraps that everyone loves. All veggies and tofu. Yum yum yum. Even my Dad liked them, and that's comparable to saying that Paul Bunyon liked them. Ha ha - just kidding.

Oh, and I have some sad news. I went to register for the Jordanelle triathlon too late - it was full. I have some friends that are signed up that may not want to do it, so I'm considering sneaking and doing it under their names. It's against the rules. But don't worry, I don't cheat with my eating like I do with my racing. Ha ha ha ha. Just kidding. So Yuba tri is only like 2 weeks after and I'll probably do that instead.

I owe Rick lettuce wraps probably.

So I'm off to bed. My workout buddy has been out of town for a few days and she got back tonight, so I'll probably get to start working out with her again. Yahoo. (She now lives next door to me). Oh, and for the record, her husband, my brother-in-law JAMES LAWRENCE, just rocked his first full Ironman in California. He completed in 11 hours, 10 minutes. YEEEEHAW!

Ironman.

Iron.

Man.

Crazy week!!

So as you can see, it's taken me a while to get back on and blog again. I will say this, it was an Up and Down week for me. There were a couple super easy days and a couple really hard days this past week. The hardest part for me has been the staying in control of my eating part. The working out for me, comes natural. I like to work out, i like to be outdoors so that's not tough. On saturday I had an all day Volleyball tournament and then yesterday a couple friends and I went hiking for several hours. The sad thing is how my body is handling things. My back is very very sore and If I don't start figuring out what this is, it could mess me up. I really feel that losing weight is soooo Important for me right now in order to become more healthy. I'm afraid that if I don't do this now, i will be miserable for the rest of my life. I don't want this to be a pity post, because it's not. I'm just venting!
On a positive note, i'm still able to do things that a lot of people my size can not do. I will weigh in either today or tomorrow and let you know how that goes. Sorry for the short post but i'll jump back on when i get some free time.~~>Crabby

Holly Sue - zzzzzzzzz

I have been really, really fatigued. I talked to Jess (personal trainer) about it and he was excited. Isn't that rude? Just kidding. No, but he says that reaching a stage of fatigue, as long as it doesn't last much longer than like 10 days, is a good sign. My body is done using up the "usual" energy resources and its resisting moving on to burning fat. If I keep up my lifestyle of good nutrition and activity, within a few days it should shift over to using fat. Yeeehaw. And zzzzzz.

Other than that I've been feeling ok. The fatigue has been affecting my workouts. I'm doing about 1.5 hours of cardio, and about 45 minutes into it I have been crashing. Makes me feel bad for my workout buddy, my sister Sunny Jo, because she has to slow down for me. Jess recommended that as I work out I should ingest some carbs, like an electrolyte drink, some fruit or something.

I'm getting braver and more confident eating out too. It was so intimidating at first, but I feel like I'm getting the hang of it. Yesterday my sister wanted to get some Panda Express for lunch. I cringed - lots of carbs in the rice, lots of meat, and lots lots lots of sauces. When I ordered my rice, I asked for a half serving. The dude put a full scoop of rice and went in for another 1/2 scoop. I was like, "STOP!" Then I got the peppery chicken stuff. He goes, "Double serving?" I just stared at him for a second in surprise before saying "No." I counted the sauce as one of my fats for the day. It's a really, really good feeling to finish my plate, lick it clean, and feel totally comfortable. Not stuffed. Not bursting at the seams. But also, none of that weirdness of only eating 1/2 of my food. Plus the meal was cheaper.

I washed my jeans this week and since have worn 3 pairs of them. Normally, after a fresh wash, I pull the jeans about 2/3 on, then kinda lunge around my bedroom until I've stretched them out. Then I pull them 5/6 of the way on, and start doing kicks to stretch them out a little more. Then, I pull them all the way on, button them, and do something like 10 squats to loosen them up. ROFL. Why am I posting this on a public forum? Good grief. Anyways - THIS TIME, I pulled them on. Then I buttoned them. Then I left the bedroom. 3 weeks and my jeans are fitting me comfortably. Ahhhhh!

