The A2K (virtual) Weight Loss Club !!

I think the gym summer is paying off. If not in weight (alas, I can't forego dinners out, barbecues, nights out in a bar, etc...), definitely in the state of my cardio and strength.
Every now and then I bust out old workout videotapes. The evilest of them was always The Firm - Abs and Buns of Steel. I was surprised today that it was only 30 minutes and that i actually only got a mediocre workout out of it. I've also subdued the Stair Climber at the gym- half hour on level 12 (out of 20) is now a routine. Yesterday I biked outside for littel over an hour (to JP and back) in the heat with the heat index over 100F. No problem.
After my friend J leaves (she was here for the whole summer), this whole diet thing will become a lot easier, as my social life will just keel over and die. I hate hate hate it so much. I'd rather work in a uranium mine than went on a diet of any sort.

Dag--

I envy you your metabolism--which you didn't get as a gift in the Genetic Lottery but as a result of hard, sustained, conscientious work.

I've dragged out my little charts and notebooks: Daily calories, exercises actually done, daily weight.... Dismissing honest-to-goodness, written-down facts is harder to do than dismissing a mental total larded with good intentions.

This week is training. My son will be here Labor Day weekend and I'll be killing and serving five days of fatted calves in his honor.

Tuesday, September 4, I'm going to be trudging towards perfection again.

Will anyone join me?

I am!

I've got two weeks to "de-tox" from these bad habits I am picking up. It's been fun, and no one seems to be complaining *getting more compliments? * ...but I don't want to carry on like this.

I feel oddly at peace with my body lately. Personal best in self acceptance ATTAINED. Woot! I rock, and I believe it. lol. That's very cool to me.

What I'd like to do now is keep building on this muscle and carve off a bit of the fat before winter feasting. Turkey dinners with pies make me cave every time. Never giving it up, even if you have to feed it to me in an IV.

In 2 weeks I get my much needed rest and rejuv and pampering for 4 whole days! Nothing to do but take care of yourself and let yourself be taken care of.

So I want to walk in there best able to take advantage of all that. I want the energy to stay awake.

Today is Where am I At Day. Weigh. Measure. Photos. Charting. Scheduling. Get rested.

Tomorrow, it begins with real focus. None of this bluthering around. Excited now..

certainly!

Mushypancakes--

You'll have a week's start on me.

JPB--

Are you starting today or after Labor Day?

You know I'm with you, Noddy.

I had a personal low on the home scale this morning - 173.5 I just hope it sticks (or gets lower) for Wednesday's official weigh-in.

Mac--

You've lost too much weight to be the anchor person--you'll have to be the Trail Blazer (in air conditioning, of course).

Don't you wish that all scales, all over the world, were in absolute, total agreement with each other?

I start every day, but I'll officially start on Tuesday -- we're having guests on Monday.

My company leaves Tuesday morning.

On Belly Dancing:

http://www.thegoddessdancing.com/belly_dance_and_birth_references.htm

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1655705,00.html

The world is a wonderous place.

I remember someone asking for some pictures, well the only older one's I could find were from back in October of 2006. I gained about 10lbs between October and June when I started trying to lose weight. So the pictures are from me in October at 200lbs and today at 176lbs. I ballooned up to 210lbs before I started my recent weight loss plan.

I now need to tone up the muscle as I have some flabby skin to deal with from the pretty rapid weight loss (over 30 lbs in 3 months).

This week I started eating more food (about 2500 calories) and began a pretty heavy weight lifting program.

I'm pretty happy with the results so far. I'll keep you guys posted.

Maporache--

Very creditable achievement--and excellent plans.

Very impressive, maporsche. Well done and congrats on meeting your goal by Labor Day! Amazing transformation of the mid-section and chest. And look at that chiseled chin! Keep up the good work -- keeping it off is sometimes harder than taking it off to begin with.

Ok, I'm inspired -- Bring it on, noddy, I'm ready for Tuesday.


Actually, I've been doing pretty well lately. Still hovering in the mid 170s, I weigh an eensy-weensy bit less than maporsche, but I managed to eat lunch out with friends and spend the evening downtown at jazz fest yesterday without gaining. There are still three days of holiday food events to manage but I've been keeping a pretty good handle on what I eat. I still need to work more exercise into my life but that's where Tuesday comes in. I'll be back in the gym, on the bike path, strolling the 'hood looking to get a boost and see a 6 in the middle by the end of September.

JPB--

I suspect the trick to sustaining weight loss is moderating festivity--or for that matter petulant gorging.

After an exceedingly stressful weekend:

Weight: 120 pounds. Some of this is alcohol bloat.

Waist: 34 inches--from a very hasty measure.

Who else is Marching to Perfection in September?

Perfection is not even on my radar -- certainly not a goal -- but this September I am most definitely marching towards increased energy and feeling better overall (and dropping a size or two would be nice). I'm mostly over my latest cold (taking Advair at the beginning of it helped enormously), and school's starting, and I have a membership at a place with ample free parking -- I'm ready to rumble. Getting back to my MWF schedule tomorrow, looking forward to it.

Marching Towards Perfection is like Pursuing Happiness--I'm on the road. Destinations are implacable and sometimes impossible, but I'm headed in that direction.

joining the march. We shall overcome!

We shall!

I getcha about perfection. I like having goals that I can attain, though; unattainable goals make me grumpy.

marching, marching, marching

I was holding my own through the weekend until yesterday. Guests, wine, food, wine, food, food, Greek Fest where there was more food, food, food, then home for.... did I mention food?

Joining the parade.

I ate too much on Sunday, which made it easy to stick to my guns yesterday.

I can't say I'm glad to be at work, but at least being back to the schedule of a work day makes it easier for me to structure my meals.