It's been the consensus that I not weigh every week. Jess wants me to weigh every 12 weeks, but that doesn't make for fun blogging. So we settled on every 2 weeks lol. Next week I'll give an update.

One more thing. What was it? Hang on let me think... No hunger by the way. I'm still taking the Form pill when I feel hungry way before my next mealtime, but my body has already adapted a great deal to the new way of eating. It's been about 21 days, so that makes sense. I am still drinking the Fixx every morning, though. Never gets old, that stuff.

I swear there was one more thing I wanted to say, but I can't remember it. Boo. I'll just have to hop back on when I remember what it was.

My stomach is eating itself!!

So today has been a little rough. I didn't sleep well last night. (just a bunch of tossing and turning) Today I am really hungry. I've been at work since 7:00 am and I'm way hungry. I packed the normal lunch and I'm eating everything on schedule, but I feel like I need more food. Good thing for me, I have no money on me and I didn't pack more that I can eat today haha! I just took my first FORM pill and i'm hoping that by having that and my normal lunch i'll fill up a bit. I am going to the gym tonight around 6:00 and hope to get in a good workout!! Hope everyone that is trying this along with me is doing well and staying strong. I'll update you after my workout if I get a chance. If not, I'll try and jump back on tomorrow! ~~>Crabby

Holly Sue - a nice, long post.

Sorry for missing a few days – I had trouble logging in.
This week was a little tricky once again, since there was a holiday on July 24 (Utah’s Independence day). (By the way, getting a veggie-burger wrap from Subway was like getting a little piece of heaven delivered to my little hands.)

On the 23rd of July I decided to stay up until 3 AM, which is when I blogged last. Because of that I slept in until 11 the next day. For my first meal I had some chips and salsa with cottage cheese, one of my all-time favorite snacks, but was still feeling hungry afterwards – I wanted seconds. So I took a Form pill. About 10 minutes after taking the pill, my sister called and said that my Dad was buying her lunch and I was invited, at a DELICIOUS burger joint. I told her I’d be glad to come, but that I wouldn’t be eating anything. It took me about 20 minutes to get all dressed and to drive over there.

My dad looked me laughing and said, “You’re seriously just going to watch us eat.” I replied, “Yes. I sure am.” This prompted my brother-in-law to wave his prime rib burger about 1 centimeter in front of my nose for about 2 minutes. I honestly didn’t want any. This is a big deal, folks, because 30 minutes earlier I was about to go get 2nds from my snack because it didn’t “fill” me.

Normally, in a situation like that I’m tempted to eat “just one French fry.” But that day, the thought didn’t even occur to me.

That evening my family decided to have a big family taco dinner. The problem is that I’m not supposed to be eating complex carbs after 2 PM. Dinner was supposed to start at 5 but actually started at 6. Now, how am I supposed to eat tacos with no carbs? Seriously! Um, ground beef, lettuce and tomato and maybe a little cheese. LAME. So I ate them. It was really gooooood. I justified it in my mind by saying that I woke up at 11 that morning and I normally wake up around 7, so since I woke up 4 hours later I could eat carbs 4 hours later. Mwahaha I’m so clever.

My appetite is absolutely smaller at this point. I was feeling pretty stuffed with one tostada and some chips and salsa. I saw other, healthy, members of my family eating 2-3 burrito-style tacos plus fruit salad and potato salad etc. Oh, I ate some fruit salad, I just remembered – the bad kind that has that yummy fluffy whipped cream stuff on it. And I had kool-aid. It was my biggest break/splurge. Funny, huh?

Good news: My mom passed out Hostess Cupcakes afterwards, which I love, and I restrained myself. The HARDEST thing, though, was when everyone started making s’mores at about 10 PM. I wanted one sooooo bad. My sister kept saying, “Don’t worry, they’re gross anyways….” But I still wanted one. I totally could have snuck some but I didn’t. It was uber hard.

Since getting back on my routine everything is pretty normal. I’ve even ventured out to some restaurants more regularly and have been able to eat. Dinner, even, which is probably the hardest meal for me to be creative with (since I can’t have any carbs and often I’ve already eaten my day’s quota of fats). The biggest challenge is that I try to avoid meat if at all possible, I see no reason to automatically include it in every meal, and it’s downright tricky to find a no-meat, no-carb, no-fat meal at a restaurant.

Last night I went to an amazing local Cuban place with some family and got this incredible grilled chicken that was flavored with limes and served with grilled onions. Oh boy! Ok, here’s another example, though. The server asked, “Do you want rice or fries.” “Neither, “ I said. But my sister goes, “Get fries and Brett (my brother-in-law) will eat them.” So I got fries. (This is the same brother-in-law, by the way.) Oh, and we had salads, and I got to eat mine with vinegar and Tabasco sauce while everyone else enjoyed ranch and bleu cheese (this is the cue to start playing a small violin for me). Anyways, my food comes out first. And I’m sitting there with this GIGANTIC PLATE of FRESH FRIES right in my face. I’m all, “Get this out of my face RIGHT NOW!” Because I was totally going into I’ll-just-have-one mode, which inevitably turns into I’ll-just-have-half-of-the-plate mode. Naturally, my other brother-in-law, Bob, grabbed a fry and held it 1 centimeter from my face. What is with these guys? I swear.

I triumphed though, and ate exactly 0 of the fries, and enjoyed my marvelous chicken. At the end of the meal, having eaten only ½ of my salad and 1/3 of my chicken (this with no Form pill, actually) and 0 side dishes like the others were having, like rice and beans, I said to myself, “Boy I’m glad I didn’t eat any of those fries, because now they don’t look good to me at all, and I feel completely satisfied with just the meat and salad.”

Ya – hoo.

On one final note, I met Rick who is the VP of Forever Green (the company that Powers O3) and he and I committed to do the Jordanelle sprint triathlon at the end of August. I wanted to put it in writing to further commit myself … Rick seems like a pretty tough guy, so I’m not worried about him following through, but I haven’t been “training” for about 2 months *gulp*

102 Degrees is Hotttttt!

So today I had a Volleyball tournament in Salt Lake City. And it was sooo hot. But I love feeling how my body is changing. I know I'm only down ten pounds but even that little weight off makes a difference. It's great. It was 102 degrees outside and I'm sunburned beyond belief but hey, that comes with the territory.

What I've found to be hard is still eating multiple meals while playing. So what I did was grabbed a lot of power fruits (apples, bananas and oranges) and used those as my power source. Then I bought some packs of low calorie foods. I found one pack with 100 calories and the other had 80 calories. They are little muffins and crackers that can just give me that added power and small meal throughout the day. I'm loving it. 

I've had a few rough moments eating with my friends. We go to these fattening restaurants  and they get all the food I used to eat. It's rough to order a salad with fat free dressing and nothing fattening on it, while they're getting steaks and baked potatoes and desserts. Oh well, this is the new me and I have got to stay strong. I'll be on tomorrow or Monday. Have a great weekend. 

~~>Crabby

Good Morning Sunshine!!

I know that title sounds a little cheesy and extremely happy because I AM... I just weighed in today (middle of my 3rd week) and I'm down another 2 lbs. So now that's a total of 10 lbs I'm down. I am soooo excited. This product is amazing! I can't wait to see what I can do with this. So now that I'm 10 lbs down I can say i'm 1/15th of the way done haha. I know that's weird to say, but hey I'd like to be down 140-150 lbs by the end of this. Just thought I'd jump on and let everyone know. I'll jump on later if I have anything else to say haha. ~~>Crabby

Now that's what I call a WORKOUT!!

So today Jess (the trainer) kicked my butt!! We were going to work out legs, but then half-way through I got a HUGE cramp in my right hamstring. So we switched modes to do a little upper body (mostly back and traps). Needless to say, I'm pooped. I absolutely love how I feel though. I love being tired and I love feeling like I've been beat up! haha. I just keep telling myself that I can do it. And so far, I am!

It's fun because I have people commenting me and texting me telling me that I can do it and that I am doing great. It really helps. Sooo if you wouldn't mind letting me know what you think and what questions you have by commenting I would LOVE it. I will try and answer as best as I can. Well that's my quick update for now. I'll jump on next time I get a chance.~~>Crabby

Eating Eating Eating!

Sooo I'm not going to lie. I feel like I'm eating a million times a day. What's funny is when I used to eat all the fast food and cakes and cookies all day that I wanted, I still had cravings. And to think that during those days I was having 3500-5000 calories a day! Overboard!! Now that I am eating fruits and vegetables and light foods with tons of water and keeping my caloric intake around 2000/day I'm stuffed!! I think that has to do with the fact that i'm having all these mini meals. It's just interesting to me the difference healthy eating can make on one's life.

Like Holly, my trainer has been killing me (in the good way haha). But from what I understand, the more muscle we build, the faster that muscle will burn fat. So i'm excited about that. I asked my nutritionist what I should do about being soooo full and not wanting to eat every 2-3 hours. He asked me what I meant and I told him about my lunch yesterday. I packed a simple sandwich, turkey and cheese with no dressing on light bread. 30 min before my meal I took one FORM pill. I could barely finish my sandwich and I was full for 3 hours. Then around 3:00 I was "supposed" to eat again. But i was stuffed. So I asked what I should do when this happens. He told me to eat very little. Anything from 3-5 grapes to an apple. Just anything small to keep my metabolism going. So that's what I did. I ate 4 grapes haha. Who would have thought that 4 grapes could carry me over for another 2 hours.

People at work are starting to recognize my blue cooler. I have a couple ice packs and a blue cooler that I pack my food in everyday. I work at a sit down job and it's nice to have a cooler or something that I can keep my food fresh in. Since I'm eating fresh foods everyday it helps to keep them cold so that when it comes time to eat them they are extra DELICIOUS!! What I like to do (kind of helps me keep track of time and food) is in the morning when i pack my food, I get little brown lunch bags and put each individual meal in them with labels. The label will usually read "Mid-am snack 9:30 a.m." . That way I know what time I should be eating it and I will only eat that. Keeping the meals in my bags will help me keep from snacking on any other food that I bring. Just a tip I thought you may like??...

Well I should probably get back to my day. I have a work-out today at 2:00 so I'll keep you posted on how that goes. ~~> Crabby

Holly Sue - down 8.5 after 2 weeks

So I weighed in yesterday - down another 3 lbs. Yahoo! That puts me at 8.5 down in 14 days. Very encouraging.

Jess, the personal trainer who is tracking my progress, wants to weigh me less often. He's thrilled with my progress but a little concerned that since I'm doing so well, if I plateau next week or so I'll lose my ambition. So I'll update when I do weigh, but it may or may not be every week.

No worries though. I'm feeling very well and very strong.

Like Crabby the number one change to my lifestyle has been to feed my body every 2-4 hours with small, balanced meals. Also, no starchy carbs or sugary stuff after lunch. You have no idea how clever I've been to keep that interesting! Ha ha.

I do want to throw in a little comment about the Fixx shake. Form is a product that I use when I'm feeling stomach-hungry to curb my appetite (as opposed to body-hungry which is when I'm dizzy, lightheaded or weak. Big difference.) But Fixx is an every day thing. The shake rocks. I always mix it with water and ice in a blender and usually 1/3 banana. Then I also mix in random other things: mixed berries, spinach, nectarines, grapes, carrots or apples. Apples are by far my favorite. Nectarines taste a little strange and the berries are seedy and bitter. The flavor of the shake is so nice that I don't ever taste the spinach. Great way to mix in fresh greens for those who don't like salads. Also, I'm not a breakfast person. Never have been. Ever since I was 9 years old and my Mom told me I was on my own to make my breakfast I just stopped eating it. So for those people, like me, who are unaccustomed to having something in their stomach early on in the day, and especially before my workout, it's tasty and can be super-light. Just stir it into water with a fork, it totally dissolves well and tastes perfectly fine.

Hmmm which makes me curious. For those coffee-drinkers out there, who are used to just a coffee for breakfast and nothing else, I wonder if mixing the Fixx into coffee would taste like a mocha? Mwahaha...I'll probably get shot by the nutritionists for even mentioning it, but I'll bet it's yummy. I'm going to try it one of these days because I'll bet it will sweeten the coffee enough too.

Ok, so what else? For the first time in a while today while I was working out I felt nauseated. I mentioned that to Jess wondering if it meant anything, and he asked what I'd eaten that day and whatnot, and said that it sounded like I'm experiencing some detoxing. Which is nice. *Phew*

Oh, and I got a veggie burger wrap at Subway for lunch today, and it was a lot bigger than I wanted to eat, but it was AMAZING so I wanted to eat it allllll down. So here's what I did: when the wrap was about 2/3 gone, I pulled all of the veggie out of it and ate them, then threw away the rest of the tortilla. I couldn't bring myself to throw away the whole sandwich, but it seemed like getting rid of the most calorie-intensive item in the meal helped, right? I wasn't really even hungry anymore, the food was just THAT good that I wanted to eat it all.

That's it for now! Yahoo and I'll check back in a little bit.

Hey I'm Crabby

Well hello there!! To be perfectly honest I have NEVER blogged before so I sure hope I'm doing this right! I guess I will start with a little introduction of myself. My real name, believe it or not, is not crabby, it's Christian. My last name (Crabtree) is why everyone started calling me Crabby. As you can see from the pictures, at the start I was 6 feet, 366 lbs of pure fun lovin'!! I say "was" because I've lost 8lbs in my first week of using FIXX, FORM and exercise to change my lifestyle. I'm originally from Ohio and moved to Utah about 5 years ago. I've always been a "big" kid, but now it's just getting out of hand. I'm getting a little older...yes 27 is a little older and my body and recovery is starting to slow down. I can't do everything like I used to be able to and I'm worried that things could get worse from here. My family (mother's side) has a long history of health problems including heart attacks and high blood pressure. My mother had a heart attack in her 30's and it's scary knowing that the 30's for me are just around the corner. My mom is ok (hi mom!) but our family is always concerned about weight. I could go on and on about the negative aspects of being big, but i'm sure any of you reading this already know them. I'm just soooo excited to be losing and working hard towards my goal.

I want to make smaller goals first because I get discouraged if my goals are too big (no pun intended). So for now, I want to be down under 330lbs by the middle of October. I feel like if I share my goals with others, they can help me drive to reach my goal! I figure that's about 3 lbs a week consistently from now until October 15th and should be an attainable goal. You may wonder why I want to be down by that date and I'll tell you. I am a volleyball FREAK!! I love volleyball and play for Utah Valley University. This is my senior year and I am on the JV team right now. Even at my size, I've been the starting setter for the past 2 years and don't want to lose that spot. Mid October is when we have our tryouts so I want it to be the new Crabby that shows up. The season matches won't actually start until Mid January, but this is my goal for now. I'm sure once we get to October, I'll make another goal for the start of the season.

The first week was amazing, I followed plan and lost the weight. At the beginning of week 2 I left on vacation for Phoenix. I had a blast yes, but I didn't lose any weight. To be honest I left the pills at home. I still maintained my weight, but lost a little ground that I will catch up on. I'm back on track again now nearing the end of this week. I've found, in my many years of trying to lose weight, that the faster you can get into a rhythm and groove of making healthy living a habit, the faster you can lose weight and be more conscious about what you're eating and when. A huge help for me is spreading all my food out throughout the day. I eat about 7 meals a day one every 2 hours or so. My big meal is my lunch and I snack before and after it. For me, depending on the day, I will take one FORM pill at lunch and another at dinner. Other days I will just take one pill with dinner (the smaller meal). Also a huge help to me has been not eating any starches after 2:30 p.m. The reason I do this is 1. my nutritionist friend told me not to and 2. well...my nutritionist friend told me not to!! I figured I should listen to him since my own nutrition recently hasn't been doing me any good haha! Well I'm gonna run back to work now. I'll hop on later tonight or tomorrow and let you know what's going on! ~~>Christian

Holly Sue - end of week 2 - woobididoo!

I figured I'd post a quick blog-a-doodle-dandy right now, even though I'm going to be weighed in a few hours.

Week one seemed really easy, naturally, because of the novelty of changing up my lifestyle. By lifestyle changes I mean changing what I eat, how much I eat, and how often I eat. Nothing else has really changed much. My goal at the moment: small meals 5 times a day to teach my body that it will never have to worry again about whether or not I'm going to feed it.

Ever since I was 18 I've eaten out at restaurants for literally every meal. I've lived on my own and worked a whole lot, and so it simply was the most time-efficient way to eat. And I never got the salads with dressing on the side. I'm a blue-bacon burger with cheese fries and special dipping sauce kind of girl. Mmmmm.... Remarkably, eating this way for 7 years only made me gain about 60 lbs. I would generally eat 1 to 2 large, super-sized meals each day.

With that, I've always been an on-and-off exerciser. I've always loved running, and have recently learned to bike and swim for the sake of participating in triathlons. Over the past 7 years, I would say that I worked out regularly for a total of about 36 months, split in to 2-3 month blocks. So I'd run every day for three months, get discouraged, and do nothing for four months. Then take cycling classes at the gym for two months, get discouraged, and do nothing for three months, etc etc.

Up until this point in my life, I have never, ever, ever lost any weight. My body has never shown me a capability to lose weight. Just a little climb of 20 lbs, and then a plateau for a year. Then next year a gradual gain of 15 lbs, then a plateau. It has been very discouraging when I've tried to live a healthier lifestyle, yet consistently find myself at the same weight or higher.

Upon starting this O3 journey, I have been exercising vigorously for 7 months, at least 5 days a week. This year alone I have competed in 2 triathlons (sprints). I intend to complete 1 or 2 more and to run my first marathon. Boy, would I love to be carrying around fewer lbs in these events.

Ok, so enough history. Week one, piece of cake. I weighed in at my first meeting with Jess (personal trainer) at 194. After 1 week I was at 188.5. Let me remind you: 7 months of working out and I never lost more than 2 lbs (I wavered between 192 and 196).

One week of shifting my eating and I lost 5.5 lbs.

Week 2 on the other hand ...

So I don't know where I'm at yet, but this week was a little trickier. First off, I went on a family vacation. It was kind of crappy sitting next to my sister as she prepared hot dogs, nachos, and ramen noodles for her kids, and I was eating protien bars, boiled eggs, bananas and cucumbers. I could have eaten other things, but then I would have had to pack and prepare them and that was kind of a pain.

Then at my store we held a Metaphysical Fair for two days, where I was in a conference room for 12 hours straight on each day doing Tarot readings for people. Non-stop. Not only was I doing the readings, but my sister and I were acutally running the event, so I had to be there early in the morning and get home late in the evening. It meant preparing 4 lunches and packing them, both mornings, and telling people to hang on and wait for their reading while I snuck out and scarfed down a semi-soggy wrap. Ha ha. Ok, ok I'm dramatizing it a little bit.

The biggest thing this week so far has been that I'm getting bored of eating the same stuff over and over. And I have every liberty to be creative with what I'm eating, I'm just lazy so I haven't been yet.

Yesterday I made a huge and killer pasta salad that I'll eat for lunch for the next three days. I knew it was going to be super yummy and the problem is that I made it too fast, and had to wait a few hours before lunchtime to eat it. I tried to keep busy so I didn't think about it, but I really, really wanted to just eat it right then, and eat lots and lots of it. It's times like this that the Form pill comes in handy. It wasn't that I was hungry, it was a case of "excitement-meets-boredom" and I simply wanted to enjoy some good food because it was just sitting there waiting for me. Ah, crap, see now it's only 11 and just talking about it in this blog is making my stomach say, "Must ... have ... lunch ... nowwwww! Mmmmm pasta salad...."

I'll check back after I've weighed in today with Jess and gotten his feedback on my progress. Woot!

a journey begins....

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